EAST LANSING, Mich — There’s a buzz around this year’s MSU men’s basketball team.
At least three publications have the Spartans ranked as a top 5 team in the country before the year tips off.
The hype is exactly how the green and white like it.
"Do I say it’s Final Four or bust or win a national championship or bust?" Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo said. "I say that’s the goal."
Michigan State has those goals every season, but the Spartans say something feels different about this year's team.
"This should be a fun one for us," Michigan State sophomore guard Tre Holloman said. "I just can’t wait, man. It’s here."
That excitement is there because MSU believes something special is on the horizon.
"We have a chance to be very good," Izzo said. "I think we have a chance to get what some teams I have coached have gotten to."
Izzo coached teams that have done so much. The Spartans have gone to a record 25-straight NCAA tournaments, eight final fours and won one national title.
Michigan State believes the best is yet to come.
"That’s why you come to Michigan State," Spartans senior center Mady Sissoko said. "You have to go to Final Fours. You have to go to national championship games, win the Big Ten tournament, win the Big Ten regular season. That’s why you come to Michigan State."
The Spartans wouldn’t have it any other way.
"Pressure is a privilege," Michigan State junior guard Jaden Akins said. "People think highly of us and we think highly of ourselves. I feel like it is a privilege for people to think of us in that way."
The green and white love the pressure.
"That’s what I signed up for," Michigan State senior guard A.J. Hoggard said. "That’s what we played our hearts out for towards the end of the season. Just to be in this position coming back with the veteran group we have, I just look at it as what we came here to do."
They know it won’t be easy.
"At the end of the day we still have to show up and do what our job is," Michigan State grad student forward Malik Hall said.
If MSU does that job, the Spartans believe they’ll be cutting down the nets on the biggest stage.
"I want to try and win another championship someday," Izzo said. "Like my players, we are looking forward to the challenge. We are looking forward to living up to expectations."
Michigan State opens the regular season at home on Nov. 6 against James Madison.
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