Despite another near-miss, Tom Izzo's national championship quest burns brighter than ever at Michigan State. He's ready to rebuild and chase that elusive second title. The 71-year-old isn't about to back down from anyone.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — It was 26 years ago when Tom Izzo won his first national championship at Michigan State. Since then, he's had one of the best programs in the game, but that second title has continued to elude him.
Another year is passing now in 2026 after his No. 3 seeded Spartans lost to No. 2 seed Connecticut 67-63 on Friday night in the East Regional semifinals. Michigan State got off to a brutal start, falling behind 25-6, but rallied to make it a game down the stretch.
The loss ended the season. But it's certainly not the end for the 71-year-old Izzo. He'll get right back to work on trying to win it all again.
"Trying to win a national championship, plain and simple. That's it. Those things usually start after your last loss,'' Izzo told reporters after Friday's loss when asked about his future. "Nowadays it's a little more screwed up, but not at Michigan State. After our last loss, we all talked about what we've got to do next year and how we've got to learn from this. I've got to give UConn a lot of credit, but man, we didn't look like ourselves early. You're right. That's got to fall on the coach. I've got to get them ready to do that.
"I don't know, I'm feeling good. We all talk about retirement. Why? What the hell am I going to do? The minute I don't feel good, the minute I don't feel like I'm giving my AD or president or school every ounce of energy I have every day or that energy drops, you don't have to worry about it. I don't steal money. I won't steal anybody's time. But it's sure as hell not going to be now. I've got some things to accomplish. I'm going to make damn sure we do that. I said a couple years ago that I'll find a way to get back there. We've knocked on the door twice. We haven't gotten back. We'll get back.''
Izzo really liked this team, which finished 27-8 and went 15-5 in the loaded Big Ten, which has four teams in the Elite Eight, despite the Spartans' loss. He made sure to give UConn a lot of credit, because they made the Spartans look very average early in the game.
"It's very hard to be disappointed and yet proud in the same statement,'' Izzo said. "I give them a lot of credit. I said they'd come out and punch us in the mouth, and they did. I feel like they deserve a lot of credit for that. I feel like they weren't shooting the ball well these past couple weeks. It's important that we stop the three early, and they hit the first two they took.
"So it was an onslaught there with six out of seven threes they made. Give them credit. Give our guys credit. We bounced back and picked away. The goal with six minutes left was to be under 10, we were to eight, cut it to six. Our goal in the second half was to play much better. We just kind of wore down. I played Jeremy (Fears) so many minutes and Coen (Carr), but it doesn't get away from the job that these two and the two seniors have done for me, my program over the last two years.
"Mark my words, they're a real good team, but we didn't look like ourselves. We started coming back a little bit with eight minutes left in the half. Then we came back a little, and then they went ahead then. Then we said with four minutes left, let's see if we can get this thing under ten and make it realistic, and we did pretty quickly. Finished some things off in the second half, but it wasn't enough.
In a world where some college teams literally have to start over with roster, Izzo likes that he has some continuity.
"You know what, I got seven or eight guys coming back. I've got a good recruiting class,'' Izzo said. "Whether we go or get another one or not, that will be yet to be seen. I'm going to the portal right away. Tomorrow I'm going to the portal. The only difference is the portal at Michigan State is different than the portal at most places.
"I'm going right to my frickin' locker room, and I'm going to talk to each and every player right there. I'm going to make some decisions about what we're going to do that I feel very comfortable with. Then I'm going to make sure that every one of them call our four freshmen that are going to be coming in next year and set the table on what's going to be expected and how we can, not do better than this year in a lot of ways, but how we can learn from maybe the mistakes we made.
"In saying all that, the better team won tonight. (Connecticut coach Danny Hurley) has done a hell of a job. He's got some guys that have played for national championships. I really like his team. They've got toughness. They've got shooters. They've got guys inside.
Michigan State fought the good fight, and Izzo knows that.
"We didn't take a backseat to anybody. To be down that much against a good team, and not only fight back, but take the lead, and then stay right there. It's why some of these programs, like his, like mine, like Purdue's, that's why I think they're special because, you know what, he coaches them hard. He cares about them. It will be a hell of a game, Duke and Connecticut, and I think both Duke and Connecticut deserve to be there.
"We made a run at it, fell a little short, but all in all, I've been blessed to have an incredible couple years with those seniors, Coop and Jaxon, and then Nick Sanders. He's been -- if you know what our scout team had to do, he's been so unbelievable. I'm the luckiest guy in the world. I'm just not lucky enough to be playing on Sunday. I'll get to play on another Sunday.''