Cincinnatus, New York resident Troy Halstrom sometimes catches flack from friends for rooting for MSU in a region filled with Syracuse fans. But Halstrom, who knows the men's basketball team's equipment manager through three degrees of separation, said he likes what head coach Tom Izzo is about.
"In the regular season he's just feeling out what he's got, but in the postseason he always is able to execute his X's and O's and he knows what he can get out of his team and he knows what it takes to win in March," Halstrom said. "I think it makes him one of the greatest postseason coaches ever."
Halstrom was one of hundreds of MSU fans, students and alumni who made the trip to the Carrier Dome at Syracuse to watch the No. 7-seeded Spartans take on No.3-seed Oklahoma in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament.
Sturgis, Michigan resident Dave Cherry made the trip to Syracuse with his daughter, Kalamazoo, Michigan resident Chata Cherry.
Despite MSU's uneven season, Dave Cherry's support for MSU never wavered.
"I don't think there's anyone who spends more time preparing teams than Tom Izzo does," Dave Cherry said. "This team, this year, is probably one of the more coachable teams he's had. Listens very well follows instructions. I think he loves this team."
If Wisconsin knocks out Kentucky in the tournament, Dave Cherry believes MSU can make a run for the title.
"That team knows they can beat Wisconsin," Dave Cherry said. "Now they know they can beat the top teams. Kentucky is a tough one. But if somebody can beat Kentucky, Michigan State will be the national champion."
Detroit native Karl Broman lives near Syracuse with his girlfriend, Kim Miller. The secret to MSU's postseason success, he says, is in Izzo's facial expressions.
"It's all about his face," Broman said. "It's about his passion for the game. You can't play any harder than you can for anyone else other than him."
Broman predicts a loss to Kentucky in the national championship for MSU. Though Izzo admitted he once wondered if the Spartans would qualify for the NCAA Tournament this year, Broman said it's a part of Izzo's plan.
"I think it's definitely a motivational factor, absolutely," Broman said. "Because every year he takes a group of people that people that people think ain't going nowhere, and he gets them to play with the heart and soul that he has."
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