In the landscape of college basketball, where players are shuffled in and out on a yearly basis, establishing a tradition of greatness is no easy task.

But a special union between Tom Izzo, an unproven coach from the Upper Peninsula, and Mateen Cleaves, a cagey point guard bred in the basketball hotbed of Flint, cultivated a championship tradition at MSU and for four straight seasons, the Spartans ruled the Big Ten.

It has been almost three years since MSU won a championship, and now three juniors, bound by their hunger to succeed, are poised to claim their first Big Ten title and help prevent MSU's championship tradition from fading into history.

Juniors Chris Hill, Alan Anderson and Kelvin Torbert arrived at MSU in 2001 after the Spartans claimed their fourth straight Big Ten Championship. During that stretch, MSU also appeared in three Final Fours and won the 2000 National Championship.

"I don't think there's any question that because these guys came in right after the three Final Fours, there was pressure on them to start with," Izzo said.

"They've been through the toughest time."

The constant chatter by the media, fans and even his own about the accomplishments of past teams created a "burden to carry" for the juniors, Izzo said.

"We felt a lot of pressure in our way, like we got to hold the tradition up," Anderson said. "We came in trying to set our own legacy."

The time to set that legacy is now. The Spartans hold first place in the Big Ten and have only two regular-season games left, on the road against Penn State and home against No. 22 Wisconsin. If they win out, Anderson, Hill and Torbert can finally be called "champions."

"You're never guaranteed to be back in this position and we know that this is a much better position than we've been in the last two years," Hill said. "We control our destiny."

MSU's championship tradition puts a premium on the idea of a legacy. When you win, you're remembered - and everyone wants to be remembered, Torbert said.

"We got a chance of going out and finishing our legacy and giving us a championship," Torbert said. "Now, we just got to put it together. Hopefully, we can put our stamp on the program."

Redshirt junior Tim Bograkos, who was on the 2001 Big Ten Championship team, has watched Anderson, Hill and Torbert mature, and he said they talk each other through trying times.

"They hear it all the time, about how their class hasn't won a championship yet," Bograkos said. "I think they've used that as motivation to get better every year."

Another advantage the juniors have on their side is experience. All three were asked to contribute almost immediately. As freshman, they joined a team that was hurt by the early departures of Jason Richardson and Zach Randolph to the NBA. Richardson and Randolph's decision to go pro, plus the graduation of veterans Andre Hutson, Charlie Bell, Mike Chappell and David Thomas, left MSU with only six returning players.

Due to MSU's shortage of players, Anderson, Hill and Torbert were thrown into the fire, and they responded well to the demands placed on them. Hill, possibly the least-heralded recruit of the three, averaged 11.5 points in his first year, which was second on the team.

"I thought they did an incredible job their first year under the circumstances," Izzo said.

The 2001-02 season ended with a first-round loss in the NCAA Tournament, but Anderson, Torbert and Hill gave fans hope for the future.

Last season, the juniors led the Spartans to what Anderson calls his best team achievement at MSU. After finishing third in the Big Ten, MSU made an improbable run in the NCAA Tournament, all the way to the Elite Eight. But that isn't satisfying enough, Anderson said.

"We had a good run in the tournament last year, but that's just a good run," he said. "You still don't get nothing from it."

Though the Spartans didn't collect any trophies after last season's tournament run, the experience put them in a championship atmosphere, one similar to their current situation. As the season finale nears, the pressure builds. And the three juniors, as they did in Tuesday's win against Michigan, will be expected to lead the team for the next two games.

"All they got to do is take care of their business and it's theirs," Izzo said.