It's a sea of green and white decked with a pair of National Championship banners - the most recent from 2000. The hardwood floor is stamped with a green block "S" standing for a seal of Spartan approval.
Plastic green chairs encompass the playing floor and a pair of Spartan emblems rest in the paint under each basket. The words "Michigan State" fill both baselines.
This is home for the MSU basketball team. This is Breslin Center.
National Championship banners aren't the only ones that dangle from Breslin's rafters. Others feature the names and numbers of MSU greats, such as Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Greg Kelser and Jay Vincent.
Then there are banners recognizing conference greatness - more specifically Big Ten Championships from 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001. Those were the seasons when Spartans basketball was at its peak under head coach Tom Izzo. Years that ended with a Sweet-16 appearance and three trips to the Final Four.
Much of that success was built on confidence and the thought that MSU was an unbeatable force. And much of that thought streamed from sheer dominance at a home arena where the Spartans played more than half of their games.
As the Spartans (12-9 overall, 7-3 Big Ten) struggle to regain the swagger that used to put fear in all other teams' minds, questions arise and doubters look for the problem's source.
Has Breslin Center lost its mystique?
"Absolutely not," senior center Jason Andreas said. "One thing I can say is I'd hate to be an opponent playing at the Breslin Center. I talk to my friends who go to different schools - I have friends I played AAU with, friends from summer leagues who play on different teams that come to Breslin Center - and they all tell me how much they hate coming here.
"They dread getting dogged before the game, during the game and after the game. Plus, we've got a pretty good winning percentage here, so they know it's going to be a tough place to play."
The winning percentage is a solid .857 (191-32) in all games and .823 (102-22) in Big Ten contests. More impressive is the Spartans' home dominance since the 1998-99 season.
After Purdue beat the Spartans on March 1, 1998, the last conference game of the 1997-98 campaign, MSU began using Breslin Center as a beating ground for opponents, reeling off 53 straight wins.
ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas said Breslin Center hasn't lost its glamour.
"It's right up at the top as far as college arenas go," Bilas said. "The atmosphere is great. Whenever you combine a passionate following and a loud one with a good team, it's a tough atmosphere for opponents."
He added that when one of those pieces is missing, the home court becomes vulnerable.
"Human nature is going to creep into every endeavor," Bilas said. "There are situations where fans get satisfied and they long to get entertained, and they expect a team to get them into the game instead of the other way around.
"Just as a team can have a bad game, fans can have a bad game, too."
Those "bad games" resulted in five home losses in an 85-game span.
The Izzone, called one of the nation's best student sections by Dick Vitale, is a main reason for MSU's success.
"The fans help and the Izzone is awesome," sophomore center Paul Davis said. "When they're on top of their game, we are too."
So, despite the recent lapses in home-court domination, the players still feel playing at Breslin Center lends them a big advantage - one they feel might not be topped by another college basketball arena.
"I've been fortunate since I've been here," Andreas said. "I've played at Arizona, at North Carolina, I've been to Kentucky and, obviously, the Big Ten has some tough places to play.
"That's why I like the Breslin Center so much; when you're getting recruited to come to Michigan State, that's one thing you look at - the arena you play in, how the fans interact with your team and their team. When I came here, I was like, 'I don't want to play against Michigan State at the Breslin Center, might as well play for them.'"
The players and Izzo realize the magic at Kalamazoo Street and Harrison Road might be evaporating.
Despite the dazzling winning percentage and the success at home, Izzo said teams are having more and more problems winning every home game. Still, for the rest of this season, especially since four of MSU's last six games are at home, Izzo knows how important it is to protect their house.
"It means something, but I worry that the fans and the players look at four home games and that you've won 90-some percent of your home games, so you've got four wins - that ain't going to happen," Izzo said. "It's going to be tougher to win at home because now, everyone believes you can win on the road. I want to make sure no one is thinking complacently."
