Tom Izzo has always wanted to be a football coach. He loves the sport.
But now that the head coach has eight days off until his team faces Wisconsin - similar to the time between football games - he's wishing he could face the Big Ten rival sooner.
"There's nothing like having a situation like this and having eight days (off)," Izzo said. "There's nothing good about that. You don't want it to be a buildup."
Izzo said he wants to take a psychological approach by handling practice differently. For the past month leading up to Saturday's win against Northwestern, MSU (10-2 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) has only played five games and used the time to practice twice a day.
After taking Sunday off, the Spartans practiced Monday, and to spice up practice today, the team might try some team games or shooting drills. Then the team will take Wednesday off before upping the intensity for the next three days. MSU plays at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Wisconsin (10-3, 1-1)
"We've got to be ready to work on ourselves (this week) and then go down there confident," junior center Paul Davis said after Saturday's win against Northwestern.
The time off might help as MSU, because the Badgers will be the Spartans' toughest opponent so far this season.
MSU takes a seven-game win streak into the Kohl Center, where the Badgers have won 36 games, the longest streak in the nation.
The Badgers also have won the past five games against the Spartans, dating back to Jan. 12, 2002, when they won 64-63.
If Wisconsin can beat Ohio State today, MSU will have a shot to break the streak as the Badgers did to MSU's 53-game straight wins in 2002.
"They broke our win streak, there are reasons that have come up that make it a rivalry if you want to look at it like that.
"I'd like to have the chance," Izzo said of having the opportunity to break Wisconsin's record.
Ranking shakeup
After 13 ranked teams lost in the past week, MSU was able to move up to No. 15 in the Associated Press Poll from No. 20. Illinois held its No. 1 spot in both polls and Iowa dropped to No. 24 after losses to Michigan and Ohio State this week.
Wisconsin also received 37 votes, which was 106 votes out of the AP poll.
"We know who we are," Izzo said. "Somebody said we're under the radar, and we probably are and some of it's deservingly so. But we're making progress this year on a steady basis without a bunch of major slips."
Assisting Hill
Izzo is still impressed with senior guard Chris Hill's ability to run MSU's offense. Hill leads the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio with 4.0 to 1 ratio. But Izzo said he now wants Hill to get more involved shooting the ball.
"I feel for him a little bit, he struggled a little bit with his shooting. I don't want him to get to the point where he is just a passing point guard," Izzo said.
"We want him to score some, too. He's worked on it awfully hard and I think you'll see him shoot the ball better in the next couple games."
