St. Louis - Parading through crowds of orange and red, MSU finance junior Mike Tierney waved an MSU flag just hours before tipoff of the Final Four game on Saturday.
With a group of six others, Tierney, an Izzone co-director, stuck out in the crowd of Illini fans that filled the streets of St. Louis before game time.
Some people called the event the "Illinois Invitational," as the Fighting Illini had the shortest distance to travel, and the team had been expected to make it this far.
"They definitely outnumber everyone," Tierney said. "But MSU is probably second."
Despite the eight-hour drive from East Lansing, just keeping tickets was a tough call.
As soon as MSU senior Ben Koenigsknecht and his seven friends picked up their Final Four tickets, several people offered them $2,000 for the tickets.
"You think about it for a second, and then you just have to forget about it," the chemical engineering and philosophy major said.
Fans visited the area where two blocks of bars line the Mississippi River and hung out at Kiener Plaza where bands played throughout the day. Others shopped or played basketball at Hoop City, a convention center filled with basketball courts.
But the weekend was about coming together. The two Big Ten schools' student sections - the Orange Krush and Izzone - coordinated efforts to trade shirts and collectively cheer on the Big Ten.
So when Illinois played Louisville in the first game, MSU fans cheered for them, and when the Spartans played in the second game, the Illini used their manpower to pitch in.
With about three minutes left in the Illinois game and the Illini up by 11 points, their band played the MSU fight song and fans of both Big Ten schools joined in to clap.
For the rest of the game, the Spartans were on Illinois' side, and that led the transition into the MSU game. The Illinois fans yelled "Go green," and the MSU fans screamed "Go white." Illini cheerleaders wore MSU gear and both sides clapped along to the fight song.
"That was awesome," said Illinois fan Ryan Burcham. "They supported us at the end so we wanted to return the favor."
Burcham said many of the fans realized how badly the Big Ten conference was talked about in the media, and they had learned to respect the Spartans.
"We were hoping for a Big Ten final," the 33-year-old Madison, Wis. native said.
