An NCAA Tournament appearance was looking bleak for the MSU men's soccer team, entering Big Ten Tournament in Ann Arbor with a 9-6-1 record. But in a miraculous four-day stretch, the Spartans picked up three wins to win the tournament, sending them to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001.

In the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, MSU squared off with Wisconsin for the rights to face No. 1 seed Indiana. The lone goal of the game, just more than 22 minutes in, came off the head of Steve Doster as the Spartans picked up the 1-0 win.

A tougher task was at hand the next day when they faced the Hoosiers, the defending national champions and Big Ten regular-season champions, a team MSU had not defeated in 32 games.

Jordan Gruber broke a 1-1 tie and the Spartans held on for the upset.

It was déjá vu for the Spartans in the title game, as they defeated Northwestern 1-0 for the second time on the season to clinch an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

MSU drew Tulsa in the first round and could not get the momentum going, falling 3-1.

Women's Baskeball

In a season filled with accomplishments and records came up one game short and left the MSU women's basketball team hungry to get back next year.

The Spartans laid the groundwork for the program to build on. This team did just about everything it could do except win the championship and give MSU women's basketball a national name.

The Spartans set a school record for wins in a season and went to their first-ever Final Four and championship game. They won a share of their second-ever regular season Big Ten title and followed that up with their first-ever Big Ten Tournament Title.

Then the Spartans earned their first-ever No. 1 seed into the NCAA Tournament and showed the country that they deserved that No. 1 seed.

MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie shared the Big Ten Coach of the Year award and then later won the Associated Press National Coach of the Year award.

Five players were honored by the media and coaches for All-Big Ten teams including senior guard Kristin Haynie, who was named to the first team All-Big Ten and was drafted by the Sacramento Monarchs with the ninth overall pick in the draft.

For the Spartans, it was a year to remember and with only losing two players, this is a team poised to make another run next year.

Football

Head coach John L. Smith had a rougher road his second year at MSU, leading the Spartans to a 5-7 record in 2004.

MSU had some big wins but also had some tough, disappointing losses.

The Spartans showed promise with a dominating victory over previously undefeated and No. 4-ranked Wisconsin, 49-14.

But the Spartans also had tough losses against Rutgers to open the season, and two defeats at Penn State and Hawaii to end the season. Those three teams finished a combined 16-19 record.

MSU blew the lead against Hawaii, as well as in losses to Michigan and Ohio State.

The Spartans were led by sophomore quarterback Drew Stanton, the team MVP.

Stanton led the Spartans with 2,288 all-purpose yards and 14 touchdowns.

The Spartans also didn't have any trouble putting points on the board, having scoring outputs of 49, 51, 38, 38, 30, 24 and 24.

MSU also enjoyed victories over Central Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Minnesota, along with Wisconsin.

Senior offensive tackle Sean Poole and sophomore punter Brandon Fields were named first-team All-Big Ten, and kicker Dave Rayner, tight end Jason Randall and offensive guard William Whitticker were voted second-team All-Big Ten.

Ice Hockey

The MSU hockey team's season consisted of multiple highs and low points.

Coming into the season with high expectations and goals, the Spartans were never able to play with consistency, goal scoring was scarce in untimely situations, and MSU capped off a disappointing, underachieving year.

The Spartans only swept a series twice in the regular season and finished sixth place in the conference.

They made a late run in the CCHA playoffs to try and break into the national picture, but injuries prevented them from winning the CCHA Super Six third-place game and their season ended on a loss.

Although MSU only finished three games over .500, a Great Lakes Invitational Championship in late December and the maturity and breakout seasons of Colton Fretter and Drew Miller give the Spartans hope and show the potential for next season.

Add in the components of next year's freshman class, which looks to fill the voids from this season, and MSU might be able to forget about the past season's troubles and get back to being national contenders.