That is, until this year.

Unlike recent history, there will be plenty of nervous MSU fans watching their TVs Sunday night, hoping and praying for their Spartans. And instead of concerning themselves with seeds, those fans, coaches and players will be worried if they will get invited to the big dance at all.

Maybe they won’t be too worried, considering MSU’s win over No. 9 Purdue on Thursday in the quarterfinal of the Big Ten Tournament likely put MSU in the NCAA Tournament. But Friday’s 61-48 loss to Penn State did leave some doubt.

And as soon as the buzzer sounded following the loss to the Nittany Lions, MSU’s waiting game began.

Most coaches in a similar situation dread the uncertainty of Selection Sunday, but Izzo said he is going to take a different approach. Rather than trying to avoid the nerves, Izzo said he is going to embrace every second of anticipation and anxiety until a decision is made.

“I want it to be as miserable as it can be the whole day,” Izzo said following Saturday’s game. “If I didn’t have to worry about it, then I probably wouldn’t learn from it. So I’m going to worry about it, and I’m going to watch it … and see where it takes me.”

Izzo described the time between the end of Saturday’s game and the beginning of Sunday’s selection show as “a nice 22 hours of thought on a lot of different things that will probably make me and the program better.”

Not much has gone right for the Spartans this season. From losing one experienced guard before the season began to losing another in the middle of it, MSU has been hit with one curveball after another on their way from preseason No. 2 to bubble team.

So while Izzo waits to learn his team’s destiny, he said he plans on thinking about everything that led up to this point. He’ll think about the Spartans’ murderer’s row schedule and how me might change it in the future. He’ll think of how he could have handled the dismissals of Chris Allen and Korie Lucious differently, and he’ll think about how he could have avoided letting this season turn into a train wreck.

Most importantly, Izzo will take in what it feels like to not know what Selection Sunday has in store, so that he never has to feel it again.

“Do I hope to keep the streak alive?” Izzo said of MSU’s 13 straight tournament appearances. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say yes. But if I don’t, it’ll drive me more.”

Chances are, Izzo and the Spartans won’t be left on the outside looking in at the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night, but after the season they’ve had, Izzo said he and his players deserve to “sweat it out.”

So sweat it out they will. And by doing so, Izzo and the players returning for next season will know how miserable it is to not be sure-fire tournament team every year.

And that uncertainty could do wonders for a program so used to being in Final Fours that players and coaches might have forgotten how special it is to simply be a part of the NCAA Tournament.