The No. 22 Spartans kick off the postseason Friday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

“This will be my most important Big Ten Tournament,” Izzo said. “I do think there are years when it means more than other years for a variety of reasons, and I don’t think any tournament could mean more to Michigan State than this one.”

The Spartans had dreams of the regular season title when the season started, and at one time were ranked No. 1 in the country.

But injuries and inconsistent play forced the team to change their focus to the tournaments in March.

Senior guard Keith Appling wants to live in the moment and tries to think about what this team has accomplished instead of what it hasn’t.

“Personally, I want to win it real bad,” Appling said. “Hopefully, we can run into some teams that got the best of us - I don’t want to mention any names - in the regular season. It should be very fun.”

Should MSU make it out of the first-round match against Iowa or Northwestern, potential opponents in the semifinals and finals include Wisconsin and Michigan, two teams the Spartans didn’t get a win against this season.

After playing at a high level for the first part of the year, Appling’s play fell off a bit in the last few weeks, especially after missing three games in the heart of the Big Ten season with a nagging wrist injury suffered in December against UNC.

Many feel he was snubbed after not even getting recognized on any All-Big Ten teams, but Appling said he’s looking at the game at hand.

“I’m really not a big individual accomplishment type of guy,” he said. “We still have unfinished business - to get to a Final Four and national championship and win the Big Ten championship. Those Big Ten awards mean nothing to me.”

MSU finished the regular season 12-6 in conference play, the team’s worst record since the Spartans went 9-9 in 2010-11.

Sophomore guard Gary Harris said MSU’s lackluster conference season makes how it performs in the conference tournament even more important.

“This is a chance to show what we can do in the Big Ten,” Harris said. “It’s a new season. It’s win or go home. We have a chance to go out here and win a championship. Everybody’s refreshed and has the right mindset.”

Izzo put things into perspective regarding MSU’s 23-8 record, and said top teams like Duke, Kansas and U-M all have lost about the same amount of games.

He said only a handful of teams in his career have been bona fide Final Four contenders based solely on talent, and this year’s Spartan squad is one of them.

“We’re off by a little bit, but we’re not out of whack,” he said. “Is there any question in my mind that if this team would have played together, the record would have been different?

“No question in my mind. I’ve liked a lot of my teams but this one would go right up there with any.”