“If you ask me, I have mixed feelings on it,” Izzo said. “I'll be honest with you, it's easier to say that when we've been in it 27 straight years, but [we’ve] earned the right to be in it too.”

Currently, the NCAA Tournament field consists of 68 teams: 31 automatic qualifiers from conference tournament champions and 37 at-large teams selected on the Sunday before the tournament tips off.

Baker said one reason he wants to expand the tournament is the lack of at-large bids, with teams with “quality wins and quality schedules” being left out of the bracket. Izzo echoed this sentiment, noting there’s a problem with the number of good teams that get left out. 

“We have so many automatic qualifiers that I see where it's a problem,” Izzo said. “I haven't studied it enough.”

Izzo's remarks are a departure from his usual anti-NCAA sentiment. This season, Izzo has called on the league to bar former college players from returning to the NCAA, among other contentious issues surrounding the sport's governing body.

MSU has made the tournament every year since 1997, earning five No. 1 seeds, 12 top four seeds, and eight final fours.

Izzo also called for a change to the NCAA Tournament selection committee, saying he prefers the way the College Football Playoff Selection Committee selects its teams.

“I wish the selection committee had a few more coaches on it and a few more former players on it that really understood a little bit more, as football does.”

MSU returns home Sunday, Feb. 22, to host Ohio State in its penultimate home game at 1 p.m. on CBS.