On Thursday No. 3 MSU hockey, the No. 1 seed in the Worcester region, takes on No. 14 UConn in the first round of the NCAA Regional. Meanwhile No. 3 MSU men's basketball prepares for a clash with No. 2 UConn in the Sweet 16 on Friday with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.

"I feel like all the student-athletes talk amongst each other, and we have a pretty good relationship with all of them [the hockey team]," junior forward Coen Carr said at Monday's media availability. "To just see how consistent they've been since I've been here, it's just great to see."

The Spartans and Huskies need no introduction in the college basketball world, as both programs are commonly referred to as “blue bloods” due to their rich histories. Together, they boast eight national championships, 17 Final Fours, 3,763 wins, and 150 victories in the NCAA Tournament alone.

Anticipation only grows when both programs are led by such accomplished coaches — one a Hall of Famer in MSU head coach Tom Izzo, the other a future Hall of Famer in UConn head coach Dan Hurley. These two coaches aren’t just successful; they’re known for their passion, fiery nature, and, most importantly, for getting the most out of their players — qualities that have earned them mutual respect.

"He’s always been my most respected coach that I’ve tried to model myself after at the college level,” Hurley said on TNT postgame Sunday. “I love coach Izzo.”

Whenever the teams face off, it's a big deal. They have only faced off eight times, but none of those eight times have been "regular" games.

MSU defeated UConn in the Final Four in 2009, and the Huskies returned the favor by eliminating the Spartans in the Elite Eight in 2014. The programs have also faced off in unique locations, including Hawaii, the Bahamas, and even on a hangar at the U.S. Air Base in Ramstein, Germany, in 2012. Their first-ever matchup carried high stakes as a top 10 regular-season game in East Lansing in 2000 — the year the Spartans won their most recent national championship.

The same implications between programs can't be said on the hockey side of the matchup.

For starters the teams have never faced off against each other, and on paper couldn't be more different. By the time the Huskies hockey program moved up to Division I status in 1998, the Spartans already had two national championships in four title game appearances and eight Frozen Four trips.

Unlike in basketball, that rich history remains one-sided to this day.

UConn's accolades run pretty slim with just one conference regular season title in 1992 and one conference tournament title in 2000, while this year marked back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, its only two ever.

Meanwhile MSU holds three national championships in five total appearances, 11 Frozen Fours and 30 NCAA Tournament appearances — a program historically regarded as one of the premier names in college hockey.

One thing the programs do share is that both are currently experiencing some of their best hockey. For the Huskies it's no doubt they are in the midst of their best seasons ever, while the Spartans are experiencing a revival.

After a 12-year hiatus from the NCAA Tournament, MSU head coach Adam Nightingale has reintroduced the program to success. A four-year span that has yielded three straight conference regular season titles for the first time ever, back-to-back conference tournament titles in 2024 and 2025 and three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, the first time since 2006-08.

With the football program seeking its own revival in East Lansing, hockey has emerged as one of the main attractions of MSU athletics in recent years, alongside men’s basketball. While Izzo has continued to deliver consistent success, highlighted by 28 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, the hockey team has drawn fans’ attention by holding the No. 1 overall ranking over the past two seasons.

A level of success between the two programs that has not only brought conference championships to each but created a mutual respect between players and coaches.

That respect was on full display on senior day last season for men’s basketball, when the Spartans defeated Michigan 79-62 and celebrated their Big Ten regular-season title after the game. The celebration even included the hockey team, which joined the court with many players decked out in Magic Johnson jerseys.

It's been a two-way street for the athletes as players from the basketball team have consistently been seen front row in the Munnsters — MSU's student section — at hockey games over the past few seasons.

"I watched them all year,” senior center Carson Cooper said at Monday’s media availability. “We love going to the games and supporting them … it’s really cool how we’ve both been able to kind of feed off each other, and I’m sure they’re watching our games, so we’re going to be rooting them on, as they are probably going to be rooting us on.”

The question now becomes will the Spartans be able to take down the Huskies twice in 48 hours — only time will tell.

The first-round matchup of the Worcester regional between No. 3 MSU and No. 14 UConn is set for Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in Worcester, Massachusetts at the DCU Center.

Thirty-two hours later the No. 3 Spartans will tip off against No. 2 Huskies at 9:45 p.m. in Washington, D.C. at Capital One Arena, with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.