BASKETBALL
It's game time
You know about Tom Izzo and Tom Crean. They're best friends. They built MSU to be the program it is today.
SPORTS
Prognosticators weigh in
TK — After a season of adversity, all it took was the NCAA Tournament for the Spartans to catch a break.
BASKETBALL
A closer look at Drew Neitzel's down screens
You can probably remember a hundred times this season when junior guard Drew Neitzel water-bugged his way around the court to open himself up for a shot.
SPORTS
Brothers take aim at NCAA titles
Nick and Andy Simmons are linked in many ways — brotherhood, wrestling, Big Ten Championships and All-America honors. This weekend, the senior grapplers from Williamston look to create one common bond that has eluded them in their tenure at MSU: national champions. The Spartans wrestlers will travel to Auburn Hills on Thursday in pursuit of their first national championship titles after finishing in the top 10 at nationals in back-to-back years.
FOOTBALL
Hoyer: 'Intensity' the difference in workouts
When Mark Dantonio was hired as MSU's new football head coach in November, he was quick to stress toughness and effort as qualities he demanded in his program. And even though the official start of spring practice is still several days away, Dantonio has spent all winter instilling mental and physical toughness in his players via early-morning workouts.
ICE HOCKEY
Spartans snubbed on CCHA individual honors
MSU shouldn't have any trouble slipping past the Joe Louis Arena metal detectors entering Friday's semifinals matchup against Michigan. The Spartans failed to receive nominations for CCHA individual and team honors, which will make Thursday's CCHA awards banquet at the Fox Theatre in Detroit a forgettable one. But the Spartans maintain that lack of recognition makes their performance in the CCHA tournament and their national ranking more impressive from a team perspective. "We didn't have a single player who made the top three in any of the league awards or any of the all-star teams or anything," MSU head coach Rick Comley said after Saturday's 4-1 win over Nebraska-Omaha.
BASKETBALL
Izzo, Crean put friendship aside
It couldn't have been scripted much better. MSU vs. Marquette. Tom Izzo vs. Tom Crean. Teacher vs.
SPORTS
Simmons brothers learn NCAA seeding
Senior wrestler Nick Simmons snagged the top seed in the 133-pound weight class Monday for the NCAA Wrestling Championships this weekend, his second consecutive No.
SPORTS
Spartans ousted in tournament semifinals
Indianapolis — For the first two and a half games, Purdue guard Katie Gearlds played against the MSU women's basketball team and failed to showcase the skills that earned her First-Team All-Big Ten honors. In the contests between the Spartans and Boilermakers on Jan.
SPORTS
Tigers' spring training brings back memories
Under a warm Lakeland sun at the Florida spring training home of the Detroit Tigers, I became 8 years old again. There I was, standing along the first baseline of Joker Marchant Stadium, collecting autographs from some of the team's biggest stars.
SPORTS
Women's team needs to forget past, focus on NCAA tourney
Women's basketball reporter Matt Bishop examines the Spartans' NCAA Tournament potential and reviews the Big Ten Tournament. Question: How angry should the team be after the loss to Purdue in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament? Answer: Losing a 12-point second-half lead is never a good thing, but I'll tell you what — I personally felt a lot better about it after turning on ESPN2 last Monday night and watching Purdue dismantle Ohio State.
BASKETBALL
Men's team earns No. 9 seed
Let out a long sigh of relief: MSU is in the Big Dance. The ninth-seeded Spartans will face eighth-seeded Marquette (Wis.) on Thursday in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
SPORTS
Here's what you missed over break
Softball While many MSU students were basking in the Florida sun last week, the Spartans softball team was playing 13 games in eight days. After leaving East Lansing with a 3-6 record, the team returns home with a 12-10 record, which includes four consecutive wins at the Plant City Tournament and a four-game split at the USF-Adidas Invitational. Sandwiched between the two tournaments, the Spartans swept St.
SPORTS
Monday musings
LSU women's basketball coach Pokey Chatman resigned last week amid allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct with a former player.
ICE HOCKEY
Icers in familiar territory
All questions surrounding the No. 13 MSU hockey team were put to rest Saturday. Does home ice matter?
SPORTS
Nick Simmons wins 3rd title
Senior wrestler Nick Simmons has accomplished nearly everything in college wrestling during his four years as a Spartan. But while the Williamston native has piled up All-American acknowledgments and Big Ten titles, he has yet to reach the pinnacle of college wrestling — winning a national championship. Simmons moved one step closer to reaching that summit last weekend by winning his third individual title at the Big Ten Championships held at Breslin Center. Top-seeded Simmons defeated Indiana's No.
BASKETBALL
Spartans make early Big Ten exits
Chicago — Since MSU's loss to Wisconsin in Friday's quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, Badgers star Alando Tucker has been lambasted in many MSU circles as a classless, heartless thug.
SOCCER
Men's soccer signs 5 to letters of intent
The MSU men's soccer team announced the signing of five new recruits for the fall 2007 season. "Our 2007 recruiting class is the strongest we have had in several years," Baum said in a statement.
SPORTS
Orr, Langlois score All-Big Ten honors
MSU track and field athletes junior Jeremy Orr and senior Mark Langlois received All-Big Ten Indoor honors for their performances at the Big Ten Indoor Championships last weekend. Langlois won the pole vault, earning him first-team honors.
SPORTS
Grapplers prepare for Big Ten Championships
The preliminary seeds have been posted, and the MSU wrestlers are ready for the Big Ten Championships this weekend. MSU will host the championship meet, and all Big Ten teams will head to Breslin Center for the first time since 1996.