CAPUTO: The road to Detroit is a smooth ride for the Spartans

CAPUTO: The road to Detroit is a smooth ride for the Spartans

Monday, March 16, 2009 11:48 AM EDT

By PAT CAPUTO
Of The Oakland Press

College basketball is defined by its elite programs. Kentucky, UCLA, Duke, North Carolina. Since Tom Izzo has been at Michigan State, it’s been difficult to gauge exactly where the Spartans lie on that curve.

On one hand, they have reached the Final Four four times in the past decade.

On the other, it’s been just once since 2001 — and that was four years ago. It’s been nearly a decade — 2000 — since they won the NCAA championship.

Yet, none of that will matter the next few weeks. Turned out losing to Ohio State in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament, and not getting a top seed in the NCAA field, wasn’t such a big deal after all. Honestly, the Spartans’ road to the Final Four at Ford Field couldn’t have been paved any better by the selection committee Sunday.

Michigan State is clearly a better team than any it will face, at least until a possible Elite Eight matchup against Louisville — the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region. And that is a game the Spartans are certainly capable of winning.

Also, State will be close to home throughout the tournament, actually in Big Ten territory the entire time if it advances — at Minneapolis, Indianapolis and Detroit.

What a great draw — and perfect year for the Spartans to be thrust into such a prime position.

The debate about whether Michigan State is an elite program has been rendered a moot point by the way this season has unexpectedly twisted. It was anticipated North Carolina would dominate, but it hasn’t, and the Tar Heels aren’t nearly as threatening with Ty Lawson hurting. UCLA has been decidedly beatable.

Duke has played better of late — winning the ACC Tournament — but has mostly been inconsistent. There is a theory all the Big East does is beat up on each other, but is that really a great conference? Connecticut hasn’t won an NCAA tournament game since 2006. Pittsburgh is solid — nothing more. Kansas is the defending national champion and could face MSU in the Sweet 16. The Spartans have beaten Kansas this season, and the Jayhawks didn’t return most of their key players.

Oklahoma is kind of a one-man team — Blake Griffin. Memphis hasn’t beaten anybody of note. The Southeastern Conference is so down that only three of its teams have gotten into the tournament. Kentucky isn’t one of them. Neither is Florida, which won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2006 and 2007.

There are, of course, two ways to look at it. One is, it’s because of parity. The other is, it’s because of mediocrity.

This not only benefits MSU’s attempt to claim elite status should the Spartans reach the Final Four, but it has helped bring Michigan back to respectability.

As a 10th-seed, the Wolverines’ tournament road will be much more difficult than that of MSU. Clemson in the first round is a winnable game. Oklahoma in the second round will present a difficult task.

The beauty comes from just getting in for the first time since 1998. There are years when a 20-13 overall record, and splitting its Big Ten games, would have left Michigan out of the tournament. Eleven years is a long wait. Beating Duke and UCLA this season, and getting those 20 victories, is a huge step forward from the nine wins U-M secured last season. The bid is a just reward. John Beilein is ahead of schedule. He is doing a terrific job.

Given Michigan’s brand name, and Izzo’s success, this is a state that can carry two premier college basketball programs. It would be welcome if Michigan and Michigan State kind of got a Duke-North Carolina thing going. The promise is there with U-M’s potential resurgence.

But once the NCAA tournament begins, the spotlight figures to fall on Michigan State above all the programs in the field.

The Final Four is a massive event for this area — no matter what. But the local flavor would get a lot spicier if the Spartans are at Ford Field.

This isn’t Izzo’s most-gifted team by a longshot, but more than any of his squads since the Mateen Cleaves’ era, it plays in his image.

The Spartans have the great point guard in Kalin Lucas — and everybody else scraps and goes to the boards. The Spartans are deep. They have played well on the road. They have overcome ailments that left key players such as Raymar Morgan and Goran Suton out of the lineup for extended periods.

The selection committee didn’t hinder the Spartans’ chances to come full circle back to the elite status they had earned earlier in the decade — it only enhanced them.

Being the Final Four is at Ford Field would only make the Spartans’ redemption that much sweeter.