Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo has earned a lot of accolades over the years. Most Spartan fans are familiar with his National Title in 2000 and his eight Final Fours. A portion of the fanbase is likely aware of his multiple coach-of-the-year awards both Nationally (in 1998, 2001, 2005, and 2012) and in the Big Ten (in 1998, 2009, and 2012).
This season, Coach Izzo added another achievement to his long list of accomplishments. The Spartans' upset win at Illinois gave Izzo 354 Big Ten wins, breaking the previous record held by Indiana legend Bob Knight.
As the 2025 Big Ten regular season draws to a close, Izzo is poised to tie yet another record. If Michigan State can win just one of the final two games in the regular season, Izzo will claim his 11th Big Ten title, tying the current record all-time record.
But the fact that Izzo is so close to yet another accolade seemed to come as a surprise to him. When asked about his thoughts on another impending milestone following Sunday's win over Wisconsin, Coach seemed to give an honest answer.
"The 11th one I never really thought about," Izzo said with a sincere look in his eye. "(That kind of record) just don't seem to mean as much to me now."
The players did not seem to be aware of it either. When the subject was brought up after the game with freshman guard Jase Richardson, he was equally as perplexed.
"We are breaking all types of records this year," Richardson quipped. "Yeah, I didn't know about that one."
As Izzo thought a bit more about the idea of a record-tying title, it was clear that he had other goals and other immediate concerns on his mind.
"I just want to keep getting better," he said. "I got a group of guys and for the most part they have bought in. They get along. They push each other... But we didn't get better today."
Izzo explained that while he appreciated that this type of record is the kind of thing that "you get to be talked about" because of, he would rather have another deep run in the tournament or another Championship than either the all-time Big Ten win record or the the Big Ten title record.
"I would trade that any day of the week," he said.
Then again, Izzo did allow himself to be a bit more retrospective. As he continued to mull the question in his head, he started to reflect a bit about what this will all mean a bit farther into the future.
"Those will be things that'll mean a lot to me when I'm done," he said. "Maybe if I was done, I'd say, 'Damn, I wish I had that record.' But it's not the driving factor for me now."
Historical Perspective
It is understandable that Coach Izzo wants to downplay a potential record-tying Big Ten title. Afterall, both he and his team have work yet to do. There is no sense counting titles before they are hatched. But towards the end of his musings on the subject he did have to admit that "getting 11 of them in 30 years would be something special."
'Something special' is exactly correct.
The record books currently show two other coaches at the top of the list when it comes to Big Ten titles. The first man to reach the 11-title mark was former Purdue Coach Ward "Piggy" Lambert. He was the coach for the Boilermakers from 1917 to 1946. Lambert dominated the Big Ten back then, claiming those 11 titles over a 20 year span. Lambert also won a National Title in 1932. Back that was a different era.
More recently, Bobby Knight was able to tie Lambert's record by winning 11 Big Ten Championships in a 20 year span between 1973 and 1993. His Indiana Hoosiers were the dominant force in the Big Ten land back then, as also evidenced by Knights' five Final Fours and three National Titles.
The Spartans are just one game away for adding Izzo to the top of this very exclusive list.
Izzo himself would probably be the first to mention, in his usual self-deprecated manner, that the reason that has been able to rack up all these records is because he has been around for so long. A part of that is true, but there are a lot of good reasons as to why Coach Izzo has been around for so long.
Wisconsin coach Greg Gard commented on this topic following the game on Sunday. He highlighted the fact that Izzo has been in East Lansing for 42 years, 30 of which he had been the head man.
"The thing I appreciate so much about Coach (Izzo) is that he's withstood the test of time," Gard said. "Now he has got the most wins in Big Ten history. That isn't going to happen in today's era... It's just a tribute to Tom, and it's a tribute to Michigan State. I know he hasn't had many down years, but if there ever was, he's as good as he gets, and he's great for college basketball."
Izzo also said that "records are made to be broken." That is true as well. But as Coach Gard also mentioned, the world in general and the world of college sports is increasingly focused on instant gratification. How how Big Ten programs are going to allow their coaches to hang around for 30 years?
The records that Izzo is breaking or tying will likely be around for a long time. As for the all-time win record, many have speculated that Purdue's Matt Painter, who is 16 years younger and roughly 120 wins behind Izzo, might have a chance to catch Izzo one day. Painter would need to average 12 Big Ten wins a season and coach for 10 years after Izzo retires.
That might be possible, as long as Painter continues to win, he is willing to keep coaching, and Purdue's administration is willing to allow him to coach into his late 60s. The future will tell us if any of those things are true.
While breaking the all-time Big Ten win record earlier in the season got more media attention, tying the all-time record for championships is likely a bigger accomplishment. If nothing else teams simply play more Big Ten games now than they did 30 years ago. It's easier to rack of wins when one has more opportunities per year.
But the situation is just the opposite when it comes to Big Ten regular season championships. Unlike total wins, winning the title gets harder as the conference adds more teams. When Coach Izzo first arrived in East Lansing, the Spartans only needed to beat out nine other teams to claim a title. Today, they have to be better than 17 other teams.
Even if the more humble aspects of Coach Izzo's personality want to downplay the potentially impending record in play is week, it's kind of a big deal. While records are meant to be broken, this one, like Coach Izzo himself, is built for the long haul.
Update on the Big Ten race
As Tom Izzo was pondering the question about all-time records, the magic number for the Michigan State Spartans in the Big Ten race was equal to two. But before some of the media members even made it home from the game, the Fighting Illini had completing their thrashing of the Michigan Wolverines.
By the time the dust had settled on Sunday evening, Michigan State held a one-game lead over Michigan with just two games left of the schedule. The Spartans' magic number is down to just one.
Michigan State can potentially clinch a Big Ten title as early as Wednesday evening. Michigan hosts Maryland and a win by the Terrapins would result in at least a share of the Big Ten title for the Spartans. Advanced metrics project that Michigan is likely to be just a one-point favorite against Maryland, so that game is a virtual coin flip.
If the Wolverines get the win on Wednesday, the Spartans will have a chance on Thursday night to claim at least a share of the title in Iowa City against the Hawkeyes. If Michigan loses to Maryland, there would be the opportunity for Michigan State to solidify an outright title on Thursday. The Spartans currently project to be around a seven-point favorite over Iowa, which translates to a 76% chance of a victory for the Green and White.
In the scenario where Michigan beats Maryland and Michigan State loses to Iowa, this Sunday's Senior Day finale against the Wolverines in Breslin Center on March 9 will become a winner-takes-all showdown for a Big Ten title. Michigan State is projected to be a seven-point favorite over Michigan.
When all of this data is taken together, there is a 36% chance that Michigan State clinches an outright Big Ten title before the Wolverines step foot into East Lansing. There is a 52% chance that Michigan will have a chance to tie the Spartans for a Big Ten title next Sunday. There is just a 13% chance that the game on March 9 will decide the sole champion.
In total, there is a 97% chance that Michigan State at least shares in the Big Ten title and a 84% chance that the title in an outright one.
As for seeding in the Big Ten Tournament, is is very likely that Michigan State will earn the No. 1 seed, but there are a few rare scenarios where the Spartans finish with the No. 2 seed.
First, there is the 3% chance that the Michigan beats Maryland and the Spartans collapse by losing the final two games. In this scenario, Michigan State would finish a game behind the Wolverines in the final standings.
Seconds, there is a 5% chance of the following scenario. Michigan beats Maryland and Michigan State beats Iowa. Michigan then upsets Michigan State in Breslin to force a tie for first place at 16-4. The key point for the tiebreaker is the relative finish of Purdue and UCLA. Michigan split with Purdue and beat UCLA (a record of 2-1). Michigan State beat Purdue, but lost at UCLA (1-1).
Basically, the only way for Michigan to win a tiebreaker with Michigan State is for UCLA to finish in at least a tie with Purdue in the final standings. After head-to-head performance (where Michigan State and Michigan are split in this scenario), the next tiebreaker is performance against the next highest group of teams in the standings.
Note that both teams are 1-0 against Maryland and Wisconsin, so the placement of those two teams in the final standings are irrelevant.
UCLA has just one game left. The Bruin project to be a 9.5-point favorite at home against USC, so it is likely that they will finish 13-7 in Big Ten play. Purdue is currently 12-6 with games remaining against Rutgers (+10.5) and at Illinois (-2.5 projected). If Purdue loses either game, they will finish no better than 13-7.
Right now there is just over a 50-50 chance that this scenario will come to pass. There is a very real chance that the final game of the season at Breslin Center will determine Big Ten Tournament seeding.
Tom Izzo is on the brink of tying another Big Ten record and he may not have realized it. While he remains focused on making another run in March, winning his 11th Big Ten title might be the record that will stand the time of time.
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