Izzo’s unique consistency knocking on Final Four doors

PHOTO: Michigan State coach Tom Izzo opened his 25th straight NCAA tournament guiding the Spartans to a first-round win over USC. Visit my website homepage, TomShanahan.Report By TOM SHANAHAN It’s true a Final Four opportunity escaped Michigan State with the Sweet Sixteen loss to Kansas State, but that’s a backwards view – an over-and-back violation of the program’s 25-year streak of NCAA tournament trips. The drought, after all, is only three seasons! Plenty of schools and coaches –…

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Blame fake wrestling for NCAA women’s Final Four sideshow

PHOTO: LSU's Angel Reese (10) and Iowa's Caitlin Clark lifted their sport in the 2023 NCAA women's Final Four, but the discussion later shifted to taunting. Visit my website homepage, TomShanahan.Report By TOM SHANAHAN We should be still awash in the glow surrounding the 2023 LSU-Iowa NCAA women’s basketball title. The parallels with the 1979 Michigan State-Indiana State men’s championship deserve more discussion. When Michigan State’s Magic Johnson faced Indiana’s State’s Larry Bird, the showdown captivated the nation.…

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Climate change, thankfully, is real in college basketball’s men’s and women’s games

PHOTO: Johnny Juzang drives against Michigan State. By TOM SHANAHAN College basketball is refreshing again. The Final Four -- on both the men’s and women’s sides – has knocked us off our feet two straight nights, the women on Friday in San Antonio and the men Saturday in Indianapolis. The climate change has displaced the predictable air clouding the sport through the previous decade. Kentucky has been blown into the background, watching the NCAA tournament with a 9-16…

Continue ReadingClimate change, thankfully, is real in college basketball’s men’s and women’s games