Big Ten Basketball Isn't a Barren Wasteland

So the most consistently dominant men's basketball program of this decade is North Carolina? Connecticut? Duke? Kansas?

Try Michigan State. Of the Big Ten.

In research done by the The Big Lead, Tom Izzo's Spartans stack up as well if not better than any program in the nation from 2000 to the present.

The decade's data:

1. Michigan State - 10-10 tourney trips, 6 Sweet 16s, 4 Final Fours, 1 title

2. Kansas - 10-10 tourney trips, 7 Sweet 16s, 3 Final Fours, 1 title

3. North Carolina - 8-10 tourney trips, 5 Sweet 16s, 4 Final Fours, 1 title

4. Connecticut - 8-10 tourney trips, 5 Sweet 16s, 2 Final Fours, 1 title,

5. Florida - 8-10 tourney trips, 4 Sweet 16s, 3 Final Fours, 2 titles

6. Duke - 10-10 tourney trips, 7 Sweet 16s, 2 Final Fours, 1 title

7. UCLA - 8-10 tourney trips, 6 Sweet 16s, 3 Final Fours, 0 titles

8. Arizona - 10-10 tourney trips, 5 Sweet 16s, 1 Final Four, 0 titles

9. Texas - 10-10 tourney trips, 5 Sweet 16s, 1 Final Four, 0 titles

10. Maryland - 7-10 tourney trips, 3 Sweet 16s, 2 Final Fours, 1 title

I like this. Not because I'm some Big Ten honk. I'm not. My favorite Division I basketball program is New Jersey Tech. We weren't as bad as our 1-30 record this season indicated. We could easily have gone 3-28 with a few good breaks.

But I like Izzo. I watched the last several minutes of MSU's regional semifinal win over Kansas Friday night. You just knew the Spartans would win though they had an uphill battle most of the game. Izzo exuded calm, and so did his team.

With 1:08 left in a skin-tight game, there was a stoppage in play. The ball was in-bounded near Izzo on the sideline. Something a Spartan player on the bench did or said made Izzo laugh.

A shot at a regional final hung in the balance, and the coach still found a moment to enjoy something. The instant the ball was in-bounded, Izzo was again all business. But for that moment, a high-powered college coach was a human being.

He can scream and stomp with the best (or worst) of his peers, and that crazy business he's in would turn Gandhi into Bob Knight. But from what I've seen and heard over the years, Izzo's a good guy.

(I feel the same way about the men's basketball coaches at Iowa, Iowa State and Northern Iowa, for what it's worth.)

I can't imagine the Pitinos and Caliparis and Calhouns of the sport behaving similarly in a similar, pressurized spot.

Again, I'm not a Big Ten banner-waver. But I'd love to see Michigan State take out Connecticut Saturday in the Final Four, and then cut the nets Monday night.