NCAA notes: Cut down or leave the nets?

INDIANAPOLIS - Old-school basketball coaches Tom Izzo and Mike Krzyzewski still have touchy-feely moments that some may consider a little too new-age.

Both Michigan State's Izzo and Duke legend Krzyzewski support their teams cutting down nets after regional championships. Some people suggest it's a premature celebration, especially when there's a bigger prize at stake. But both coaches disagree.

'You're a champion of a region. In other words, you're a Final Four team,” Krzyzewski said. 'This is my 40th year as a head coach. Starting out coaching, I always felt that if you crossed the bridge to the Final Four, you got to the Promised Land. To me the biggest win overall, besides the national championship, is a regional championship because there's so much pressure on a coach and a staff to get there. You're judged, first of all, by the Final Four, and then national championships. So, no, it's a big deal.”

'I think it's a memory-making moment,” Izzo said. 'Championships, whether it's beginning of the year, it's a Christmas tournament, Thanksgiving Day, I think teams have to learn (it's) hard to win championships. That means you've done something, you've won a game, then you have to win another game. The regionals kind of gives you that.”

Krzyzewski has guided 12 Duke teams to the Final Four. Izzo now has seven Final Four banners.

SPARTY AN UNDERDOG?

Few people in Big Ten country ever consider Michigan State an underdog. Yet that's how the Spartans fancy themselves entering their national semifinal against Duke on Saturday.

The teams played Nov. 18 at Indianapolis at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, and the Blue Devils won 81-71. Michigan State (27-11) was a No. 7 seed and won three times this tournament as a lower-seeded team. Duke (33-4) claimed its regional title as a No. 1 seed.

'The other three teams here are No. 1 seeds,” Michigan State point guard Travis Trice said. 'They definitely have more McDonalds All-Americans, more star power than we do. At the same time, I feel that's kind of what drove us to get here - us-against-the-world mentality. That's helped us get through the season.”

Michigan State, which has won eight of its last nine games, is a five-point underdog against Duke. Fellow Big Ten squad Wisconsin (35-3) also is a five-point underdog to Kentucky (38-0). Michigan State's only loss in that span was in overtime to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament title game.

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