Tag: Michigan State Spartans

Tom Izzo and Greg Kampe wore matching Grinch sweaters while coaching against each other

You probably haven’t seen this one before.

Something strange happened: The Michigan State and Oakland head coaches intentionally wore the same outfit to coach against each other.

Michigan State’s Izzo and Oakland’s Kampe played in Detroit at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday. Izzo has led his Spartans to eight Final Four appearances, earning a title in 2000. He is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Kampe has coached at Oakland, in Michigan, since 1984. You may remember Kampe as a beloved character from the 2024 NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Last year, his program upset No. 3 Kentucky during the first round of March Madness.

Last night was not the first time he has worn an ugly sweater around this time of year, making headlines for this heinous 3-D moose outfit in 2016.

But getting Izzo to join in on the fun was a particularly nice touch.

After the game, the two coaches sat down for a rare but thrilling joint press conference.

Izzo made fun of Kampe for buying the “ugliest sweaters” ever and teased him for actually paying for the purchase.

Kampe also made jokes about his own team getting hurt during warmups.

The whole exchange was absurd and hilarious and we need more content of Izzo and Kampe together.

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Three stars for Iowa women’s basketball vs. Michigan State

Three stars from Iowa women’s basketball’s tough battle inside the Breslin Center against Michigan State.

After a thrilling Wednesday night victory over No. 17 Iowa State from Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa women’s basketball (9-2, 0-1 Big Ten) suffered their second loss of the season and first conference defeat at No. 19 Michigan State (10-0, 1-0 Big Ten) on Sunday from East Lansing, Mich., 68-66.

While both teams shared relative shooting struggles throughout the contest, with the Hawkeyes finishing with a 36.5% clip from the floor and 36.0% from deep, Iowa’s 23 total turnovers and an ice-cold finish to the game buried their hopes of exiting Breslin Center victorious.

In terms of the Hawkeyes’ defense, they finished with 14 forced turnovers, including five blocks and five steals. The Hawkeyes also outrebounded the Spartans, 44-35.

Even with Michigan State going on a furious scoring run late in the fourth quarter, the Hawkeyes found themselves with an opportunity to take the lead in the waning seconds of the game, but a missed elbow jumper from senior guard Lucy Olsen put an end to the Hawkeyes’ last-ditch effort.

Despite the close loss to Michigan State, here are three Hawkeyes that stood out in Sunday’s game.

Hannah Stuelke

Stuelke continued her stellar play as of late on Sunday by posting a team-high 18 points on 4-of-10 (40%) shooting from the field and 10-of-14 (71.4%) from the charity stripe. She also added eight rebounds, two assists, and one block to her 34 minutes of playing time.

Despite the loss, Stuelke’s performance was her team-leading sixth game this season with eight or more rebounds and her 46th career game in double figures.

Kylie Feuerbach

Feuerbach had a steady showing from beyond the arc with all 12 points coming from her 4-of-7 (57.2%) performance from deep. She also added three rebounds, two assists, and one block to close out her 27 minutes of game time.

Feuerbach’s four treys tied her career-high for 3-pointers against a Big Ten team.

Taylor McCabe

Even though McCabe played only 12 minutes, McCabe managed to knock down a pair of 3-pointers.

For McCabe, her ability to inject offense in her minimal time off the bench gives head coach Jan Jensen the confidence to provide her starters a rest while not jeopardizing Iowa’s offensive production.

The Hawkeyes’ next game will be on Friday, Dec. 20, vs. Northern Iowa (5-5) from Carver-Hawkeye Arena, with tipoff set for 6:30 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on BTN+ (subscription required) and the Hawkeye Radio Network.

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Alabama flips Michigan State running back commitment to Crimson Tide

Alabama has flipped another Big Ten commitment.

After a prediction was logged last night, Michigan State Spartans running back commit Jace Clarizio has now officially flipped his commitment to the Alabama Crimson Tide, making the announcement Tuesday afternoon via a post on social media.

Clarizio had previously been committed to the Spartans since May of 2024, and was one of the highest-ranked members of Michigan State’s class.

A native of East Lansing, Michigan, Clarizio is ranked as a three-star in the 2025 class, considered as the nation’s No. 493 overall prospect according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Clarizio also ranks as the nation’s No. 37 overall running back, as well as the No. 6 player in the state of Michigan.

Following the commitment of Clarizio, Alabama’s 2025 class now holds a total of 22 commitments, and ranks at No. 2 nationally. Clarizio is also the second running back in the Crimson Tide’s class, joined by four-star Akylin Dear.

The newest Alabama commitment is the fourth three-star prospect in Alabama’s 2025 class as well.

Alabama predicted to flip running back commit from Big Ten team

Could another flip be coming soon?

As the Early Signing Period approaches in early December, flip targets start to become clearer by the day for the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Now a little over a week from flipping former Michigan Wolverines safety commit Ivan Taylor as well, the Crimson Tide have now been predicted to flip yet another commitment from a Big Ten program, this time coming in current Michigan State Spartans commit Jace Clarizio.

The prediction was made Monday night by 247Sports recruiting analysts Tom Loy and Brett Greenberg, with the two placing a crystal ball for the Crimson Tide to flip the Michigan State commit.

Clarizio, a native of East Lansing, Michigan, is considered as the nation’s No. 493 overall player in the 2025 class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings out of East Lansing High School in Michigan. A three-star running back, Clarizio also ranks as the nation’s No. 37 overall player at the position, as well as the No. 6 player in the state of Michigan.

The three-star has been committed to Michigan State since May of 2024, and will be a key name to watch for between now and the Early Signing Period.

Colorado MBB to open Maui Invitational against Michigan State

Colorado will face Michigan State this afternoon in the Maui Invitational

The 4-0 Colorado men’s basketball team will get its first taste of high-level competition this week in the Maui Invitational. The Buffs will open the early-season tournament on Monday against the 4-1 Michigan State Spartans.

Head coach Tad Boyle and the Buffs are entering the Hawaii invitational coming off a solid 88-66 victory over the Harvard Crimson last week, although their first four games were far from smooth.

Senior forward Andrej Jakimovski leads CU in scoring, averaging 14.3 points per game. Elijah Malone has fit in comfortably at center after transferring from the NAIA level, logging 14.0 points and 5.8 rebounds through four contests.

Colorado has an opportunity to face some of the nation’s premier men’s college basketball programs in Maui. UConn, the back-to-back reigning national champions, highlight these potential opponents, but the Auburn Tigers, Iowa State Cyclones and North Carolina Tar Heels are also in the field.

The Buffs and Spartans will battle on Monday at 3 p.m. MT on ESPN2.

Depending on what happens in the first round, Colorado will face either UConn or Memphis on Tuesday.

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Duke women’s soccer reaches national quarterfinals after Michigan State victory

The Duke women’s soccer team shut out its third straight NCAA Tournament opponent on Sunday night, advancing to the quarterfinals.

The Duke women’s soccer team played its third NCAA Tournament game of the year at Koskinen Stadium on Sunday night, and Leah Freeman still hasn’t allowed a goal.

The Blue Devils smothered the Michigan State Spartans for a 2-0 victory in the third round, clinching a berth in the Elite Eight in head coach Robbie Church’s final season.

In similar fashion to its second-round win over Texas Tech, Duke spent most of the opening half in a scoreless draw. Midfielder Carina Lageyre and forward Devin Lynch, both juniors, eventually solved that problem with two goals on opposite sides of the break, but the Blue Devils’ defense gave them a massive margin for error.

The Spartans never got a shot going toward the goal, only getting three off during the entire night.

“I think that starts from our front line,” fifth-year midfielder Katie Groff said after the game. “We don’t talk about defending the goal that much, we talk about defending the halfway line and probably communicating…We just try to be disciplined and organized. You know, sometimes there’s a time for last ditch defending, but we like to eliminate everything else leading up to that.”

Michigan State keeper Kaitlyn Parks ended the game with 10 saves, but with the Blue Devils firing off 29 shots for the game, the Spartans never stood a chance.

Sunday night’s victory was the Blue Devils’ third consecutive shutout to open the NCAA Tournament. Duke defeated Howard 8-0 in the opening round before a 3-0 victory over the Red Raiders on Friday, giving the team a 13-0 cumulative score through the postseason.

Church and the Blue Devils get nearly a week off before a Saturday game against the Virginia Tech Hokies, another battle within Koskinen Stadium. A victory would send them to the College Cup for the first time since 2017 and the fifth time in program history.

How Michigan State’s Nick Sanders is related to Lions legend Barry Sanders

There’s a reason Nick Sanders looks a bit familiar.

Hey, are you a sports fan who was born between 1960 and 2000? And you’re currently watching a Michigan State basketball game?

If so, one of the walk-ons at the end of the Spartans’ bench may look pretty familiar to you. Yes, that is Nick Sanders. Yes, the son of Barry Sanders.

The resemblance is striking enough that it should’ve been a dead giveaway.

Nick is one of Sanders’ four children — his older brother Barry James Sanders played college football at Stanford and later Oklahoma State, following his father’s footsteps.

At Michigan State, Sanders walked onto the team as a freshman in 2022 after graduating from Michigan high school athletics powerhouse Detroit Country Day.

He’s appeared in 16 games entering his junior season having shot 1-6 for his career from the field with one turnover and three points. Typically, if Sanders is entering the game, it means a Spartans victory has been clinched.

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Michigan’s Colston Loveland dropped a petty ‘Lil bro’ comment after postgame scuffle with Michigan State

Michigan won the game and kept on attacking.

Michigan may be the reigning national champions, and Michigan State may be in the first year of a rebuild under head coach Jonathan Smith, but absolutely none of that matters when the two in-state rivals met up on Saturday.

Both were out for blood. Both on the scoreboard, and seemingly, on the field after the final whistle. As Michigan knelt out the clock on a 24-17 victory under the lights at the Big House, a scuffle ensued and the teams had to be separated.

No one is really surprised to see the emotions boil over in such a heated rivalry, but it was the way Michigan’s Colston Loveland described the kerfuffle that’s likely to keep raising those tensions.

Yep. That’s Loveland with a call back to Mike Hart’s infamous “little brother” comment. That’s also bound to sting a little bit more on Saturday considering MSU opened the scoring with a 7-0 lead in the first quarter before the Wolverines rattled off 16 straight points to yank the lead away for good.

Suddenly we’re already counting down the days until these two teams meet in East Lansing next year.

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Updated Big Ten football standings after Week 8: Indiana and Oregon in first-place tie

Could we get an Oregon vs. Indiana Big Ten championship game? Updated Big Ten football standings after Week 8.

While Penn State was off this past week, the Nittany Lions remained one of three undefeated teams in Big Ten play this fall. But Penn State is now, technically, looking up in the updated Big Ten conference standings following the results of Week 8. Indiana and Oregon remained undefeated this season and improved to 4-0 in Big Ten play with blowout wins this weekend. Penn State will not face either team in the regular season, so watching what they do is critical if Penn State can continue to take care of its own schedule the rest of the way. Penn State is gearing up for a challenging three-game stretch beginning with this week’s road trip to Wisconsin.

Wisconsin is seemingly surging at a good time too with another dominant performance on the scoreboard against its opponent. Wisconsin has outscored its last three opponents by a combined score of 117-16 (Rutgers, Northwestern, and Purdue). Of course, the Badgers will also be facing their biggest challenge since playing Alabama and USC in back-to-back weeks in September.

Here is a look at the updated Big Ten football standings at the conclusion of Week 8.

B1G W B1G L W L
Indiana 4 0 7 0
Oregon 4 0 7 0
Penn State 3 0 6 0
Illinois 3 1 6 1
Wisconsin 3 1 5 2
Ohio State 2 1 5 1
Iowa 2 2 4 3
Washington 2 2 4 3
Michigan 2 2 4 3
Michigan State 2 2 4 3
Nebraska 2 2 5 2
Minnesota 2 2 4 3
Northwestern 1 3 3 4
Maryland 1 3 4 3
Rutgers 1 3 4 3
USC 1 4 3 4
UCLA 1 4 2 5
Purdue 0 4 1 6

Indiana, Oregon, Penn State, and Illinois are all officially bowl-eligible. No team in the Big Ten is ineligible for postseason play, but Purdue is now sitting on six losses this season, putting them on the brink of being the first Big Ten to be ruled ineligible for a bowl game this season.

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Top photos from Oregon Ducks’ Big Ten home opener vs. Michigan State

Some of the top photos from the Oregon Ducks’ dominant 31-10 win over the Michigan State Spartans on Friday.

Autzen Stadium is almost 60 years old and there aren’t many firsts left for the facility. But on Friday night, Autzen, the Oregon Ducks and the fans were ready to show out for the first Big Ten Conference game against Michigan State.

The weather was perfect after some rain fell in Eugene earlier in the day, but the new visiting fans quickly found out that it never rains in Autzen Stadium.

With all of the off-the-field festivities out of the way, it was time for the Ducks to play football on the field and they didn’t disappoint. The defense was on point the entire night and Oregon defeated Michigan State 31-10 to move to 5-0 on the season and 2-0 in conference action.

Nearly 60,000 fans left the stadium happy with their team’s effort. But the real test occurs next week as No. 3 Ohio State comes to town.

Here are the best photos from the three-touchdown victory over the Spartans.