After rolling over Northern Kentucky Sunday night, Kentucky finds it's self staring down the #2 team in the country, Michigan State. It's somewhat unusual to see the number one and two ranked teams go head to head so early in the season, but one thing's for sure, it's going to be one helluva game.
Here's a little rundown of MSU to get you prepared for the game tomorrow night…
HISTORY OF MSU:
EST: 1855
ENROLLMENT: 47,954
LOCATION: East Lansing, Michigan
COLORS: Green/White
NICKNAME: Spartans
MASCOT: Sparty
CONFERENCE: Big Ten
MSU's mens basketball team has won two National Titles in it's history, once in 1979 and again in 2000. Kentucky and Michigan State participated in an event known as "Basketbowl" at Ford Field in Detroit that attracted a record crowd of 78,129.
Tom Izzo has led the Spartans to 6 Final Fours since 1999 and won the National Title in 2000. He has coached MSU to 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances beginning in 1998.
The Spartans ended last season with a record of 27-9 when they were defeated by Duke in the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament by a score of 71-61,
UK vs. MSU SERIES HISTORY:
The series began in 1935 when MSU won the first ever match-up between the two schools. Kentucky leads the overall series 12-10 with the last meeting coming in 2005 in the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament where the Cats lost 94-88 in double overtime.
This will be one heck of test for a very young, very talented Kentucky team, something that will no doubt help by seasons end.
Michigan State has opened up as 3.5 point favorite tomorrow night and rightfully so. Kentucky is unproven at this point in the season and Michigan State is an extremely veteran team with a lot of talent of their own. It will be interesting to see how these Wildcats will respond to such a tough test this early in the season and should be a good measuring stick for what they will need to work on going forward with the season.
UK and MSU is set to tip off the Champions Classic tomorrow night at 7:30pm and something tells me this game will have a NCAA Tournament feel to it.
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