The
Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent
Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and white.
The university participates in the NCAA's Division I-A and in the Big Ten Conference in all Varsity sports except ice hockey, which competes in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Michigan State offers 11 varsity sports for men and 12 for women.
The university's athletic director is Mark Hollis, who was promoted to the position on January 1, 2008. Hollis replaced Ron Mason, who also served as head hockey coach from 1979 to 2002, retiring with a 608–261–64 record at MSU.
MSU's football team has won or shared four national championships in 1951, 1952, 1965, and 1966, and has won the Rose Bowl in 1954, 1956, and 1988. Its men's basketball team won the NCAA National Championship in 1979 and 2000. The MSU men's ice hockey has won national titles in 1966, 1986, and 2007. MSU's golf team won the Big Ten Championship in 1969 and again in 2005.
In 1925, the institution changed its names to Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science, and as an agricultural school, its teams were referred to as the Aggies. Looking to move beyond its agricultural roots, Michigan State held a contest to find a new nickname. They decided to call the teams the "Michigan Staters". Local sports writers for the Lansing State Journal and the Capital News went through the losing entries to find a shorter and more heroic name. They decided on the "Spartans". By coincidence, Justin Morrill had once compared the Land Grant colleges to the schools of ancient Sparta. With a heroic name and a historic precedent, the "Spartans" quickly caught on as the teams' new nickname. Within a few years, the College changed the lyrics of the Fight Song to reflect the name change of the College and its sports teams.
MSU's men's basketball team has won the National Championship twice: in 1979 and 2000. In 1979, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, along with Greg Kelser, Jay Vincent, and Mike Brkovich, carried the MSU team to a 75–64 win against the Larry Bird-led Indiana State Sycamores. In 2000, three players from Flint, Michigan, Morris Peterson, Charlie Bell,[21] and Mateen Cleaves carried the team to its second national title. Dubbed the "Flintstones", they were the key to the Spartans' win against the University of Florida.
On December 13, 2003, Michigan State and Kentucky played at the most-attended basketball game in history, when they played a match in front of 78,130 at Ford Field, a stadium in Detroit. Kentucky won 79–74. Since 1995, Michigan State has been coached by Tom Izzo, who has a 309–131 record. Izzo's coaching helped the team make four of seven NCAA Final Fours from 1999 to 2005, winning the title in 2000. Michigan State basketball has been selected for 11 consecutive NCAA tournament bids from 1998 to 2008, making four final fours during that span. Overall, Michigan State has made it to the final four six times and has made 23 NCAA Tournament appearances.
Spartans formerly or currently in the NBA include Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Greg Kelser, Jay Vincent, Steve Smith, Scott Skiles, Jason Richardson, Mateen Cleaves, Alan Anderson, Zach Randolph, Morris Peterson, Eric Snow, Charlie Bell, Shannon Brown, Maurice Ager and Paul Davis.
MSU also has a women's basketball team. Suzy Merchant took over as head coach in 2007, and replaced Joanne P. McCallie who left MSU to coach for Duke University. Before coming to Michigan State, Merchant spent nine years as head coach of Eastern Michigan University's team, where she won the most games in the school's history. During the 2007–2008 season, the team won more games, 23, than any other Big Ten team.
Team Website: http://msuspartans.cstv.com
School Website: http://www.umich.edu
