Let’s see here: Michigan State made the Final Four as a No. 7 seed, so did UConn in 2014. Okay, so what? No biggie. A lot of lower seeds make it to the Final Four. Hell, Michigan State has done it a handful of times with Tom Izzo just in the last decade. It’s not that weird.
But the similarities between the runs don’t end there. In fact, some would say they’re almost identical. Michigan State’s Erik Chard tweeted this statistical comparison on Sunday night, and backup quarterback Damion Terry followed with this side-by-side:
Holy pic.twitter.com/UImrMxLxrn
— Damion Terry (@DamionTerry) March 30, 2015
Not noted is the margin of victory in the Elite Eight game (six points). Also, both teams were led by diminutive point guards Shabazz Napier and Travis Trice. Even Tom Izzo sees the similarity.
“I think my favorite guy in America right now is Kevin Ollie,” Izzo said today of the UConn head coach. “I love Kevin Ollie. I hated him last year at this time, but I love him now. I think he’s kind of shown us the way.”
Of course, it was Ollie’s Huskies who defeated Michigan State in the Elite Eight last year. Just another bizarre occurrence in what’s already been a bizarre tournament run for the Spartans.
