MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS

The 'Michigan State Spartans' are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 22 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty. 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 14 varsity sports for men and 15 for women.
The university's current Athletic Director is Ron Mason, who served as head hockey coach from 1979 to 2002, retiring with a 608-261-64 record at MSU.^[1] MSU's marching band plays the fight song at every university event, and both students and alumni sing along. Michigan State University is the only NCAA Division I Athletic program to have multiple National Championships in football, basketball, and hockey. Michigan State University was the first program to win multiple National Championships in both football and basketball.
MSU's football team has won or shared 6 national championships 1951,1952,1955,1957,1965 & 1966 (some listing organizations only recognize 1952,1965 & 1966 as there is much controversey over determining pre 1960 champions) 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.

Contents

History

Varsity Sports

Men's basketball

Football

Ice hockey

Notes

See also

External links

History

As an agricultural college, the school's origin mascot was the Aggies. However, in 1925, the institution changed its names to 'Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science'. 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.^[2] 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.

Rose Bowls[3]
'1954'	Michigan State	28	UCLA	20
'1956'	Michigan State	17	UCLA	14
'1966'	UCLA	14	Michigan State	12
'1988'	Michigan State	20	Southern California	17

As the college grew in size, it looked to join a major collegiate conference. When the University of Chicago eliminated varsity football and withdrew from the Western Conference (now the Big Ten) in 1946, Michigan State president John A. Hannah lobbied hard to take its place. The Big Ten finally admitted M.S.C. in 1949. After joining the conference, head football coach Clarence L. "Biggie" Munn led the Spartan football team to the Rose Bowl in the 1953-54 season, beating UCLA 28-20.^[4] Successor coach Hugh "Duffy" Daugherty lead the football team to a second Rose Bowl where it again defeated UCLA, 17-14.^[5]

In more recent years, Michigan State's successes and failures in the Final Four have led to clashes involving the police in 1997,^[6] 1998,^[7] and 1999.^[8] Local and national news referred to the disturbances as riots. After several years without any major incidents, another disturbance broke out on April 2, 2005 after the North Carolina's men's basketball team defeated MSU in the 2005 NCAA Final Four.^[9] Officially called a "civil disturbance," the ensuing violence sparked accusations of police brutality in East Lansing.

Varsity Sports

Michigan State has 22 NCAA Division I-A varsity teams: 14 varsity sports for men and 15 for women. They participate in the Big Ten Conference in all Varsity sports except ice hockey, which competes in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.
Golf has had a long tradition at MSU. Hall of Fame Coach Bruce Fossum led MSU to its first Big Ten title in 1969. The Big Ten title would elude the Spartans until 2005, when arguably, the best team ever assembled, took home the rings in stellar fashion. Not only did the Spartans win the Big Ten Championship in 2005, but they captured two other titles along the way and rose all the way to #5 in the U.S.
Former Michigan State players who formerly played or currently play in Major League Baseball include Kirk Gibson, Steve Garvey, Robin Roberts, and Mark Mulder. Olympic gold medalists include Allan Kwartler, Sevatheda Fynes, and Frederick Alderman.

Men's basketball

Main articles: Michigan State Spartans men's basketball

'Retired Basketball Jerseys'
'Number'	'Player'	'Years'
4	Scott Skiles	1982-1986
12	Mateen Cleaves	1996-2000
21	Steve Smith	1987-1991
24	Johnny Green	1955-1958
24	Shawn Respert	1991-1995
31	Jay Vincent	1978-1981
32	Greg Kelser	1976-1979
33	Earvin "Magic" Johnson	1977-1979
Coach	Jud Heathcote	1976-1995

The team currently plays at the Breslin Student Events Center. MSU's men's basketball team has won the National Championship in both the 1979 tournament and 2000 tournament. The 1979 National Championship story line was highly touted as Magic vs. Bird and was achieved by MVP Magic Johnson and Greg Kelser helping defeat the then undefeated Indiana State Sycamores, led by future NBA hall of famer Larry Bird. The 2000 National Championship was achieved by Morris Peterson, Charlie Bell, and MVP Mateen Cleaves leading the team in a victory over the University of Florida.
On December 13, 2003, Michigan State and Kentucky played at the most-attended basketball game in history, when they held a match in front of 78,130 at Ford Field, a stadium in Detroit. Kentucky won 79-74.^[10] Since 1995, the team has been coached by Tom Izzo, who has a 278-120 record.^[11] Izzo's coaching helped the team make four of nine NCAA Final Fours from 1999-2007, winning the title in 2000.
Michigan State basketball has been selected for ten consecutive NCAA tournament bids from 1998-2007, 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, Johnny Green, Jay Vincent, Steve Smith, Scott Skiles, Sam Vincent, Shawn Respert, Eric Snow, Jason Richardson, Mateen Cleaves, Alan Anderson, Maurice Ager, Paul Davis, Shannon Brown, Zach Randolph, Morris Peterson, and Charlie Bell.

Football

Main articles: Michigan State Spartans football

Football has a long tradition at Michigan State. Starting as a club sport in 1884, football gained varsity status in 1896.^[12] In the 1950's, MSU led the nation in desegregation, allowing black athletes in all sports.
During the 1950s when Detroit was known as the world's leading automobile manufacturer, Michigan State was often referred to as the nation's "football factory." It was then that the Spartans churned out such impressive models as Lynn Chandnois, Dorne Dibble, Don McAulliffe, Tom Yewcic, Sonny Grandelius, Earl Morrall and Dean Look. In 1951, the Spartans finished undefeated and untied to claim a share of the national championship with Tennessee. The following year the team was again unbeaten and untied. They ended the 1952 season with the nation's longest winning streak (24 games) and were named the undisputed national champions by every official poll.
After waiting for several years, the team was finally admitted into the Big 10 as a regular member in 1953. They promptly went on to capture the league championship (losing only one game during the season) and beating UCLA in their first Rose Bowl game. After the 1953 season Biggie Munn, the legendary Spartan coach, turned the team over to his protégé and future legend Duffy Daugherty. He won the Rose Bowl in 1954 and 1956. George Perles was the head coach when the Spartans defeated USC in the Rose Bowl in January of 1988.
All told, Michigan State has won or shared a total of 6 national championships (1951, 1952, 1955, 1957, 1965 and 1966) and nine Big Ten championships. The team is known for placing some of the most talented players in the NFL, where currently 20 former Spartans are playing.
Today, the football team competes in Spartan Stadium, a renovated 75,005 person football stadium in the center of campus. The current coach is Mark Dantonio, who was hired on November 27, 2006.^[13] Dantonio had an 18-17 record in his three year tenure at the University of Cincinnati, including a 1-0 Bowl Game record.^[14] Dantonio replaced John L. Smith, who finished with a 22-26 record as the Spartans' head man.^[15]
MSU's traditional archrival is the University of Michigan, against whom they compete for the Paul Bunyan Trophy. MSU is traditionally the underdog, with a 28-66-5 record in the annual game.^[16] Michigan State is one of three Big Ten teams to have an annual non-conference football game against Notre Dame. MSU's record against the Fighting Irish is 25-44-1.^[17]
Former Spartans in the National Football League include Morten Andersen, Plaxico Burress, Andre Rison, Derrick Mason, Muhsin Muhammad, T.J. Duckett, Flozell Adams, Julian Peterson, Charles Rogers, Earl Morrall, Wayne Fontes and Bubba Smith. On the American Football League's All-Time Team are tight-end Fred Arbanas and safety George Saimes.

Ice hockey

The men's ice hockey team plays at the Munn Ice Arena. The current head coach is Rick Comley, who has a 116-73-19 record at MSU.^[18] Since the Big Ten Conference does not cover Division I ice hockey, Michigan State competes in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Along with the University of Michigan and the Ohio State University, it is one of three Big Ten schools in the CCHA.

As with other sports, the hockey rivalry between MSU and U-M is a fierce one, though MSU's rivalry against Lake Superior State University has grown in recent years. On October 6, 2001, the team was involved in the most-attended hockey game in history: The Cold War. The Spartans set up a hockey rink in the middle of their football stadium, Spartan Stadium and played U-M before a crowd of 74,554. The game ended in a 3-3 tie.^[19]
The MSU ice hockey program has seven CCHA regular season championships and 11 CCHA Tournament titles. MSU has also won 11 Great Lakes Invitational titles. The Spartans have been in the NCAA tournament 23 times, with nine Frozen Four appearances and three national titles (1966, 1986, and 2007). On April 7, 2007 the Michigan State Spartans won their third Collegiate Championship by beating the Boston College Eagles 3-1. ^[20]
Two players for MSU have won the Hobey Baker Award: Kip Miller in 1990 and Ryan Miller in 2001.
Former Michigan State players in the National Hockey League include Rod Brind'Amour, Anson Carter, Adam Hall, John-Michael Liles, Mike York brothers Kelly Miller and Kip Miller, as well as their cousins Ryan Miller and Drew Miller.

Notes

1. "Player Bio: Ron Mason. ''MSU Spartans.com''. Accessed April 13, 2007.
2. Kuhn 1955, p. 305.
3. "Rose Bowl Games". ''College Football Data Warehouse''. Accessed April 14, 2007.
4. "Yearly Bowl Games, 1953". ''College Football Data Warehouse''. Accessed April 14, 2007.
5. "Yearly Bowl Games, 1955". ''College Football Data Warehouse''. Accessed April 14, 2007.
6. Terlep, Sharon. "E.L. turmoil angers city". ''The State News''. September 9, 1997.
7. Mullin, Greg. "17 arrested in weekend riot". ''The State News''. May 4, 1998.
8. Staff reports. "Thousands of revelers crowd streets in violent, fiery riot". ''The State News''. March 28, 1999.
9. Phillips, Lauren. "Police, student actions disputed". ''The State News''. April 4, 2005. Accessed April 12, 2007.
10. MSU Spartans.com Men's Basketball Falls To No. 8 Kentucky, 79-74.
11. MSU Spartans.com Player Bio: Tom Izzo.
12. They Are Spartans, Grinczel, Steve., , , Arcadia Publishing, 2003, ISBN 0-7385-3214-2 p. 9.
13. "Michigan State Looks to Cincinnati for Coach". ''New York Times''. November 27, 2006. Accessed April 13, 2007.
14. "Michigan State hires former Cincy coach Dantonio". ''ESPN.com''. November 27, 2006. Accessed April 13, 2007.
15. "Michigan State Coaching Records. ''College Football Data Warehouse''. Accessed April 14, 2007.
16. "Michigan State vs. Michigan". ''College Football Data Warehouse''. Accessed April 13, 2007.
17. "Michigan State vs. Notre Dame". ''College Football Data Warehouse''. Accessed April 13, 2007.
18. MSU Spartans.com Player Bio: Rick Comley.
19. MSU Spartans.com. Spartan Hockey Ties Wolverines In Front Of Record Crowd. October 6, 2001.
20. Last-Minute Tally Hands Spartans Third NCAA Title Michigan State scores three times in the final period to beat Boston College 3-1. April 7, 2007.

See also

★ Michigan State University

★ Michigan State Spartans football

★ List of Michigan State Spartans championships

External links

★ Official MSU athletics site.

★ Complete Catalog & History of Michigan State Football Jerseys, Helmets and Pants