Tom Izzo 'frustrated' with Michigan State vs. Minnesota rescheduling, which seems in peril
EAST LANSING — Tom Izzo is miffed. To say the least.
He wants Michigan State basketball to make up its postponement with Minnesota. The Golden Gophers seemingly want to as well.
Yet the Big Ten has yet to rearrange schedules to accommodate the game originally scheduled for Feb. 15 at Breslin Center that was called off in the wake of the campus shooting that left three MSU students dead and five others seriously injured.
“In the last 10 days since this has happened, I've had a lot of things on my plate. One is not to be the commissioner or the head of the Big Ten or the scheduling man or any of those people,” Izzo said after practice Thursday, with the Spartans preparing for Saturday’s game at Iowa. “So, yeah, I'm a little frustrated. Next question.”
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MSU (17-10, 9-7 Big Ten) lost Saturday at Michigan in its first game back after the Feb. 13 shooting, then beat Indiana, 80-65, Tuesday in its first home game since the incident. They play the Hawkeyes at noon Saturday (ESPN), at Nebraska on Tuesday and have the regular-season finale at home March 4 against Ohio State.
The Gophers (7-19, 1-15) played a makeup game Monday at Illinois, losing 78-69, in a game rescheduled due to COVID issues for Minnesota. Coach Ben Johnson’s team has three other games remaining: Saturday at Nebraska, Thursday at home against Rutgers and Sunday at Wisconsin.
The Cornhuskers’ home games with MSU and Minnesota are locked in due to state basketball tournaments being played next week at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska. That would leave the Minnesota-Rutgers game being moved as potentially the only way to get the Spartans’ postponement rescheduled. However, Scarlet Knights coach Steve Pikiell nixed that ideal, telling reporters after losing to Michigan on Thursday night that Rutgers would not change next week’s scheduled game with Minnesota due to travel logistics.
“I'm frustrated, I'm not gonna lie to you,” Izzo said. “I'm frustrated with the Big Ten office, I'm frustrated with the way it's gone. I said I thought I'd know something. I'd think by today or tomorrow, we have no choice but to know something. But I'm disappointed — disappointed in the way it's been handled, if I was to be honest with you. …
“There is NOTHING clear. That's my disappointment. Nothing.”
If the MSU-Minnesota game is canceled, the Big Ten has precedent in how to deal with handling seeding for the upcoming conference tournament, which runs March 8-12 in Chicago.
During the 2020-21 season, three Big Ten teams did not play the full 20-game schedule due to COVID-19 issues —including league champion Michigan, which finished 14-3 with three games canceled. Purdue, Indiana, Penn State, Northwestern and Nebraska each played 19 games that season. Winning percentage was used to determine Big Ten tournament seeding.
The Spartans played every conference game in 2020-21, and all 14 teams played each of their 20 games last season.
“It's also a tough situation where I don't know if multiple teams have to move (games),” Izzo said of the ongoing MSU-Minnesota scheduling situation. “I have not gotten into the weeds of that, I've had enough problems of my own. I'm not trying to run the Big Ten office or the scheduling department. But I'm not real pleased by the way that it's gone about and the communication. But it is what it is.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tom Izzo wants Michigan State basketball-Minnesota game rescheduled
