INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – “I love March.”

Said Tom Izzo, the Michigan State University (MSU) Men’s Basketball coach, after the Spartans defeated Northern Iowa in the Sweet Sixteen; however, Izzo probably is not the only person who loves March.

Any college basketball fan that loves March has seen overall number one ranked Kansas get knocked out of the tournament by a mid-major team, or Duke being the only number one seed to make it to the Final Four, or Cornell being the first Ivy league school to make it past the first round since 1998 or calling Saint Mary’s the Australian underdog and hoping that maybe they’d pull off some major upsets. March is unpredictable. No one will know what happens next. Will Butler beat Michigan State? Can West Virginia beat Duke?

Basketball fans filled out their brackets at the beginning of the tournament to see who could predict the champion and earn bragging rights. Only 200 of the five million people with brackets on EPSN.com predicted the Final Four to be Michigan State vs. Butler and Duke vs. West Virginia. Before the tournament began this Final Four had a 1-in-5,000 chance of happening.

The Spartans have been on a journey to return to the Final Four for the second year in a row and for the sixth time in 12 years. In round one they faced New Mexico State. Kalin Lucas, the Spartans’ starting guard, scored a career-high 25 points. If the referees had not called a lane violation against New Mexico State the Spartans may have been unable to maintain their lead and end the game with a 70-67 victory.

In round two, the Spartans had many challenges to overcome against Maryland. Chris Allen, a junior guard, did not start the game or play very much of it because of a foot injury. With just over two minutes left in the first half, MSU’s go-to-guy Kalin Lucas, went down with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Korie Lucious stepped in to replace the injured Lucas and ended up scoring the buzzer beater 3-pointer. Durrell Summers also stepped up with the loss of Lucas and scored 26 points.

Northern Iowa was the mid-major team that knocked out Kansas in the second round and advanced to play the Spartans in the third round. Northern Iowa was unable to upset the Spartans and their NCAA tournament run came to an end with a 59-52 MSU victory. Seven points was the largest margin of victory for the Spartans so far in the tournament. Joe Lunardi, an ESPN bracketologist (someone who analyzes the brackets for the tournaments) predicted that Michigan State would make it to the Sweet Sixteen, but go no further than that. Northern Iowa was unable to make this prediction true and the Spartans advanced.

The Spartans played Tennessee in the Elite Eight, who in the Sweet Sixteen knocked off another Big Ten school, Ohio State. The game came down to the last two seconds as senior Raymar Morgan made one of two free-throws, intentionally missing the second and forcing Tennessee to take a time-out. This time-out came with 1.8 seconds left on the clock and Tennessee made a last ditch effort with a half-court shot. MSU won 70-69. At the end of the game, Lucas’ teammates, who have managed to win two games without him acting as the on-the-court leader hoisted him into the air to have a chance to celebrate with his team and cut down part of the net. Lucas said that being lifted up was one of the greatest moments of his life.

“It just shows how much this team cares about me,” said Lucas, in a Big Ten Network interview.

The road that leads to Indianapolis, where the championship game and Final Four games will be held, has been long, but it isn’t over yet. There are still a few bumps that the Spartans need to get over, but players are stepping up and getting the job done. Delvon Roe is playing on a torn meniscus and Allen is dealing with an aching foot. Not all of the Spartans line-up is plagued with injuries and viewers should keep an eye our for Summers. He was 8-for-10 in the field in the Spartans’ Elite Eight victory and scored 26 points in the Spartans’ round two win.

There is one question that remains unanswered. Is Tom Izzo a genius?

Izzo has been the coach for MSU for 13 years. In each of those years the Spartans have made it to the NCAA tournament. Nine of Izzo’s teams have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, seven have gone to the Elite Eight, six have gone to the Final Four, and the Spartans won the National Championship in 2000.

“Tom Izzo does his best in the NCAA tournament. He loves the big moment. He understands what he needs to do against every team. He comes up with a great game plan every single time. He deserves all the credit in the world,” said Magic Johnson, a MSU graduate and former NBA player in an ESPN interview.

Michigan State is the only returning team from last year’s Final Four. North Carolina, who beat MSU in the championship game, didn’t even make the NCAA tournament. Last year’s tournament was held at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich. and the Spartans had home court advantage. This year the Final Four will be held six miles away from Butler University and have the advantage of having a crowd filled with their fans.

“The crowd makes a difference, but the players make the game,” said Izzo.

The Spartans will be taking on the Butler Bulldogs in the Final Four on Saturday April 3 at 6:07 p.m. Eastern Time.