Just a few days ago, the Big Ten had a strong chance to send three teams to the Final Four. Then Michigan went down in the Sweet 16, then Purdue lost in the Elite 8. Michigan State is the only team left.
Still, the conference's shadow will loom large in Minneapolis. Both Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard and Virginia head coach Tony Bennett were schooled by a pair of coaches who left indelible marks in the Big Ten.
Beard spent seven years at Texas Tech under the legendary Bob Knight, who of course made his name at Indiana. And Bennett played and coached at several stops under his dad, Dick Bennett, who put Wisconsin basketball on the map.
These days, both Beard and Bennett rely on many of the same schemes and principles as their respective mentors. It turns back time a bit for Tom Izzo, who coached against Knight and Dick Bennett frequently in the past. He'll coach against Beard and Texas Tech Saturday night.
"I hated playing against Bob and I double hated playing against Dick. I mean, his teams (at Wisconsin) were so hard to play against," Izzo said. "But that’s what the weekend's going to be. Auburn has a little different style, but Bruce Pearl was in the Big Ten, too, (as an assistant) at Iowa for a lot of years. So in a lot of ways, it’s going to have a lot of Big Ten flavor to it. And I think that’s a real positive for us."
Dick Bennett, the mastermind of the pack-line defense that Tony Bennett has made so successful at Virginia, was one of the first coaches to bring a deliberate, defense-driven style of play to the Big Ten. Izzo won 10 of his 13 games against him at Wisconsin from 1995-2000, but they were always low-scoring affairs. Their final matchup -- at the 2000 Final Four -- resulted in a 53-41 for Michigan State that led to Izzo's only national championship.
In eight games against Knight at Indiana, Izzo went 5-3. Beard often credits Knight for his own success on the sideline. He returned to Texas Tech to take the head coaching job in 2016 in large part because of the Knight connection. Beard said on Monday he's always appreciated the respect that Izzo has shown for one of his most influential mentors.
"I think Coach Izzo has always gone out of his way to say nice things about Coach Knight, and I've always respected that from afar. I did have a chance to talk to him one time, and he probably doesn't even remember it, but it was at a Peach Jam on the recruiting circuit. He went out of his way to be nice to me," said Beard, adding he spoke with Izzo on Monday over the phone. "People talk about Final Four moments, and I'm sure there will be a bunch this weekend, but it's pretty cool having a chance to talk to Coach Izzo."
In fact, Beard said Izzo is one of his idols, so much so that he's introduced terms like "Michigan State toughness" and "Tom Izzo rebounding" to his program at Texas Tech.
"These are things we tell our teams. It's almost surreal that we'll be having a chance to coach and play against him," he said. ... "We have so much respect for his program. We're a program ourselves that try to be blue collar and rebound and play defense and try to be as tough as anyone. To me, in my opinion, that's Michigan State basketball."
With an eye toward sending another Big Ten team to the Final Four, Izzo said he was pulling for Purdue to knock off Virginia in the Elite 8. The Boilermakers eventually lost a heartbreaker in overtime. Nevertheless, he's looking forward to seeing Dick Bennett, 75, and Knight, 78, in the building in Minneapolis.
"Hopefully Bob can get there. I know Dick will be there," Izzo said. "Dick didn’t used to go to Tony's games because he agonized over it. Seeing him in the stands last weekend was great for me because I think the last time we played them, (in the 2015 NCAA Tournament), he didn’t come to the game. He was in the hotel watching it -- you know how Dick is. He’s the best, but he gets nervous and tense. Seeing the joy on his face when they won was special."
As for Tony, who also spent two seasons at Wisconsin under the legendary Bo Ryan, Izzo is undefeated against him in three games. He knocked Bennett and Virginia out of the Tournament in 2014 and again in 2015, both times when the Spartans were a lower seed. They have a chance to meet for a fourth time Monday night.
If they do, a low-scoring game -- the kind Dick Bennett always liked -- can be expected.