If college basketball fans wanted a little taste of March Madness, even near the end of February, then Tom Izzo and his Michigan State Spartans provided a taste of what is to come.
Behind Carson Cooper’s 15 points, the No. 13-ranked Spartans went into Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana, on Thursday night and edged past the No. 8-ranked Purdue Boilermakers 76-74 in a Big Ten Conference showdown. The NCAA basketball world was watching this one, too.
CBB World Reacts to Michigan State Topping Purdue
CBS College Basketball Insider Jon Rothstein, who has seen plenty of March Madness in his career, put out an interesting post on X after the game. He kind of made a point that when March rolls around, it’s Izzo time.
January
February
IZZO
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) February 27, 2026
But Rothstein wasn’t through sending out messages after watching Izzo’s Spartans pull off the win. Rothstein made it clear that March is just around the corner. “Do you hear that? MARCH IS COMING.” Rothstein wrote.
Do you hear that?
MARCH IS COMING.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) February 27, 2026
ESPN’s “SportsCenter” account on X put the Michigan State victory into some historical perspective. It’s been a while since Izzo left Mackey Arena with a win. The account posted, “SPARTY LEAVES MACKEY ARENA WITH A DUB … Michigan State’s last win at Purdue was in 2014”.
SPARTY LEAVES MACKEY ARENA WITH A DUB 🔥
Michigan State’s last win at Purdue was in 2014 😳 pic.twitter.com/3BSlLxsiRY
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 27, 2026
Odell Brettham Jr., who runs the MSU Chief of Propaganda account on X, wanted to remind Spartans fans about their head coach in case they were worried about his coaching abilities. Brettham posted on X, “Michigan State is as good as any team in America. One day our fans will show some faith in Tom Izzo.”
NBC Sports broadcaster John Fanta offered a little perspective when looking at how the NCAA selection committee had Michigan State in its top 16 teams. Fanta posted on X, “Michigan State was 14th overall in the selection committee’s Top 16 reveal this past Saturday. Hello, 3-line. They just moved to 7-5 with that Quad 1A victory and a combined 14-5 in the top two quadrants. Thomas. Izzo.”
Evan Fox, who handles video duties for “The Pat McAfee Show,” showed Izzo a little love, too, when pointing out what a gritty win it was for Michigan State on the road. Fox posted on X, “GRITTY WIN FOR THOSE MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS … IT’S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR.”
GRITTY WIN FOR THOSE MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS
IT’S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR 👀 pic.twitter.com/sVnaPGEwwN
— Evan Fox (@evanfoxy) February 27, 2026
With the victory, the Spartans are now 23-5 overall, 13-4 in Big Ten play. The Boilermakers fall to 22-6 overall, 12-5 in the Big Ten. But March is just a couple of days away, the time of the year when college basketball fans and teams begin to show signs of a little madness.
