The sheer dominance that Michigan State exhibited against East Carolina on Tuesday afternoon was something that Spartan fans no longer take for granted.
After Cassius Winston left the program, Michigan State had a few years of “underachievement” under Tom Izzo, making the NCAA Tournament, but never getting past the Sweet 16. It felt like the program was trending downward under an aging head coach, but after losing to North Carolina in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Izzo vowed to get the program back to where it was supposed to be — or he’d die trying, in his words.