The Big Ten Conference...and Michigan State fans in particular...are breathing a little easier today after word that Spartan coach Tom Izzo is not going to take the really high-dollar coaching job with the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.

Coach Izzo took quite a while thinking about it before he decided to remain in East Lansing ....and I for one.... am glad that he is staying.  I think most Big Ten fans agree with me. 

Coach Izzo is good for MSU and is great for the Big Ten Conference on a national level.  He does things the right way with hard work and honesty and a friendly personality...not to mention that he is a great coach.   He has accomplished amazing things in East Lansing....going to 6 Final  Fours in the last 12 years.  Think about that.  Think about how hard it is to get to ONE Final  Four...much less SIX in a dozen years.  The league would certainly have missed him if he had left.

Illini coach Bruce Weber is a close friend of Tom Izzo and it was his belief that when push came to shove... Izzo would stay at Michigan State.  Bruce knows Tom very well.... and he was right.

The biggest compliment to a coach is how fans of opposing teams and their fans react when beating his team.  Think of the reaction of Illini fans when they beat the Spartans last February in Champaign.  It was absolute bedlam.  You know you have had a good night when you beat an Izzo-coached team.