Just two days after defeating Eastern Kentucky, North Carolina will face the Spartans of Michigan State in NCAA second round action. Michigan State knocked off Marquette in their first round game. If there were a consolation game between the Golden Eagles and the Colonels, it’s likely that Marquette would emerge victorious. But alas, it seems pointless to try to console teams that came up six wins shy of winning a tournament in which the champion will win six games.

The Spartans are members of the Big Ten conference, meaning the Heels have a decided advantage coming in to Saturday’s game. The ACC, after all, has owned the Big Ten for centuries in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. This season, Boston College had the privilege of dispatching the Spartans in the event. MSU finished tied with Michigan for seventh place in the conference this year. Considering the fact that many analysts questioned whether Illinois and Purdue would make the NCAA Tournament, it seems odd that Michigan State got in since they finished behind the Illini and Boilermakers in the conference.

This is the second time in the last three years that the Heels and Spartans have met in the Big Dance. In 2005, Raymond Felton and company demolished Michigan State in the Final Four, pulling off an impressive 16 point victory. The two teams would have met for a rematch in the tournament last year if the Spartans hadn’t lost to George Mason in the first round. In fact, it’s Michigan State’s fault that North Carolina’s season ending loss was so painful last year. Honestly, would you have been as disappointed with a second round loss to Michigan State as you were with a second round loss to George Mason?

Believe it or not, Michigan State has the same number of NCAA Tournament Championships as our friends in Raleigh. The Spartans won their first title in 1979 and their second title at the turn of the century in the year 2000. It’s unlikely Tom Izzo will be able to guide this year’s team to it’s third championship, but luckily he doesn’t have to worry about the Wolfpack winning its third title this season either.

If you had to name the top five basketball players to ever wear the Spartans uniform, you’d probably struggle to come up with that many. Obviously you’d start with Mateen Cleaves, since he’s the most recent star. Then you’d list Magic Johnson, as he’s the best who ever suited up at MSU. But who would round out the list? If you collected basketball cards in the mid-‘90’s, you’d probably list Steve Smith and Scott Skiles…not so much because they were that great, but because you had 100 of their cards. The final player would have to be Ralph Simpson. Not only was he an All-American guard in 1970, but he’s only one letter away from being Ralph Sampson.

This is the last time the Tar Heels will play in the great state of North Carolina this season, so if you’ll be in or around the greater Winston-Salem area on Saturday, go ahead and get your tickets and head to Lawrence Joel for the game. Once you’re home from the game, be sure to report back and let us know whether there are more or less Carolina fans present for this game than there are for a typical Wake-Carolina game in Winston.