As the 1998 – 99 season began , Izzo began his willingness to play anyone anywhere mantra as the Spartans played three top seven teams in their first seven games . However , MSU lost all three . MSU would recover and , after losing their first Big Ten game to No. 24 Wisconsin , the Spartans won the remaining 15 games in conference and won the Big Ten conference regular season by six games with a record of 15 – 1 , their second consecutive Big Ten title . The Spartans won the Big Ten Tournament and earned the conference 's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament . As the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region and ranked No. 2 in the country , MSU defeated Mount St. Mary 's , and Mississippi to advance to their second straight Sweet Sixteen . A win over Oklahoma and Kentucky led MSU to the Final Four for the first time since 1979 . However , MSU fell short in their bid for an NCAA championship , losing to Duke in the Final Four
Big Ten Tournament
1999 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
Michigan State Spartans men's basketball