MSU wins NCAA Regional Semifinals; big week in basketball

Michigan State University won the NCAA Regional Semifinals last night, outscoring Kansas State 67-62. Kansas had been favored by a few points going into the game, played in Indianapolis at the Lucas Oil Stadium.

But it’s a big week here, though, not only because one of the state’s universities is now in the Elite Eight. It’s the 30th anniversary of the first match-up between Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird. The two legendary players met during the final game of the 1979 NCAA championship, when Magic was playing for Michigan State University and Larry Bird was playing for Indiana State University.

There are a couple of great features published during the last week about this famed match-up:

• National Public Radio’s Book Notes covered Seth Davis’ book, When March went mad: The game that transformed basketball. Davis, who writes for Sports Illustrated, took a look at the compelling Johnson-Bird meet-up and how the two players shaped what we now call “March Madness.” You can read an excerpt from the book and listen to the feature at the link provided.

• Lansing State Journal offered up a great interactive feature looking at MSU’s 1979 basketball season leading up to the NCAA championship. It’s a great collection of photos capturing the excitement of the game and the season. Of course it’s geared to the home team; there aren’t many photos of the Indiana State team or Larry Bird. Hard core Spartan fans won’t mind.

MSU’s Spartans will meet University of Louisville’s Cardinals tomorrow afternoon at 2:20 p.m. at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.  You can catch the game on your local CBS affiliate.