news-record.com

DETROIT — Michigan State is tough enough to beat when it has five people on the floor. Try handling them with an entire state coming off the bench.

The Spartans are the feel-good story of the tournament, a blue-collar team providing pride and a needed joyride for a blue-collar state that’s struggling to survive.

The Tar Heels and their fans sympathize, they really do. And that is where the fairy tale ends.

“I always tell my players,” Roy Williams says, “give me something to hang my hat on, something to keep me putting you in the game. Do something to make me feel good about you. I think that’s what Michigan State is doing for this state. I appreciate that and understand what they’re latching on to. I’m happy for them. I will not be as happy for them Monday night.”

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, making his fifth Final Four appearance in 11 years, is quick to say the problems facing Michigan aren’t any different than the ones befuddling the rest of the nation. But this state, tied intricately to the automotive industry for decades, is as hard hit as any.

Unemployment is above 12 percent statewide and 24 percent in Detroit. One Michigan State fan greets the crowd at Ford Field on Saturday with a poster that read, “Welcome to Detroit! Now Buy A Ford.”

“This is one cause that isn’t manufactured. It’s real. People live it every day,” says Izzo, who drove his team past some of the rougher parts of town on the way into the arena Saturday.

For the Heels, who started the season No. 1 in the polls and have been a presumptive national title contender ever since, the role of overdog is nothing new. But even they are a little overcome by the storm brewing against them in Detroit.

Ty Lawson says Saturday’s bus ride to the arena felt like a cruise in the Green Sea. Wayne Ellington says he wouldn’t be surprised if Michigan State had 80 percent of the crowd in its favor tonight, a figure that wouldn’t be much different than Saturday’s turnout.

Most of the Michigan State fans who stuck around for the late game could be seen cheering for Villanova, an admission of Carolina’s pedigree and a not-so-subtle wish for another David after a few rounds of Goliaths.

“It definitely helps them a little bit,” Tyler Hansbrough says. “We’re going to have to block that out and play our game.”

At this point of the season, it’s hard to say a crowd could make a difference in the game, and Williams astutely points out that he’s never been beaten by a building.

The Tar Heels also rightly assert that they’ve been an equally solid team away from the Dean Dome this season, as evidenced by a 10-2 road record and a 101-87 win at Duke in February.

It’s that rare case where each team could make a case that destiny is on its side.

The Spartans are exactly 30 years removed from their first national title, and Magic Johnson, the catalyst of that team and the program, will present the game ball tonight.

The Tar Heels left last season’s tournament in the most painful of fashions and have talked of nothing else but getting to this point ever since.

“I do realize they have a cause,” Williams says. “Well, we also have a cause. We want to win a national championship. Period. The end. And if you would tell me that if Michigan State wins, it’s gonna satisfy the nation’s economy, then I’d say, 'Hell, let’s stay poor for a little while longer.

Contact Tom Keller at 373-7034 or tom.keller@news-record.com