2008–09 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

2008–09 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball
National Championship Game,
L 72-89 vs. North Carolina
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 2
APNo. 8
Record31–7 (15–3 Big Ten)
Head coach
Associate head coachMark Montgomery (8th season)
Assistant coaches
Captains
Home arenaBreslin Center
2008–09 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 8 Michigan State 15 3   .833 31 7   .816
No. 17 Purdue 11 7   .611 27 10   .730
Illinois 11 7   .611 24 10   .706
Penn State 10 8   .556 27 11   .711
Ohio State 10 8   .556 22 11   .667
Wisconsin 10 8   .556 20 13   .606
Minnesota 9 9   .500 22 11   .667
Michigan 9 9   .500 21 14   .600
Northwestern 8 10   .444 17 14   .548
Iowa 5 13   .278 15 17   .469
Indiana 1 17   .056 6 25   .194
2009 Big Ten tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

The 2008–09 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by head coach Tom Izzo who was in his 14th year as head coach. The team played their home games at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan and were member of the Big Ten Conference. MSU finished the season 31–7, 15–3 in Big Ten play to win the Big Ten regular season championship by four games. They defeated Minnesota in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament before losing to Ohio State in the semifinals. The Spartans received their 12th-straight NCAA tournament bid, an at-large bid as the No. 2 seed in the Midwest region. They defeated Robert Morris, USC, Kansas, and Louisville to advance to the Final Four for the fifth time under Izzo. In the Final Four, they defeated UConn to advance to the National Championship game where they lost to North Carolina.