Butler preview coming later tonight or tomorrow morning.  70 hours to tipoff!

Note: there are about a million and a half "OMG IZZO'S TEH GR8EST EVAH" stories on the internets at the moment, approximately a million of which you've already read.  So, we'll skip them (well, most of them) for now.  And, onto the links:

• Peek behind the scenes with Michigan State's Izzo - NCAA - SI.com
  Two days inside the Berkowitz building.  New reconnaissance: Izzo loves Utz cheese (cheez?) balls.  And, Miss Lippy's car . . . is green!
  
• Spartans’ Video Crew, Unseen but Invaluable to Izzo - NYTimes.com
  "[Student manager Jordan] Ott and his team hope to use the experience to land their dream jobs in basketball. Twenty-two former managers have gone on to work in the N.B.A. and with other college programs based on their experience at Michigan State."  . .. like Tom Izzo, former graduate assistant under Jud.
• Pius grad Lucious has stepped up for Michigan State - JSOnline
  Michigan State's Raymar Morgan: Not a superstar, but former McKinley standout is a winner for the Spartans | cleveland.com
  Fluffy "the local boy's done good!" stories.  The Raymar story gets into the "has his career been a disappointment?" issue.  At this point, if anyone still thinks that, well, they haven't been paying attention.
• Latest Izzo job rumor: Lowly N.J. Nets are after him | freep.com | Detroit Free Press
  Yeah, no.
• Team breakdown: Michigan St. - Beyond the Arc - msnbc.com
  The Ballin is a Habit guys say that "statistically" we "might be the worst Final Four team ever."  Except that they're talking about combined margin of victory in the first four rounds, so that's statistical in only the vaguest sense.
• Gordon Hayward stuck going to math class - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN
  Because like most student-athletes, he'll be going pro in something other than sports.  Except, uh, he won't.
• Basketball Prospectus | Unfiltered
  

  "Butler stands out not because they use this tempo-free stuff but because their head coach has stated publicly and repeatedly that he uses this stuff. Moreover, Stevens all but shrugs as he says it: Why would you not use accurate information on your opponent? You will see that shrug more and more often as basketball people in Stevens’ age cohort ascend to head coaching positions. Accurate information is simply what they’re used to now."  If they weren't, you know, the enemy, they'd be pretty easy to root for.

• The Audacity of Hoops: Similarity Preview: Michigan State Vs. Butler
  Statistics show that Butler has the advantage on offense and defense -- but a slight one.
• Allyssa DeHaan Selected as MSU's Fifth All-American
  Honorable mention.  Congratulations to one of the best ever to put on Green and White.
• Report: Oregon offers job to Minnesota's Tubby Smith | detnews.com | The Detroit News
  Tubby Smith says he hasn't received Oregon offer - Sporting News staff reports - College Basketball - Sporting News
  DEVELOPING . . . [flashing siren]
• MSU’s Oren Wilson gets 21-day jail term, doesn't want to transfer | freep.com | Detroit Free Press
  "Oren’s first choice would be to stay at Michigan State and be on the football team in the fall," [Wilson's attorney] Abood said. "He’s the type of guy who would be wanted in the trenches when MSU plays Michigan."  To me, that sounds more like lawyer-speak than anything else.  I'd be surprised--and fairly disappointed, to be honest--if Wilson returns.
• Spartans' Nichol catching on fast at WR - Big Ten Blog - ESPN
  More football coverage after basketball's finished.  Promise.
• The Sixth Option
  Tim Bograkos blogs!
• Who’s Hot? MSU’s Mike Peplowski Now COO In Lansing – LostLettermen.com
  Now the Chief Operating Officer of the Boji Group, which owns the former Michigan National Tower (the tallest building in Lansing, where I interned many years ago).  Fun fact: we almost named this blog "The Big Peplowski," which would have been awesome.
• Depth Ratio and Bill Self - Rock Chalk Talk
  SBNation brethren RCT use a KJ-created statistic!
• Analysis - St. John’s Hires Lavin as Coach - News Analysis - NYTimes.com
  Our loss: Lavin was one of the better color guys who regularly did Big Ten games.