They are out there, those Devils dressed in blue and white, haunting Tom Izzo's dreams. Beat LSU this Friday night in D.C. and the spectre of Mike Krzyzewski hovers.
Michigan State is 1-11 against Duke under Izzo. To get another chance, each must win in the Sweet 16. In any other year, in any other tournament, beating the Blue Devils to get to the Final Four would go down in the annals.
And it may yet still _ assuming MSU gets the chance in the first place. But in this year's bracket, staring down those ghostly tormentors isn't what unsettles. It's the potential game after, in the semifinals, where _ gasp! _ the rivals down the road might await.
It's a matchup that Michigan fans would crave while MSU fans would dread. Not that beating U-M again wouldn't be thrilling.
But a loss in that moment, after slaying the mighty Coach K? That would give any Wolverine a generation's worth of smack talk _ especially if U-M won the title _ and the most meaningful win in either football or basketball in the last 30 years.
MSU might have to close. Izzo might have to drive up to Iron Mountain to find space to howl, and then build a cabin in the woods, then never leave.
However unlikely the scenario _ both teams will be underdogs in the regional final; and they have to win tough regional semifinal games first _ you can feel a stir in the psychic continuum of this rivalry.
Yes, we're getting ahead of ourselves. Or, more properly, I am. But don't deny that you've contemplated, however briefly, the possibility of this matchup.
It would be more than our state could handle. And it would be glorious.
