The coaches have combined for 20 Final Four appearances, and Krzyzewski is looking for one last run through the NCAA tournament with the Blue Devils. 

It’s the final chapter in a coaching rivalry that has spanned the 21st century. This marks the sixth matchup in the NCAA tournament between the two coaches, the most in NCAA history. 

Sporting News goes inside the coaching rivalry between Coach K and Izzo: 

COACH K’S FINAL SEASON:

Chapter 1: Ending the eraChapter 2: Inside the greatest gameChapter 3: Getting recruited by the legendChapter 4: Redeeming USA BasketballChapter 5: Coaching against K

Coach K vs. Tom Izzo by the numbers

Krzyzewski has 1,199 career wins, the most by a Division I basketball coach. Coach K has 12 Final Four appearances and five national championships since taking over at Duke in 1980. Krzyzewski, 75, is retiring after this season. 

Izzo ranks 30th among Division I coaches with 666 wins. He took over at Michigan State in 1995. Izzo has led the Spartans to eight Final Four appearances and the Big Ten’s last national championship in 2000. 

DECOURCY: Coach K will coach another day as Duke cruises in Round 1

Coach K vs. Tom Izzo record 

This marks the 16th meeting between the coaches, and both teams have been ranked in 13 of those meetings. Eight of the matchups were between top-10 teams in the AP poll. 

Krzyzewski has a 12-3 record against Izzo, but it’s worth noting that the Spartans have won two of the last three matchups. Duke also has a 3-2 record in the NCAA tournament against the Spartans in this coaching matchup. 

That includes a pair of Final Four matchups in 1999 and 2015. This marks the second meeting between the Blue Devils and Spartans in the second round. 

Coach K vs. Tom Izzo: First meeting 

Izzo was an assistant for Michigan State when the teams met in the second round of the NCAA tournament on March 20, 1994. Grant Hill scored 25 points and Cherokee Parks added 24 for Duke in a 85-74 victory. 

Izzo and Krzyzewski had their first head-to-head meeting in the Great Eight at the United Center in Chicago on Dec. 2, 1998. No. 4 Duke beat No. 9 Michigan State 73-67. The Blue Devils jumped out to a 17-2 lead and fought off a Spartans’ comeback. Trajan Langdon scored 23 points. 

Coach K vs. Tom Izzo: NCAA tournament matchups 

Here is a closer look at the five tournament matchups between Izzo and Krzyzewksi: 

TSN’s MARCH MADNESS HQLive NCAA bracket | TV schedule | Predictor tool

Final Four: No. 1 Duke 68, No. 1 Michigan State 62 (March 27, 1999)

The Blue Devils won the rematch from that Great Eight matchup in the regular season. Elton Brand battled foul trouble, but he finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds for Duke. Mateen Cleaves finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Spartans. Duke lost to UConn in the national championship game two nights later and finished 37-2. 

Sweet 16: No. 5 Michigan State 78, No. 1 Duke 68 (March 25, 2005) 

The Spartans knocked Duke out of the NCAA tournament in a Sweet 16 stunner. J.J. Redick was limited to 13 points on 4 of 14 shooting, and Paul Davis led four Spartans in double figures with 20 points. Maurice Ager’s dunk was the exclamation point for Michigan State. The Spartans lost in the Final Four to North Carolina. 

Sweet 16: No. 2 Duke 71, No. 3 Michigan State 61 (March 29, 2013) 

Seth Curry torched the Spartans with 29 points on 6 of 9 shooting from 3-point range. The Blue Devils broke open a one-point halftime lead and advanced to the Elite Eight, where they would lose to Louisville. Keith Appling led Michigan State with 16 points. 

Final Four: No. 1 Duke 81, No. 7 Michigan State 61 (April 4, 2015) 

The Spartans’ run to the Final Four was cut short by the Blue Devils. Justise Winslow scored 19 points, and Jahlil Okafor added 18 points. Duke led by 11 points at halftime and pulled away to an easy victory. Denzel Valentine scored 22 for the Spartans. Duke went on to beat Wisconsin 68-63 in the national championship game. 

Elite Eight: No. 2 Michigan State 68, No. 1 Duke 67 (March 31, 2019) 

Duke’s star-studded freshmen tandem of Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett fell short in the Elite Eight. Williamson and Barrett combined for 45 points, but Michigan State guard Cassius Winston shouldered the load with 20 points, and Kenny Goins hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 34.3 seconds left. The Spartans lost to Texas Tech in the Final Four. 

Coach K vs. Tom Izzo: Last meeting

No. 8 Michigan State beat No. 6 Duke 75-69 on Dec. 1, 2020. Izzo picked up his first victory at Duke in a top-10 showdown in the Champions Classic. Rocket Watts led the Spartans with 20 points, and Michigan State maintained the lead through the second half. 

Tom Izzo on Coach K 

Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy led a five-part series on Coach K this season, and that included stories from opposing coaches on competing against Krzyzewski. Here is an excerpt from Izzo on Krzyzewski: 

“One time, we were playing them in the Final Four, in Indy. And my son was about 12 or 14, and I did something for ESPN, and they asked me about people making picks, and I said, ‘Yeah, everybody’s picking us except my own kid.’ And they said, ‘Who’s he picking?’ And I said, ‘Duke.’ So somehow Krzyzewski got a hold of that, and he says, ‘Hey, tell Steven he’s got a scholarship at Duke, no problem.’ So they beat us, and I’m walking down the hallway and him and Mickie are coming in a golf cart. I’m walking, because I’m at Michigan State, he’s at Duke. I said, ‘Hey, it was worth the loss for that $250,000 you’re going to pay for my son to go to school there.’”