Izzo took time out of his press conference Monday to say he is a huge fan of the logo and he supports Athletics Director Mark Hollis and Nike.

“Of all the days, this would be the dumbest time to talk about it — except I am so disappointed with our group of alums that are complaining about it — that it’s a great time to talk about it,” he said. “It’s a lot bigger than the team, it’s a lot bigger than the program, it’s about our athletics department and university, which to me is way bigger than one game or one season.”

Izzo also applauded Hollis’ relationship with Nike. He added that MSU’s athletics program isn’t as prestigious as others and fans should be thrilled to be involved with such a high-class company.

“I give Mark credit because he got in such a good relationship with Nike; they didn’t have to deal with Michigan State yet,” Izzo said. “We’re not where some of their programs are yet as a whole athletics department, but the relationship he got with them has saved this university millions of dollars, and probably made it millions of dollars and we have people complaining — that blows me away.”

Izzo hinted that each MSU team would be connected by the same uniform — as opposed to how each team currently has a different MSU logo.

“Since I’ve been here, we had the Sparty head with the grisly look on shirts, then we had a helmet, then every football coach had an ‘S,’ then a helmet, then an ‘S,’ then a helmet,” he said. “I think we didn’t have an identity. Here we have a guy who has enough courage and a good enough relationship with Nike that they made us one of four or five schools they researched all the way back to Greece to figure out what would be great. Mark did a phenomenal job.”

Although many fans have claimed the new logo is a change from tradition, Izzo questioned what tradition MSU athletics has.

“Somebody tell me, what is our tradition?” he said. “Which one of those different things is our tradition? We’re finally going to have the same color, the same uniforms, the same logo and we are going to be moving into the new century here in the proper way and I’m excited about it.”

Road toughness

Saturday’s win at Minnesota wasn’t just another win for Izzo. To win in come-from-behind fashion on the road is something Izzo thinks his team always can look back to for confidence.

“I said after that game that that’s better than a 15-point win because we knew we were playing a good team, we knew they had a lot at stake, we knew the environment was going to be tough and even the time of the game,” he said. “There were a lot of things that work against the visiting team.”

Izzo pointed to his team’s nonconference schedule — specifically losses at North Carolina and Texas — as a toughness builder for the hostile Big Ten environments.

“When players go through things like that, you do get a little tougher,” he said. “I think you understand it a little bit more so that win helped us in that respect. You’re still going to have to deal with different environments and different styles of play, but I think you have reference points to go back to and I think those reference points are worth a lot.”

Team defense

Despite losing last season’s Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Travis Walton, this year’s team is giving up the same amount of points per game.

“I think the most versatile defensive player on our team is (senior forward Raymar Morgan),” Izzo said.

“But I really think (junior guard Durrell Summers) could be and I think (junior guard Kalin Lucas) has the toughness and the nastiness to be.”

Although Morgan might be the team’s best defender, Izzo said every player has improved their individual defense.

“Right now it would be Ray, but unlike last year, we switch a little bit more instead of putting Travis on one guy,” he said. “We don’t feel we have the kind of defender yet, but we’re making some progress toward it. Maybe that’s helped us though because our defensive stats have been better than last year. Maybe it’s almost total team now instead of relying on one guy.”