MSU fans enjoy open practice festivities

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Indianapolis – Nine-year-old Andrew Eaton of Oxford, Mich., isn’t surprised the MSU men’s basketball team is in the Final Four.

After successfully picking the Spartans to make it to Indianapolis in his bracket, Eaton traveled down Thursday night with his father and grandfather to watch MSU’s open practice Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium.

“It’s pretty cool. I think that Michigan State’s going to beat Butler,” he said. “(The drive down) wasn’t that long because we didn’t have to stop or anything that much.”

The Eatons were part of a contingent of fans in Indianapolis who got a chance to see all the Final Four teams participate in open practices.

Hometown Butler practiced first and had the entire lower bowl of Lucas Oil Stadium watching them. When the Bulldogs finished, their exit was highlighted by a standing ovation from the hometown fans.

After the Bulldogs finished, about half of the fans left, but there still were several thousand who watched the other three teams. Joe Koziol, 65, of Jackson, Mich., made the trip down to Indianapolis with his son, Scott, and his wife, Sue. There are seven MSU degrees in the Koziol family. Joe has two degrees, one in 1966 and another in 1971, while Scott has two, one in 1994 and the other in 1996.

The three traveled to Ford Field in Detroit last year to watch the open practices.

“We were at Ford Field last year so we know what it’s like to be the hometown favorite,” Joe Koziol said. “I don’t think (the Butler fans) are as energetic. They’re just happy to be here. We’re here to win it.”

Neither the Eatons nor the Koziols have Final Four tickets, and will travel back to their respective homes Friday night. But not having tickets didn’t stop them from coming to Indianapolis and enjoying the festivities.

“We like traveling with the teams,” Scott Koziol said. “We were down in St. Louis for the Frozen Four when (the MSU hockey team) won the national title. We try to do things that are close to the Midwest, we try to attend. There’s nothing like a Final Four.”

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