EAST LANSING – As Tom Izzo rattled off all the amenities in his tent for this weekend’s Izzone student campout, you could almost believe him if you didn’t know better:
“It’s unbelievable. I mean, there’s air conditioning, heaters, there’s one of those sleep mattresses, a refrigerator, a freezer, in case I have some ice cream …
“It’s a damn tent with a sleeping bag,” Izzo said.
There will be no glamping by MSU’s men’s basketball coach when he hangs out and sleeps among the MSU students this Friday night.
The frills will be watching MSU’s football game on two massive screens at the campout and the basketball before it — MSU’s men’s and women’s teams hosting Michigan State Madness , from 7 to 9 p.m. at Breslin Center, with doors opening at 6 o’clock. There is no cost to attend.
This earlier start to the annual madness event, Izzo said, came to be once the MSU-Oregon football game in Eugene was announced as a Friday 9 p.m. kickoff, East Lansing time. At one point, he even considered a Saturday afternoon event on MSU football’s bye week to make it even more little kid friendly and to avoid the collision with Friday night high school football. But no perfect time and date exists this year. Frankly, Izzo still misses the old days when they couldn’t roll out the basketballs until midnight.