1999–2000 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The Spartans were looking to build on their Final Four appearance the year before with seniors, Mateen Cleaves (12.1 points and 6.9 assist per game) and Morris Peterson (16.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game), leading the way. MSU began the season ranked No. 3 in the country, but were without starting point guard and team captain, Cleaves, who sustained a stress fracture in his right foot during the offseason.[2]

Without Cleaves, the Spartans began the season with a home win over Toledo[3] before travelling to Puerto Rico for the Puerto Rico Shootout. In Puerto Rico, they defeated Providence[4] and South Carolina to advance to the championship of the tournament.[5] In the championship game, they lost to No. 20 Texas.[6][7] The Spartans went on to defeat No. 2 North Carolina on the road as part of the inaugural ACC–Big Ten Challenge.[8] MSU returned to East Lansing for easy wins over Howard[9] and Eastern Michigan.[10] A win over No. 5-ranked Kansas in the Great Eight in Chicago followed.[11] A road loss to No. 2 Arizona followed the neutral court win over Kansas.[12] MSU sandwiched home wins over Oakland[13] and Mississippi Valley State[14] around a loss on the road to unranked Kentucky.[15] A shocking loss on the road at Wright State added to the early season struggles and ended the non-conference slate.[16] MSU would enter the Big Ten schedule at 9–4 and ranked No. 11 in the country.

Cleaves returned to the Spartans lineup on January 5, 2000 to help the Spartans to wins over Penn State[17] and Iowa.[17] Led by Cleaves the Spartans defeated No. 9 Indiana[18] before losing their first Big Ten game on the road to No. 7 Ohio State.[19] The loss stopped MSU's 21-game conference winning streak dating back to 1999. The Spartans bounced back with wins over Northwestern[20] in back-to-back games, holding Northwestern to 29 points in the second game.[21] A win over Illinois led by Charlie Bell's 20 points led to a matchup against rival Michigan with the Spartans at 15–5, 6–1 on the season.[22] In Ann Arbor, MSU blew out the Wolverines as Michigan was without leading scorer Jamal Crawford who was declared ineligible 20 minutes before the game started because of NCAA investigations.[23] Led by Morris Peterson's 32 points and 10 points, MSU had no problems with Michigan especially without their leading scorer, winning by 20.[23] MSU then stepped out of conference for a matchup with No. 7 Connecticut, a fellow participant in the prior year's Final Four.[24] The Spartans had no problems with the Huskies, scoring 25 second chance points and 20 points off Huskie turnovers.[24] MSU returned to the Big Ten to face Purdue in West Lafayette and were upset, falling 70–67.[25] The loss dropped the Spartans to 17–6, 7–2. The Spartans would rebound to beat Wisconsin in Madison[26] before beating No. 7 Ohio State to avenge their earlier loss.[27] A close win over Wisconsin in East Lansing marked their 26th straight win in the Breslin Center and pushed the Spartans to 10–2 in conference.[28] A road win over Penn State[29] preceded an overtime road loss to Indiana.[30] MSU returned home and blew out Minnesota 79–43.[31] In the final regular season game of the season, the Spartans faced Michigan. Cleaves dished out 20 assists as he set the then Big Ten career record for assists in the 114–63 thumping of the Wolverines.[32]

The Spartans finished the conference slate with a 13–3 conference record and 23–7 overall while being ranked No. 2 in the country. MSU earned a share of the Big Ten regular season title with Ohio State, their third consecutive championship.

The Spartans went on to win the third annual Big Ten tournament as the No. 2 seed, defeating No. 25 Illinois for the championship for the second consecutive year.[33] Cleaves and Peterson were named to the All–Tournament Team and Peterson was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.[33]

As a result of their strong finish, the Spartans were awarded the No. 1 seed, their second consecutive No. 1 seed, in the Midwest region of the NCAA tournament. From there, the Spartans cruised to their third consecutive Sweet Sixteen with wins over Valparaiso,[34][35] and Utah.[36][37] MSU continued their national championship push by reaching their second consecutive Final Four with wins over Syracuse[38][39] and Iowa State.[40][41] MSU won every game by double digits despite playing the best possible seed in each round. In their Final Four matchup, Michigan State faced off against fellow Big Ten foe, Wisconsin, beating them in a hard-fought game, 53–41.[42]

In the national championship game, the Spartans triumphed over the Florida 89–76, despite losing Cleaves to an ankle injury 3:42 into the second half.[43] Cleaves eventually returned, severely limping and in obvious pain, to lead the Spartans to the championship.[44] Cleaves was subsequently named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Joining Cleaves on the NCAA All-Tournament Team were Morris Peterson, Charlie Bell, and A.J. Granger. The national championship was the school's second ever basketball national companionship and first since 1979.