Three months ago in Indianapolis, Michigan State lost a heart-breaking football game to Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship at Lucas Oil Field. The Spartans saw their hopes of a Big Ten title and trip to the Rose Bowl go out the window in the final seconds of the game, which was quite exciting and quite memorable.
Now, on Saturday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Michigan State and Wisconsin will renew their rivalry on the basketball court. The Spartans and Badgers will meet in the first semifinal on Saturday and play for a spot in the 2012 Big Ten tournament title game, which will take place on Sunday afternoon.
Saturday's matchup comes after Wisconsin beat Indiana on Friday in the quarterfinals, 79-71, to advance on to play Michigan State. Earlier in the day, the Spartans beat Iowa with ease in a 92-75 blowout.
Michigan State swept Wisconsin during the regular season. The Spartans won the first meeting with the Badgers back on Jan. 3 in overtime by a score of 63-60. The game finished in controversial fashion due to a discrepancy between the clocks in the arena and was Michigan State's first win at Wisconsin since 2001. In the second meeting later in the season, Michigan State blew out Wisconsin in East Lansing, 69-55.
The third meeting of the season between Michigan State and Wisconsin is set to tip off at 1:40 p.m. ET on Saturday. The winner will advance to the Big Ten tournament championship game and take on the winner of the second semifinal, which is still to be determined.
For more, check out the 2012 Big Ten tournament bracket and our StoryStream. For more on the Michigan State Spartans, go to The Only Colors. You can also head over to SB Nation's main NCAA Basketball hub at SBNation.com/NCAA-Basketball.