Gillian Van Stratt

ATLANTA — A year ago, in Charlotte, North Carolina during the first weekend of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, it was genuinely a big deal for Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo to see Jeremy Fears Jr. taking jump shots and making layups. It had been a miraculously quick recovery from being shot in the leg over Christmas break in 2023. Now, just one year after starting all over, the freshman point guard is on the verge of a Final Four. “This is special, you know?

ATLANTA — Bruce Pearl’s Auburn team is the No. 1 overall seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament. Michigan State is the No. 2 seed in the South Region and the majority of discourse around the Spartans this tournament is that they’re connected, but they’re not Tom Izzo’s “most talented team.” Well, do not go telling Pearl that MSU is the underdog in Sunday’s Elite Eight matchup (5:05 p.m., CBS) at State Farm Arena (just 109 miles from his campus).

MLive's popular podcast, Michigan Crime Stories, is back for Season 3: Pinconning Paralyzer. When you’re a town of just 1,300 people, tucked up against Thumb country on the sunrise side of Michigan, you don’t expect anyone to know where you are. Something really crazy has to happen to put you on the map. And yet here we are and little Pinconning is known for not one, but two things: cheese and the holy grail of marijuana in Michigan. Most people know about the cheese.