Tom Izzo Mentally Quotations

I guess it could happen to us, but I look at it the other way. If we can go deep into this tournament, I think mentally it will be a big feather in our cap and then we can ride that a little bit.

I don't know why we haven't been consistent. I've said a few times that maybe we're not as tough, mentally or physically, as we have been in recent years.

I think it proves my theory that you just have to be physically and mentally tough as nails. That's been a problem for us. We've tried to address it, and we're going to address it from here on out.

When you play that many (ranked teams) in a row, it becomes a mental strain as far as keeping your guys up. I think it helps that it's the Michigan game. I think our guys will be up for that. If there was going to be a time when they mentally let down a little bit, I don't see it being this week. Emotionally, it's Michigan-Michigan State and that carries more than anybody we play, let's be honest.

If you're always going 11-0 or 12-0 in the preseason, you can get 20 wins easier. If you're playing other people, it's a lot more difficult to do that. I'm proud that we did it the hard way. When you do that, your kids get mentally tougher.