Tom Izzo knows what it’s like to be the subject of misplaced blame. That’s why he’s decided to fully embrace ESPN’s “College GameDay” show visiting Breslin Center for Saturday’s game against Indiana.

The omnipresent sports network has made many an enemy within the Michigan State fan base in the past year for some of its coverage of serial rapist gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar. ESPN published a report attempting to link Nassar’s unchecked atrocities with accusations of misconduct within the MSU basketball and football programs. The TV follow-up on “Outside the Lines” featured a graphic that had Izzo, Nassar and MSU football coach Mark Dantonio side by side.

While Izzo was enraged by the visual last winter, he understands the scope of a company the size of ESPN. He’s not holding it against the “GameDay” crew of Rece Davis, Jay Williams, Jay Bilas and Seth Greenberg, all of whom he considers friends.

“For me, this is part of the healing process,” Izzo said Tuesday. “ESPN coming here, and the basketball part of it and their show that only goes to eight universities in the country a year, I think is a privilege that we hopefully will take advantage of and continue to heal and continue to mend wounds. That’s where I’m at with it. Everybody’s got their own opinion. I’m asking you to take a look at mine.

“Forgiving and forgetting and dealing with things is part of life. A lot of people that feel differently both ways. I gave you how I feel, and it’s strictly how I feel. If our fans don’t feel that way, everybody’s gotta do what they gotta do. But I’m telling you this: I think it’s our opportunity to show the world that there were some mistakes made, there were a lot of people that paid a lot of price for those mistakes, it doesn’t make everything perfect but it does mean that we’re trying to move forward and heal and show people that this is an incredible place. And that’s what I’m gonna do.”

“GameDay” will air from Breslin Center at 11 a.m. Saturday. It will be the fifth time MSU has hosted the show, and the ninth time it has been featured in the marquee “GameDay” game.

Doors open at 9:30 a.m. for fans interested in attending the show. Admission is free. Free parking will be available at the Breslin Center lots and Ramp 7 on MSU's campus starting at 7:30 a.m. All fans should enter through the Gilbert Pavilion gate.

“Those four guys have been really good to me,” Izzo said. “They’re good guys that have done a lot with college basketball. I think there’s only eight “GameDays” a year, and we’re one of them, and I think it’s a big deal to our program, to our players and to our university. I hope and figure that we’re gonna have an incredible crowd Saturday morning. It’s the fifth time we’ve hosted gameday, which is the most of any Big Ten school. We’ve been involved with nine GameDay deals, which is pretty good. And that’s a privilege that I’m proud of and that they keep coming back.

“With Seth and Jay I’ve been good friends for a long time. Jay Williams of course a player. And Rece having his Flint connections, I think they look at this place as a neat place to come back to. So I hope to see all the students and fans out there on Saturday morning. I hope even more that they’re there on Saturday night because Indiana will come in, they’ve been a little wounded. Ohio State did that at Nebraska and went and got a win. With our injuries, we’re not feeling good about anything as far as comfortable.”

The Spartans (18-3, 9-1) remained at No. 6 in this week’s AP poll despite suffering their first Big Ten loss Sunday at Purdue. They’re tied for first place in the league standings with Michigan.

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