A trip down memory lane took Tom Izzo back to 2010.

Raymar Morgan stands at the free throw line and sinks the shot with seconds left on the clock. Michigan State defeats Tennessee and their head coach Bruce Pearl by one point to advance to Indianapolis to compete in a Final Four.

"Boy, that's 15 years ago, but I do remember that game," recalled Izzo on Saturday in advance of his team's Elite Eight matchup against Auburn on Sunday. "It was an important game, as you know, when you get to the second weekend all those games are more and more important. But I think he [Peal] has different players (now). I think he probably coaches a little different. I probably coach a little different. I don't know if there's a lot you can get out of it, except free throws are going to be important."

Heading into this matchup against No. 1-seed Auburn, the Michigan State Spartans are coded as the underdogs by both seeding and the Vegas odds.

The familiar foe from the past, Pearl, now finds himself on the brink of the Final Four following a head turning season at Auburn. As you might imagine, Pearl does not plan to take Izzo and his squad this season lightly.

"Michigan State was 17-3 in the Big Ten, Michigan won the Big Ten tournament," reflected Pearl about his last opponent and his current one. "But Michigan State won the Big Ten, and they are the best team in that league. I'm not going to let Michigan State play the underdog card even though we're number one seed and they're number two. No, they're Michigan State."

In response, Izzo smiled when he heard of Pearl's comment.

"I don't know what's an underdog, you get to this point, and there are no underdogs; if he wants to make us the favorite, I'm cool with that," Izzo said with a laugh. "If he wants to make us the underdog, I've been in that role before too. I think that's the advantage of being where I've been."