EAST LANSING, Mich. — Before any of the fans had filed into the arena or the opening tip even took place, the No. 25 Michigan State Spartans started to prepare for the celebration that would ensue after they beat the No. 14 Wisconsin Badgers. A white 2004 Big Ten Championship banner was rolled up and strung to the rafters overlooking the Wisconsin bench,and fireworks were set to go off in what looked to be a glorious celebration.

However, the Spartans may have overlooked one part of the festivity: they had to beat the two-time and defending Big Ten Champion Badgers to unleash the fun.

The opening minutes of the game featured what would be an extremely physical game in which every basket, every rebound and every loose ball was difficult to obtain. Even cutting through the lane or setting a screen was no easy task.

“You get two teams that play defense that way, and they’re not going to give an inch and we’re not going to give an inch,” Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. “Real estate was tough. How many good looks (were there)? The best looks of the game were Clayton’s three and Hill’s two 3-pointers at the end of the game.”

No love is ever lost when these two teams face off, and last night was just another example of the tradition of great games between the two programs. What makes this rivalry even better is the postseason and title implications the games always seem to have, come March.

With the loss, Michigan States ends its Big Ten season with a 12-4 record and must anxiously wait now to see how Wisconsin and Illinois finish out their respective seasons.

Both the Spartans and the Badgers must hope the Illini lose to either Purdue Wednesday night or Ohio State over the weekend for either of them to have a chance to share the Big Ten title. If the Illini win both of their games, they will end the season 13-3 and grab sole possession of the championship.

However, if the Illini lose at least one of those games and the Badgers can beat Indiana Saturday, the Badgers will win their third consecutive Big Ten title.

While the Badgers cannot entirely control their own destiny and will not be able to gain sole possession of the title, they maintain that nothing would be able to weaken the sheer joy of winning that third consecutive title.

“We always ask for help, and would that take away anything? Absolutely not. Nothing ever diminishes what your team does if you get a piece of anything like that,” Ryan said. “If you are running that hill we have in Madison or going through those sprints in practice like Michigan State and Illinois or us, how could anything ever diminish if you could get a piece of this thing? A Big Ten championship is cherished.”

But for at least the 24 hours, or until the team returns to the hardwood to practice, the Badgers have a chance to take a breath and enjoy their win over a Top 25 team in an extremely hostile and intense environment.

The extent to which the players will actually admit to finding some joy in ruining the Spartan party at the Breslin Center is small, but there was a special sparkle in the eyes of the players as they emerged from the locker room.

Clayton Hanson, who hit a huge 3-point shot for the Badgers in overtime, explained, “If you need something like that as a player to pump you up for a game like this, than something is wrong with you as a player.”

However, when teammate Devin Harris was pressed about enjoying the fact that the banner was not unleashed and the fireworks were left unlit, he modestly admitted with a shy smile that a little part of him was happy.

“We played the spoiler role and we spoiled their party,” said Harris. “It was tough for them, but it was something we had to do in order to stay alive in the Big Ten race.”