DETROIT — Inside this building, in front of these fans and with Tom Izzo responsible for their preparation, it's difficult to imagine the Michigan State Spartans losing Monday night.

Of course you remember Danny Manning and the Kansas Jayhawks parlaying a Kemper Arena home-court advantage into a national-title victory over the top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners two decades ago.

We could be looking at a repeat.

The Spartans don't have a player near the equal of Manning. In fact, you could combine the talents of Michigan State's two best players and they still couldn't match Manning.

If the Spartans knock off prohibitive-tournament-favorite North Carolina, don't expect some sort of one-player miracle. Instead, credit Ford Field, the 50,000 Spartans fans crammed inside it and a focus and determination inspired by the belief that a Michigan State victory could lift the spirits of a state ravaged by the economic recession.

This smells very much like destiny.

Saturday night, the Spartans slapped West Region No. 1 seed Connecticut, 82-73, controlling the style of play from start to finish, feeding off the energy of the largest Final Four crowd (72,456) in history.

"We're a blue-collar team," Izzo said after the game. "This is the blue-collar city. It was just amazing, amazing to walk out of that tunnel. Give the people in Detroit, Ford Field people, everybody credit. That was an incredible setting."

Michigan State beat the Huskies by never shying away from UConn's size and willingness to play physical in the paint (rebounding was 42-42), and by totally exposing the Huskies' guards as overmatched.

Durrell Summers' monster slam over the top of UConn leaper Stanley Robinson late in the second half symbolized Michigan State's aggressive mentality. In the backcourt, the Spartans' Kalin Lucas, Summers and Korie Lucious combined to score 42 points. UConn's A.J. Price, Craig Austrie and Kemba Walker combined to shoot eight of 29 from the field.

Can the Spartans do it again Monday night against the best team in the tournament, the preseason No. 1 team, the team loaded with the most pro prospects and the team that beat Michigan State by 35 points in December?

Yeah, Destiny is about to collide with Dominance. The Tar Heels trounced the Spartans, 98-63, on Dec. 3 inside this very building.

That was then, this is now. Then, Michigan State big man Goran Suton missed the game. Then, the Spartans had spent the previous eight days dashing across the country playing neutral-site games against Maryland, Oklahoma State and Wichita State.

Then, only 26,000 fans filled Ford Field.

Monday night is a different animal. The Spartans are better. They're riding a wave of emotional energy. Their confidence is high after spanking Louisville and Connecticut, the bullies of the Big East, in back-to-back tournament games.

Revenge is a wonderful motivator. Manning and the Miracles lost twice to the Sooners during the regular season.

Revenge mixed with a feeling of being part of something bigger than you is usually a pretty lethal combination.

"I felt that the day we came here," Izzo said of his connection of Michiganders struggling financially. "I felt it at the hotel. I felt it driving to practices. I felt it at practice. We had a pep rally (Friday), I felt it with all the people there. But my favorite time (Saturday) was driving to the game.

"You go by some tough homes, some tough places," Izzo continued. "I did make that the important part of this game. I always said as a player, you've got a chance to be a difference-maker, a role model, a chance to do things to make other people smile and other people feel good about you."

The Tar Heels are playing for a trophy. The Spartans believe they're saving lives.

"I hope we were a ray of sunshine, a distraction for them, diversion, anything else we can be," Izzo said. "We're not done yet, so hopefully we can continue to make them feel a little better and us feel a lot better."

The Tar Heels are going to need to be very good on Monday, better than they were in their victory over the Villanova Wildcats in Saturday's other Final Four semifinal. We know the Tar Heels are capable of being that good.

I'm just not sure destiny will allow it.