My dear non-sports-aware of Troy:

Ah, grasshopper, you have so much to learn!

Michigan State is the defending national champion in basketball, having won the NCAA tournament in April 2000. They just clinched a share of this season's Big Ten regular season title, making it a record-tying four titles in a row. They are the two-time defending Big Ten tournament champs, and have a decent chance to repeat as national champs this year. They made it to the semi-finals of the nationals in 1999 as well. MSU is currently ranked third in the country in hoops.

GO SPARTANS!

As for my Buckeyes, they can't match MSU's record, but nobody can. OSU's team is currently in third place in the Big Ten, and tied for the regular season championship last year. The Buckeyes made it to the semi-finals of the NCAAs in 1999. They are doing well at this end of the regular season, having now adjusted nicely to the loss of their outstanding backcourt from last year.

GO BUCKEYES!

Aaaannnndddd - MSU's hockey team is currently #1 in the nation. Woohoo!

As to you non-US'ns and the confusion about school colors: most colleges in the US have sports programs associated with them. The teams are comprised of students of the schools, and they adopt nicknames and mascots and team colors. The team uniforms are made of those colors, and the cheerleaders and fans wear them as well. You can buy signs, shirts, hats, statues, and whatever else you can think of (yes, including toilet seats) in your school's colors and logos. MSU stuff is green and white, and has Sparty or a green block S on it. OSU's stuff is scarlet and gray, and their nickname is Buckeyes (a nut, believe it or not).

College sports is a very big business. MSU's football stadium seats 72,000, and 60 miles away Michigan's stadium seats 105,000 and they are both sold out on Saturdays in the fall. MSU's basketball arena (15,000) and hockey rink (7,000) routinely sell out on the same night. This time of year, you can find multiple games on TV on any night.

Here's a web page with MSU sports info and links, which will show you examples of the sports mascots and colors:

http://msuspartans.fansonly.com/