Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio met with members of the media Dec. 4 to discuss the Big Ten Championship. Highlights, interesting lines, and all of that fun stuff are below for your reading pleasure.

INDIANAPOLIS — Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio met the media Here’s what he had to say.

• “We’ve been down here three times in five years, so it obviously is a big opportunity with a great atmosphere.
• Dantonio talked at length about the relationships he’s built on this particular team, called them extremely important.
• He also admitted that he and Michigan State men’s head basketball coach Tom Izzo “feed off each other” and have helped try to build similar programs. Yes, they are good friends.
• At this point, the Big Ten is excelling even with all of the parity in the conference.
• Lasting football success is more of a statement on the quality of the program than anything else.
• “He told me ‘I want to win another championship,’ ” Dantonio said about quarterback Connor Cook’s decision to stay his senior year.
• “You get one, you get the other. If we win the Big Ten Championship, we’ll go on to represent them at a higher level.”
• Being more tough, mentally and physical, has been a focus for the team this season.
• Gauging how players’ personalities will change and mature from 17-22 is one of Dantonio’s biggest challenges.
• “We live in a society with immediate gratification, and people want it done now.”
• The Iowa program was “probably the No. 1” program Dantonio built his Spartan program on.
• Guys playing emotionally and confident is what Dantonio looks for.
• When pressure spins out of control is when it starts to get hard to deal with.
• On New Kirk: “They’re winning football games, and it looks to me like they’re doing it the way they’ve always done it.”
• “Mental toughness is how you handle adversity and how you handle success.”
• Michigan State’s personality is “very determined.”