CHARLOTTE — They are among the last representatives of the old guard. At a time when longtime men’s college basketball peers are stepping away from the sport’s evolving landscape, they coach on, having combined for more than 1,500 victories. One is in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. The other almost certainly will be.

Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and Tennessee’s Rick Barnes also happen to be close friends who have had time to reconnect in the Queen City, where both teams are seeking to advance to the NCAA tournament’s round of 16.

The ninth-seeded Spartans (20-14) play North Carolina (28-7), the top seed in the West Region, in the first game Saturday night at Spectrum Center. Tennessee (25-8), the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region, will meet seventh-seeded Texas (21-12), where Barnes won a school-record 402 games from 1998 through 2015.

“I just talked to [Barnes] this morning, in fact,” said Izzo, who has directed Michigan State to 26 consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament, the longest streak in the sport’s history. “He’s done an unbelievable job. I thought how ironic they’re playing Texas, and he was there. Come to think of it, I thought he did a hell of job there and maybe was unappreciated a little bit, in my opinion.”

The two first met in 1986 when they were assistant coaches on a recruiting visit in Columbus, Ohio. Barnes was on the Buckeyes staff under then-coach Gary Williams. The next season, Barnes got his first head coaching job, taking over at George Mason. Izzo at the time was on the staff of Jud Heathcote, his legendary predecessor at Michigan State. The 2016 Hall of Fame inductee is in his 29th season in East Lansing.

The paths of Izzo and Barnes crossed sporadically over the next several decades, with both coming together in 2006 for “Operation Hardwood II” to coach soldiers in Kuwait in a March Madness-like tournament. They bonded with each other on the long flight.

“In this business, we’re kind of the same era,” said Barnes, 69, whose 804 wins are third among active men’s coaches behind Kentucky’s John Calipari and Kansas’s Bill Self. “Going over there [to Kuwait], we all loved it. You talk about coaching. But Tom, he loves it. You can’t help but be [inspired] around him. He cares so much about the game. Our friendship has been there for a long time, and I think it always will be.”

He and Izzo got together last year for a scrimmage in Knoxville, Tenn., and the Volunteers were scheduled to go to Michigan State this season for a return engagement. Izzo had heard Kansas and Illinois were going to play an exhibition benefiting the victims of wildfires that swept through Maui, Hawaii, in August. He reached out to Barnes to discuss doing the same when they met in late October.

A sold-out crowd of 14,797 filled Breslin Center, with Tennessee winning, 89-88, on a free throw with 1.9 seconds to play. All proceeds from the game went to a place in need that holds a special place in the hearts of both coaches. Izzo’s first games as a head coach were at the Maui Invitational in 1995. Barnes has coached in the event six times, including this season, when it moved to Honolulu.

On Saturday, he will get a crack at knocking off his previous employer to take Tennessee to the Sweet 16 for a second straight season and the ninth time in his career. The Volunteers last played Texas on Jan. 28, 2023, with Tennessee winning at Thompson-Boling Arena, 82-71.

“It’s always tough playing people that you know,” Barnes said. “In all honesty, do you want to match up with your friends — like talking about Tom, I don’t particularly look forward to that,” he said. “I don’t look forward to it, but we all know we have a job to do, and when we toss it up, we’re going to try to do what we do, and that’s try to win a basketball game.”

Izzo, meanwhile, is seeking his first victory over the Tar Heels in the NCAA tournament. It is the sixth meeting in March between the programs and the second in the round of 32. They last played in the NCAA tournament in 2009 in the national championship game, won handily by the Tar Heels, 89-72.

The Spartans are aiming for a second consecutive trip to the round of 16 and the 16th in Izzo’s career, which includes 707 wins; eight Final Four appearances, fifth most all-time; and an NCAA tournament title in 2000.

“Two storied programs, been to the most Final Fours, and yes, we haven’t beaten them in the NCAA tournament,” said Izzo, 69. “But you know what? We’re going to still show up. We’re going to show up [Saturday], and we’re going to see what we can do. I don’t look at us as a 9 seed, and some of that is my fault. I do look at them as a 1 seed, and yet I think this year with the parity in college basketball and craziness, I bet you nobody feels any more comfortable than anybody else.”