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Now here they were, passing in a hallway of the RCA Dome after Michigan State's first national championship since 1979. That was Magic's game, the start of his rise to international fame. Peterson wasn't 2 years old at the time.

Amid the crowds and confusion of a postgame championship scene, Michigan State's starters were walking from their locker room to the interview room with coach Tom Izzo. Magic was moving in the opposite direction with his own pack of cameras.

There would be time later for a long talk. Here, they could only say a few words.

"What's up, champ?" Magic said.

Peterson turned his head, a fifth-year senior newly able to address Magic as a peer.

"I'm just like you now," he said.

Well, he's still short some NBA titles and Olympic gold medals, but Michigan State basketball is no longer defined just by Magic and the 1979 season. For suspense, Monday's NCAA title game wasn't much, an 89-76 victory over Florida that seemed in doubt only when Mateen Cleaves left the game with an ankle injury in the second half.

Cleaves returned, of course. Nobody doubted that would happen. Not Magic, not Cleaves' parents. He could walk. He would come back and play. The only question was whether Florida would close the gap during his four-minute absence. It didn't happen.

So late Monday night, while Cleaves had his hands on crutches, his teammates had their hands on a national title trophy.

"He got his legacy right here tonight," Magic said. "Nobody can take this moment from him. Ever. His whole life changed tonight."

The way college basketball is changing, this team might turn out to be unique, with players such as Peterson and Cleaves, seniors, superstar seniors, having hung around until the end to get their championship. And don't forget the third senior starter, A.J. Granger, last seen struggling just to score against Wisconsin in the semifinals. He tied a career-high with 19 points.

Michigan State was too tough, too experienced. And then the players became angry when Teddy Dupay took down Cleaves hard in the second half, hooking his ankle on the way down and injuring him. Angry, experienced and tough was far too much for the young Gators.

But from the very beginning, Michigan State seemed absolutely sure of itself. In handling Florida's press, the Spartans said they did nothing new, that it was the same press-breaker they've always used, just not very often. With Cleaves knocking down 3-pointers, too, they never trailed, racing to a 29-20 lead before their first turnover.

"I knew that press was nothin' and they would break it," Herbert Cleaves, Mateen's father, said amid a pack of reporters waiting for the media to be allowed into the Spartans' locker room. "They couldn't hold up."

Frances Cleaves, Mateen's mother, who's divorced from Herbert, was also part of the impromptu press conference. While referring to Mateen's hometown of Flint, Mich., she did a Hillary Clinton imitation.

"Flint, you are victorious because you are the village that raised this child," she said.

It went on like this. Some eyes rolled. Hey, the lady was beside herself with joy, she had a huge audience of media and, well, Mateen had to get his outgoing nature from somewhere.

Ex-Spartan Magic Johnson likes what he sees in Michigan State's other national title team.(AP)

The postgame scene on the floor seemed made for television. Mrs. Cleaves hugged her sobbing son, rubbing the back of his head, then brushing some tears from his cheeks. As Magic noted, Cleaves is no saint, tainted by his involvement in a campus fight and the theft of a 40-ounce bottle of beer, although charges weren't filed in either case.

But this was his moment. This was another of Michigan State's moments.

During a timeout in the first half, the Spartans' fans chanted the names of people they wanted to stand up in the crowd. First it was Magic. Then Steve Smith. Then football player Plaxico Burress. Finally, they asked for an acknowledgement of their chant from "Mama Cleaves, Mama Cleaves."

"Tonight We Party Like It's 1979," said a sign in the crowd.

Magic is expecting more parties at future national title games. Maybe some day he'll attend them with Cleaves and Peterson.

"This program has arrived," he said. "We're much like North Carolina now. We'll be back here a lot."