Big Ten Tournament: What would Michigan State's path be if the season ended today?

Michigan State has lost five of their last six to fall out of the Big Ten championship race, but four games remain for the Spartans to regain some momentum heading into postseason play.

At 9-7 in the conference, Michigan State is tied for seventh place in the league and 3.5 games out of first place. However, the Spartans only trail fourth place Ohio State by 1.5 games, which is highly meaningful. If MSU can reverse this recent slide and finish the season strong, they are within striking distance of a double bye for the Big Ten Tournament.

The Buckeyes are one of the four remaining teams on Michigan State's schedule, along with Purdue, Michigan and Maryland.

We are just under two weeks away from the start of the conference tournament, and there will be plenty of movement in the Big Ten standings between then and now. Four teams (Purdue, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio State) are within 1.5 of a conference title.

Even so, it's worth looking ahead at what the Big Ten Tournament's projected field looks like today, and what Michigan State's current path would be to a potential tournament championship.

First Round (Wednesday, March 9)

No 14 Nebraska vs. No. 11 Northwestern
No. 13 Minnesota vs. No. 12 Maryland

Second Round (Thursday, March 10)

No. 9 Indiana vs. No. 8 Michigan
Maryland/Minnesota vs. No. 5 Rutgers
No. 10 Penn State vs. No. 7 Michigan State
Northwestern/Nebraska vs. No. 6 Iowa

Quarterfinals (Friday, March 11)

Michigan/Indiana vs. No. 1 Purdue
Maryland/Minnesota/Rutgers vs. No. 4 Ohio State
Penn State/Michigan State vs. No. 2 Wisconsin
Northwestern/Nebraska/Iowa vs. No. 3 Illinois

Thoughts on Michigan State's draw

Michigan State currently gets a first round bye and is matched up with 10th-seed Penn State in the second round. The Spartans defeated the Nittany Lions 80-64 early this season at the Breslin Center, before dropping the rematch in Happy Valley just last week, 62-58.

Even with the way MSU has been playing of late, Penn State is a good draw for their first game in the Big Ten Tournament, and one the Spartans would be expected to win.

In this scenario, Michigan State's next opponent would be second-seed Wisconsin. The Spartans' split with the Badgers this season as well, winning 86-74 in Madison before falling at home, 70-62, in the rematch. Michigan State is capable of beating Wisconsin again, though all of this is predicated on the Spartans playing better basketball than they have over the past three weeks.

Projecting anything beyond the quarterfinals isn't practical, giving how many scenarios still exist. However, again, if Michigan State can find a way to turn things around and stack up wins to end the regular season and conference tournament, they have enough opportunities for resume-building wins to vastly improve their NCAA Tournament seeding, which is currently hovering around a 7-seed for The Big Dance.

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