Michigan State's recent slide negatively affecting its NCAA Tournament projection

A tough stretch for the Spartans has them sliding down the latest NCAA Tournament projections

After a promising start to the 2021-22 season, Michigan State men's basketball has hit a rough patch over the past three weeks. The Spartans' 84-63 loss at Rutgers was their most lop-sided defeat all season.

After opening the season 14-2, with those two losses coming against Top 10 opponents Kansas and Baylor, Michigan State has gone 3-3 in their last six games to fall to 17-5 on the season. The Spartans fell in a nail-biter at Illinois, 56-55, and were upset at home by Northwestern, 64-62, two weeks ago.

With these recent defeats, Michigan State has dropped from a 3-seed to a 4-seed in the NCAA Tournament, according to projections by ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi.

Lunardi has the Spartans' listed as the highest-rated No. 4 seed, and currently projects them in the South Regional bracket. Michigan State's first round opponent would be 13-seed Chattanooga, who Lunardi projects as the automatic qualifier out of the Southern Conference.

There are seven total Big Ten teams projected to make the field of 68 by Lunardi. Purdue is projected as the 1-seed in the East Region, with 5-seed Ohio State and 7-seed Iowa also appearing in that bracket. Meanwhile, Illinois is projected as a 3-seed in the Midwest Region, and Wisconsin is the 4-seed in the West Region. Indiana joins Michigan State in the South Region as a 7-seed.

With nine regular season games remaining, as well as the Big Ten Tournament, there is still plenty of time for Michigan State to improve its potential seed for the NCAA Tournament. That starts tonight with the Spartans hosting No. 14 Wisconsin in a game with massive implications in the Big Ten regular season championship race.

Michigan State currently sits in fourth place in the Big Ten standings, but is just 1.5 games behind conference leader Illinois, and a half-game behind the Badgers and Boilermakers for second place. The Spartans host Illinois on Feb. 19 and host Purdue on Feb. 26.