Where Michigan State sits in Joe Lunardi's latest bracketology projections
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Michigan State men's basketball will wrap up February tonight with a road game against Nebraska, with a chance to finish with a winning record for the month.
The Spartans are 3-3 in February so far, and have an 8-7 record since the beginning of January. With that, Michigan State is not bringing a whole lot of momentum into college basketball's all-important month of March.
Yet, as head coach Tom Izzo pointed out on Monday afternoon, the Spartans have been oh-so-close to being a team that challenged for a conference title.
MSU lost in double-overtime at Iowa after blowing a 13-point lead in the final minute and a half. The Spartans played Big Ten champion Purdue to within one point at the Breslin Center. Michigan State has also suffered close losses at Michigan and at Rutgers in February.
However, your record determines your fate, and at 17-11 overall and 9-8 in Big Ten play, the Spartans find themselves projected safely in the field of 68 for the NCAA Tournament, but at a lower seed than they would like.
In his latest projection, ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi has Michigan State as the 7-seed in the East Region. The Spartans are slotted to play against 10-seed Florida Atlantic, whom Lunardi projects to earn the automatic bid from Conference USA.
While the goal of most programs is just reach the NCAA Tourament — and few programs have achieved that goal at the rate of Michigan State — the Spartans would like to improve upon that 7-seed projection. If MSU were able just to reach the 6-seed line, it makes would make getting out of the first weekend much easier.
As a 7-seed, the Spartans would likely face a 2-seed in the second round of the tournament, should they survive their first round matchup. As a 6-seed, Michigan State would face an 11-seed in Round 1, and most likely a 3-seed in Round 2. It's a subtle difference, but could be the difference between another first weekend exit for Izzo and Co., or a run to the Sweet 16.
Michigan State still has two regular season games remaining, in both of which the Spartans will be favored, before the Big Ten Tournament begins late next week. That provides ample opportunity for MSU to improve their seeding before 'Selection Sunday'.
As for the rest of the Big Ten, Lunardi projects the conference to have nine teams in the field, the most of any league in America.
Purdue is projected to earn the conference's automatic bid and wind up as a No. 1 seed. Indiana has surged up to a No. 4 seed projection, while Northwestern has held steady as a 6-seed.
Maryland currently projects as a 7-seed and Iowa as an 8-seed. Illinois and Rutgers are each projected as 9-seeds, while Wisconsin is one of Lunardi's "Last Four In" as an 11-seed. Michigan is listed among the "First Four Out", while Penn State is listed among the "Next Four Out".
