Michigan State basketball improves position on ESPN’s bubble watch

Michigan State basketball is moving into “should be in” territory on ESPN’s bubble watch for the NCAA Tournament.

Selection Sunday is about five weeks away so that means the NCAA Tournament is on everyone’s minds. Some teams are fighting for No. 1 seeds while others are slipping out of contention just to make it in the tournament, but everyone is wondering where their favorite team is positioned as of today.

Typically Michigan State basketball is fighting the best teams in the country for the top seeds, but that isn’t the case this year. The Spartans are hanging around the bubble and we all know there is work to do.

ESPN regularly categorizes those teams near the NCAA tournament bubble to predict where each team stands right now. And MSU recently saw their positioning improve.

“Should be in”

Heading into their matchup with Illinois, the Spartans were put in the “work to do” category. This essentially meant that MSU could be in the tournament right now but they shouldn’t feel comfortable.

Fast forward a few days and Michigan State defeated No. 10 Illinois 88-80 and they are now in much better shape. The Spartans now have moved up into the “should be in” category. And I don’t think there’s any argument against this.

The Spartans would be in the tournament if the season ended today, but they aren’t a lock to be in just yet. Teams like Purdue and Illinois are locks, but Michigan State basketball needs to keep winning to keep its spot in the tournament. The win against Illinois helped the resume a ton, but now the Spartans need to be careful to not destroy that improved resume.

Potential for disaster

MSU’s next two games are scary to me. Not in the sense that they’re playing good teams, but it’s the thought of what could happen if it loses. Michigan State travels to Penn State then to Michigan, two teams that the Spartans should beat. But if MSU were to lose then all that progress it made by beating Illinois will be gone instantly. The Spartans would be right back on the bubble and the NCAA Tournament streak would be in jeopardy.

I don’t think they want to be in a position where they need to beat Purdue to get into the NCAA Tournament. So to avoid that, MSU needs to beat the teams they should in the coming weeks.

This all starts on Wednesday when the Spartans travel to Penn State. The Nittany Lions are much improved, but this is a team the Spartans should still beat. It’s time to go on a winning streak, and I have all the faith in the world that they will.