Michigan State basketball: Is NCAA Tournament streak in jeopardy?

If the season ended today, would Michigan State basketball make the 2024 NCAA Tournament field? It’s a valid question.

Michigan State basketball has the second longest active NCAA tournament streak in the country at 25 straight appearances. However, the Spartans’ the last few seasons have barely squeaked into the tournament field, which isn’t the norm in East Lansing.

This season appears to be heading the same direction. After the Spartans lost to Wisconsin 81-66 Friday night it got me thinking if the NCAA tournament streak could be in jeopardy.

What would happen if the season ended today?

This is an important question to ask when deciding if the streak is in jeopardy. If the season ended today, I do believe the Spartans would still make the NCAA Tournament field. Most bracket projections I saw before the Wisconsin game had Michigan State as a 10 or 11 seed. I think that fact alone shows that MSU isn’t comfortably in the NCAA Tournament right now.

Any time you are on the bubble you can never feel too good about getting in the tournament. The NCAA Tournament committee has made some questionable decisions in the past, so there’s no saying what they’ll do on Selection Sunday to your favorite team.

So basing it just on the fact that the Spartans are currently on the bubble, I don’t think you can deny that the Spartans’ streak is in jeopardy.

The rest of the season is favorable

The one counterpoint people have who think the streak isn’t in jeopardy is the ease of the Spartans upcoming schedule. As it stands today, Michigan State is favored in 10 of their last 11 games of the regular season. The one game this isn’t the case is their road trip to Purdue. So looking at how MSU is favored to win a lot of games, you might then think that the Spartans should comfortably make the NCAA Tournament field.

But how confident are you that the Spartans win those 10 games? I personally don’t see that happening. What about winning seven or eight of their last 11 games? That sounds realistic to me, but I still can’t say with 100 percent certainty that MSU will even do that.

So even though Michigan State is in the tournament field right now and has a favorable schedule remaining, I still don’t think you can deny that the streak is in trouble. Maybe in a couple weeks we’ll feel differently, but that’s at least where I stand right now.

You also have to factor in that Tom Izzo is still the Michigan State basketball coach. I know he hasn’t been at his best this season either, but Izzo has proven countless times that he will figure it out. So even though my faith is wavering, I still have faith that Izzo will figure it out in the end.