According to Joe Lunardi, Michigan State basketball is now a No. 6 seed ahead of the NCAA Tournament following the OSU win.
Joe Lunardi is probably the most famous bracketologist out there and while he may not always be right (not even close), he does have a good feel for where teams will be seeded in the NCAA Tournament. That should make Michigan State basketball fans feel good.
For weeks, Lunardi has had the Spartans listed a little higher than others (especially Jerry Palm) and he actually moved them up to the 6-line on Saturday after the Ohio State win.
Michigan State is the lowest No. 6 seed, according to Lunardi, and the third-highest projected Big Ten team.
The Big Ten has 10 bids and one team (Michigan) on the bubble. Purdue gets the No. 1 seed, Indiana gets a No. 4 seed, and Michigan State is the No. 6 seed while both Northwestern and Iowa get No. 7 seeds.
It’s been impressive to see how much Michigan State has risen in the eyes of bracketologists over the past few weeks and just imagine where they’d be if they had beaten Iowa and Michigan like they should have. They’d be sitting at 21-9 overall and likely a projected No. 4 seed. The Spartans would also be right there in the Big Ten title race. It’s crazy how much three minutes of meltdown over two games can change things.
Michigan State could improve that seeding ever so slightly (maybe the second-best or third-best 6-seed) with a win or two in the Big Ten Tournament.
Getting a top-four seed in the tournament would be huge because it would give the Spartans a double-bye and put them through to the quarterfinals with a potentially favorable matchup.
At least we aren’t sweating out a Selection Sunday bid this year like we were a couple of seasons ago in the first year after COVID-19. That play-in game against UCLA still haunts me.
So bracketologists have Michigan State seeded anywhere from the 6-line to the 9-line.