Michigan State basketball: Potential NCAA Tournament opponents

Michigan State basketball will learn its fate on Sunday and here’s who the Spartans could get matched up with in round one.

Selection Sunday is one day away meaning Michigan State basketball will finally figure out its path in the Big Dance. The Spartans still had some doubt surrounding their NCAA Tournament hopes, but those were put to bed after their win over Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament.

Now the question on everyone’s mind is who Michigan State could play in the NCAA Tournament.

Here are a few of the potential matchups for MSU in the upcoming tournament.

First-round matchups

According to Bracket Matrix, Michigan State is a 10-seed in the NCAA Tournament. Assuming that’s where MSU ends up, that means they’ll play a 7-seed in their first game of the NCAA Tournament. So who could their opponent be?

The most likely opponent in my opinion is Gonzaga. The Bulldogs are a projected 7-seed right now and would make for an exciting matchup. The selection committee says they don’t pay attention to matchups when slotting teams, but it’d be hard to not pair these two storied programs together in the first round.

Another potential option is a red-hot Florida team that I hope the Spartans avoid. The Gators are currently making a run in the SEC Tournament and just beat a highly-ranked Alabama team twice to end the season. The NCAA Tournament is all about matchups, and this is one MSU may want to avoid.

The final 7-seed that MSU could play is Washington State. The Cougars had a solid year in the Pac-12, going 24-9. However, I think this is a matchup that Michigan State would be excited to get. Washington State has limped into the NCAA Tournament and is coming off a bad loss to Colorado in the Pac-12 Tournament. The Cougars also haven’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2008, so I’d love to play a team with no experience in the Big Dance.

Potential second-round matchups

If the Spartans were to advance out of the first round, who could be waiting in the second round? As a 10-seed, their likely opponent would be a 2-seed which can be a scary matchup. But the Spartans just beat a 2-seed last year so maybe they can do it again.

Speaking of last year, Marquette looks to be heading towards earning another 2-seed this year. As I mentioned with Gonzaga, it would be hard for the selection committee not to put Marquette next to MSU in the bracket for a potential rematch from last year.

Another potential rematch for the Spartans in this game is Arizona. MSU fell to the Wildcats earlier this season, but Arizona is another team limping into the NCAA Tournament as well. This is another team I’d be hopeful to get paired up with in a second-round matchup.

The final two 2-seeds MSU could see are Tennessee and Iowa State. Iowa State is similar to Washington State in that they don’t have NCAA Tournament experience, but the Cyclones have been a great team all year. However, I do think MSU matches up well with their guard play, so this would be a welcomed matchup. However, Tennessee is a team I don’t want to play. Sure MSU almost beat them in their exhibition game this year, but Tennessee dominated the SEC this year and has looked far better than the Spartans. I’ll pass on this rematch.

Importance of a 10-seed

Thankfully for Spartans fans, we won’t have to wait much longer to find out who the next opponent is. At the end of the day, we’re all probably just excited that Michigan State basketball made the tournament and didn’t lose their NCAA Tournament streak. So any opponent is probably a welcomed one because of that.

But even if you don’t care who MSU plays, you should hope they get a 10-seed instead of a 9-seed. A potential second-round matchup with a 2-seed instead of a 1-seed is far more desirable. So hopefully that’s where we see Michigan State is slotted on Sunday.