Projected Michigan State basketball NCAA tourney seed ahead of season finale

Ahead of the season finale against Ohio State, Michigan State basketball is projected to earn a range of seeds.

One game stands between Michigan State basketball and the Big Ten Tournament. The Spartans are coming off a big road win over Nebraska and almost went 2-0 on the road trip to the Great Plains.

Now, the Spartans must close out strong against Ohio State and pick up win No. 19 on senior day.

While that game is still approaching, bracketologists are piecing together their NCAA Tournament field projections and these are probably the most accurate ones of all.

Where do the Spartans stand ahead of the March 4 regular-season finale?

According to Mike DeCourcy of FOX Sports, Michigan State was projected as the first No. 9 seed after Tuesday night’s win over Nebraska. In his scenario, the Spartans would face either Missouri or Providence in the first round as Maryland and Rutgers are the other two 8-seeds and conference foes don’t play in the first round.

Per Jerry Palm of CBS Sports, the Spartans are a No. 7 seed, matching up with 10-seeded Auburn in the first round which would be a tough opponent. The Tigers are better than that projected but they’ve struggled a little in the SEC.

Joe Lunardi of ESPN has Michigan State listed as a 7-seed as well with a tough matchup against a red-hot FAU team in the first round. In his bracket, the Spartans would be in Purdue and Kansas State’s region.

Bill Bender of Sporting News has Michigan State projected as a 9-seed and it would have to face either NC State or Arkansas in his predictions.

Lastly, TeamRankings has the Spartans projected as the second-best No. 8 seed and they would be matched up with either Auburn or Iowa State in the first round.

So to recap:

• Decourcy: No. 9 vs. Missouri/Providence
• Palm: No. 7 vs. Auburn
• Lunardi: No. 7 vs. FAU
• Bender: No. 9 vs. NC State/Arkansas
• TeamRankings: No. 8 vs. Auburn/Iowa State

The most common scenario here would be a No. 7 seed against Auburn as the Tigers lost at Alabama on Wednesday night and a 10-seed makes sense for them.

I don’t love that matchup, but Izzo has bested Bruce Pearl before.

Michigan State could rise to a 6-seed with a win over Ohio State in the season finale and maybe even a run to the Big Ten Tournament semifinal or championship game.