The Spartans had to wait till the final set of announcements to find out their seed, but they are in the tournament and it’s time to start dancing.
Michigan State ’s men’s basketball is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the 26th straight year. The Spartans were given the 9-seed in the West Region. This sets up a first round matchup with Mississippi State and the potential for a 2nd round matchup against number 1 seed North Carolina.
The full west bracket:
The West Region pic.twitter.com/X2jfKJbEKR
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 17, 2024
The top 4 seeds in the tournament are:
- North Carolina
- Purdue
- Houston
- UConn (identified as the number 1 seed overall)
The Spartans draw is no easy path. While their first weekend might theoretically be better than others on the 8/9 seed line (no one wants to play UConn this year; MSU got two shots at Purdue and lost; and Houston has looked fantastic much of the year). It’s still a challenging draw.
Many fans wanted MSU to fall to a 10 seed. By comparison, playing 7-seed Dayton then potentially Arizona (if MSU were in this region) does sound slightly better than the matchup against Mississippi State then potentially UNC. Still UNC is more beatable than the other number 1 seeds. And Mississippi State does not strike fear in the hearts of most.
A full breakdown will be coming soon on Mississippi State (a team MSU can definitely handle if it plays well), but for now: Michigan State is in the tournament, and they have a path that is slightly better than most in similar seeding.