NCAA Tournament March Madness

#15 Michigan St

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Projected seed: 3

Michigan State’s résumé reads like a defense-first team that has already beaten legitimate opponents away from home and on neutral floors, with signature wins at Kentucky and over North Carolina and a strong road result at Penn State that prove it can close on the road, while a blemish in the loss to Duke keeps the profile from being bulletproof. The Spartans’ best moments are those neutral and road victories and a quality win over Iowa, their weakest moments are the Duke defeat and any stretch of uninspiring offensive outings against lesser foes, and the remainder of the schedule gives clear paths to improvement: a home meeting and a rematch on the road against Michigan, a difficult trip to Purdue, west-coast tests at Washington and Oregon and high-profile home dates such as Illinois and UCLA offer the kind of wins that would cement the résumé while easier games like Cornell provide breathing room.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/3Colgate186W80-69
11/8Arkansas27W69-66
11/13San Jose St200W79-60
11/18(N)Kentucky20W83-66
11/21Detroit277W84-56
11/25(N)East Carolina279W89-56
11/27(N)North Carolina23W74-58
12/2Iowa18W71-52
12/6Duke6L66-60
12/13@Penn St128W76-72
12/16Toledo164W92-69
12/20(N)Oakland145W79-70
12/29Cornell163W114-97
1/2@Nebraska2247%
1/5USC3976%
1/8Northwestern5584%
1/13Indiana2972%
1/17@Washington4963%
1/20@Oregon7272%
1/24Maryland10092%
1/27@Rutgers15990%
1/30Michigan130%
2/4@Minnesota10281%
2/7Illinois950%
2/13@Wisconsin4260%
2/17UCLA3374%
2/22Ohio St3676%
2/26@Purdue424%
3/1@Indiana2951%
3/5Rutgers15997%
3/8@Michigan114%