1. MSU lands a tricky NCAA tournament draw
Duke at the top of the bracket. Connecticut at the bottom. There’s no easy path to the Final Four in this NCAA tournament. But there are more favorable ones than this. Like Purdue’s road, for example. MSU is the top 3 seed, Purdue the last 2 seed. MSU’s loss to UCLA in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals and Purdue’s Big Ten tournament title (or at least getting to the final) put the Spartans and Boilermakers in this order.
I guess sometimes the Big Ten tournament final does matter to the selection committee — the committee chair said as much Sunday. It didn’t for MSU in 2016 or 2019. Purdue is the 2 seed in the West Region, with Arizona as the 1 seed. No picnic there, but also the Boilermakers don’t have to deal with UConn potentially in the Sweet 16.
What’s done is done, however. MSU’s is the 3 seed in the East Region (Washington, D.C.), beginning against 14-seed North Dakota State at 4:05 p.m. Thursday at KeyBank Arena in Buffalo. The game will be televised on TNT. It’s a region filled with familiar opponents — the aforementioned No. 1-seed Blue Devils and 2-seed Huskies, 8-seed Ohio State and 7-seed UCLA. There are other notable brands and teams: St. John’s is the 5 seed and Kansas the 4, but those two are Duke’s problem before MSU would ever have to deal with them.
MSU was overmatched against UConn during an exhibition game in late October in Hartford. But that was eons ago and just an exhibition. Both teams played all sorts of funky lineups. MSU grew into the game in the second half. And UConn, which was rolling into March, showed some cracks in late-season losses at Marquette and a blowout defeat at the hands of St. John’s in the Big East tournament championship — two losses that cost the Huskies the Big East regular season and tournament titles.
Some of MSU’s most storied teams have had to go through two blue bloods to make the Final Four. Notably, in 2005, when the Spartans beat Duke and Kentucky to get there, and in 2009, when they beat Kansas and 1-seed Louisville to get to Detroit. And, memorably, the Spartans finally slayed Duke to reach the Final Four in 2019 — and did so in Washington, D.C.
So it can be done.
2. An interesting first weekend in Buffalo
Buffalo is going to be a zoo this coming week, with MSU and Michigan (the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region) at the same opening site, though not in the same region.
From MSU’s perspective, the first two games aren’t horrible matchups. More on the Spartans’ opening opponent, North Dakota State, below. A potential second-round date Saturday with 6-seed Louisville or 11-seed South Florida is likely. South Florida, which won the American Athletic Conference regular season and tournament, has won 11 straight games. Louisville has more impressive losses than it does notable wins, falling in close games on the road at North Carolina and pushing Duke at home. But the Cardinals also haven’t beaten anyone at MSU’s level.
The Spartans should have a lot of fans in Western New York for these two games — two games they should win if they play at the level they were just before the Big Ten tournament.
3. A first glance at the North Dakota State Bison, who haven’t played anyone of this ilk
If you’re looking for common opponents with MSU or high-major opposition, you won’t find any of them on North Dakota State’s schedule. The Bison didn’t play a single team ranked in Kenpom’s top 100. They went 14-2 in the low-major Summit League, winning the regular-season title by two games, and then won their conference tournament pretty convincingly. But, again, their highest ranked opponents are St. Thomas (109 Kenpom), which they split with, and Southern Illinois (117), which they beat at home in November.
What North Dakota State does is let it fly from deep, even a couple of their big guys. The Bison have five players who’ve attempted 97 or more 3-pointers and are shooting 37% or better from long range. The Spartans will have to guard the perimeter better than they have some recent games. North Dakota State hit 14 of 21 3-pointers to win their conference tournament semifinal.
Tom Izzo will appreciate this Bison team, which only has three transfers. One of those is Western Michigan transfer Markhi Strickland. Guard Damari Wheeler-Thomas is the Bison’s top scorer at 14 points per game and has made 64 of 171 3-pointers this season.
In the Summit League, the Bison were a terrific rebounding team. It’s hard to know how that’ll translate to this matchup. Defensively, they were just in the middle of the pack in conference play.
MSU has never faced North Dakota State, a land-grant institution in Fargo, N.D. The Bison have only been a Division I program for 22 seasons.
MSU has a tough draw. But this is a reasonable first matchup.
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State basketball’s NCAA tournament draw — the Bison first, and maybe UConn and Duke
Reporting by Graham Couch, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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