Michigan State Basketball earns No. 9 seed in the 2017 NCAA Tournament

Mar 9, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Cassius Winston (5) and Spartans guard Lourawls Nairn Jr. (11) celebrate on the court in the closing seconds against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the second half during the Big Ten Conference Tournament at Verizon Center. The Spartans won 78-51. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

After a tough regular season, Michigan State basketball earned a No. 9 seed in the 2017 NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

Selection Sunday was an uneasy time for some teams around the country, as it was for Tom Izzo and Michigan State basketball. Unlike in years past, the Spartans weren’t exactly considered a lock, but this is the type of team that could surprise some people.

Must Read: MSU Basketball: 5 bold predictions for March

Michigan State earned a No. 9 seed in the Midwest Region, facing off against No. 8 seed Miami in the first round on Friday in Tulsa, Okla. This comes as somewhat of a surprise as the Spartans were projected as a No. 10/11 seed.

What do you think of the matchup?

No wins in March are easy and the Spartans found that out the tough way against Minnesota in the conference tournament’s quarterfinals. The young freshmen need to realize that this is one-and-done time and there’s no margin for error.

If Michigan State can played like it did against Minnesota during the regular season as well as Wisconsin, it can make some noise in the first weekend or two. If not, it’ll be early exit time for Izzo yet again.

The talent is most definitely there, though. Michigan State has guys like Miles Bridges and Nick Ward who can take over games and Josh Langford and Cassius Winston who are just waiting to get hot. It’s time for those young guys to show what they can do.

Izzo has to be breathing a sigh of relief now that the Spartans are officially in the tourney.

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