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Michigan State basketball robbed of a 2-seed in 2018 NCAA Tournament

By Connor Muldowney

EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 10: Miles Bridges #22 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates his made basket with his teammates late in the second half during a game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Breslin Center on February 10, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 10: Miles Bridges #22 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates his made basket with his teammates late in the second half during a game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Breslin Center on February 10, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
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Michigan State basketball was absolutely robbed of a 2-seed in the 2018 NCAA Tournament while two teams the Spartans beat were seeded ahead.

Selection Sunday is right up there with one of the best days of the year as it causes every college basketball fan in the country to tune in and wait to hear if their favorite team made the NCAA Tournament. For Michigan State fans over the past two decades, there has been little sweating on Selection Sunday.

Must Read: MSU Basketball: 5 fixes to make before 2018 NCAA Tournament 

Tom Izzo has spoiled Spartan fans, and this year is no exception. The Spartans finished the regular season with a 29-4 overall record, winning the Big Ten regular season and reaching the quarterfinal before losing to Michigan in the conference tourney.

Despite the solid resume, on paper, Michigan State was handed a 3-seed in the 2018 NCAA Tournament while Purdue was listed as the conference’s highest-rated team with a 2-seed. Just how ridiculous is that? This tweet sums it up.

Purdue finished the regular season with a 28-6 record and lost to Michigan State in the regular season as well as Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament title game. The Boilermakers’ best non-conference wins are Butler, Arizona and Louisville, finishing third in conference play.

While the Spartans were a better regular season team than Purdue and likely should have received that 2-seed in Detroit, they were also stronger than North Carolina, another team they beat. The Tar Heels finished the season with a 25-10 record and lost in the ACC title game. They lost to the Spartans by 18 points earlier in the year.

Cincinnati, another 2-seed, was 30-4 in the regular season and the Bearcats’ best non-conference wins were Mississippi State and UCLA. They beat Houston and Wichita State, the next best teams in the AAC, just one time each.

How do any of these three teams deserve a 2-seed over the Spartans, or even the Michigan Wolverines for that matter? They don’t.

Next: MSU Basketball: 5 biggest concerns before NCAA tourney

This just gives Michigan State more of a chip on its shoulder heading into another potentially deep tourney run.

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