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Predicting how far Michigan State basketball can go in 2018 NCAA Tournament

By Adam Zdroik

EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 20: Michigan State Spartans celebrate with the Big Ten trophy after the Spartan defeated the Illinois Fighting Illini at Breslin Center on February 20, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 20: Michigan State Spartans celebrate with the Big Ten trophy after the Spartan defeated the Illinois Fighting Illini at Breslin Center on February 20, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
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EAST LANSING, MI – FEBRUARY 20: Michigan State Spartans celebrate with the Big Ten trophy after the Spartan defeated the Illinois Fighting Illini at Breslin Center on February 20, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI – FEBRUARY 20: Michigan State Spartans celebrate with the Big Ten trophy after the Spartan defeated the Illinois Fighting Illini at Breslin Center on February 20, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

National Championship

The most likely teams to be in this spot are Virginia, Cincinnati, Tennessee, Arizona, Kentucky, Xavier, North Carolina, Michigan and Gonzaga. I’m taking Cincinnati and Tennessee out of the equation because I don’t think either is good enough to make it this far.

Must Read: MSU Basketball: 5 reasons Spartans can make the Final Four

I’d be surprised if Virginia made it without De’Andre Hunter. Arizona hasn’t played good defense all season. I don’t think Xavier is that good. North Carolina doesn’t have the tools to win five games in a row. Gonzaga is not as good as last year’s squad. Wait, am I predicting an all-Michigan final?

No.

The best matchup for Michigan State would probably be Virginia because of how recent games have played out. Arizona also wouldn’t be a terrible matchup because the Wildcats don’t play much defense and MSU has the bodies to throw at Dusan Ristic and Deandre Ayton. Xavier is also a good matchup and the Spartans already dominated UNC, although Cameron Johnson wasn’t playing at the time.

The teams Michigan State probably doesn’t want to see are Michigan and Kentucky. Other than that, everyone else is a decent matchup for the Spartans. We already know about the Wolverines, while the Wildcats have the length that would be extremely problematic for MSU’s offense.

Next: MSU Basketball: 5 biggest concerns before NCAA tourney

Obviously, that’s a long way from now so there’s no use getting into too much detail. There’s a reasonable path for Michigan State to go all the way, but the biggest problem may end up being Duke. If it can get past the Blue Devils, things open up a bit as there aren’t any imposing forces like Bagley until the national championship.

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