The NCAA Tournament selection committee proved that it doesn’t care much about Michigan State basketball’s Big Ten Tournament title win.
“Michigan State leap-frogged Kentucky.”
Those were the words that rung through all Michigan State fans’ ears on Sunday night after everyone’s worst nightmare was realized with the Spartans earned a No. 2 seed in Duke’s bracket.
Duke earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and Michigan State got slotted in the Blue Devils’ region. You would think that meant the Spartans were the lowest No. 2 seed, right?
Not according to the NCAA Tournament selection committee who ranked the Spartans No. 6 overall, behind Tennessee who was the only higher-ranked No. 2 seed. But why?
Tennessee didn’t win the SEC regular season title and lost in its conference tournament championship game by 20 points to a borderline AP Top 25 team in Auburn. They crumbled near the end of the year while Michigan State surged.
In fact, the Volunteers finished the season 6-4 while Michigan State won 10 of its final 11 games, including the regular season and Big Ten Tournament titles. It played in a tougher conference than Tennessee and finished 27-5 while the Spartans were 28-6.
Tougher strength of schedule, more Quadrant 1 wins and two more titles in a deeper conference, but the committee proved one thing: it didn’t care about Sunday’s results.
Getting jobbed like Michigan State did by the NCAA Tournament selection committee is almost a crime in college basketball.
The Spartans proved they were worthy of a No. 1 seed even before Sunday’s win over Michigan — their third on the season — but apparently the committee was closer to putting a team that lost its conference regular season and tourney titles in a better region.