Michigan State Basketball: 5 potential 2022 NCAA Tournament opponents

The 2022 NCAA Tournament is almost upon us and here’s who Michigan State basketball could potentially see in the first round.

Michigan State’s Big Ten Tournament run came to an end on Saturday afternoon as Purdue was able to go on a late run to put the Spartans away after they cut the lead to two.

Tom Izzo has to feel pleased with his team in the Big Ten Tournament, making the semifinals for the 15th time in his career after beating Maryland for the second time in a week and topping No. 12 Wisconsin for the second time this season.

Now, the Spartans are focused on the NCAA Tournament and Selection Sunday.

Who could the Spartans see matched up with them on Selection Sunday?

5. Miami Hurricanes (23-10; projected 10/11 seed)

This one might be the least likely of all as Miami could be an 11-seed come Selection Sunday. The Spartans could have been in the 6-seed conversation if they beat Purdue on Saturday, but that clearly didn’t happen so expect this to be a slim shot of a matchup if Miami rises to a 10-seed and Michigan State stays on that 7-seed line.

The Hurricanes and Spartans matched up back in the 2017 NCAA Tournament when Miles Bridges, Nick Ward, Josh Langford, and Cassius Winston were all freshmen and Michigan State won convincingly.

Miami this year has been solid but not great. The Hurricanes are 23-10 but their best wins are North Carolina, at Duke, and at Wake Forest. That’s not a great resume, but this team can cause some problems but it’s not great defensively or on the glass which would bode well for MSU.