Michigan State basketball in elite category in terms of Quad 1 wins

It’s been an interesting season for Michigan State basketball.

The year started on the highest of highs as the Spartans nearly upset Gonzaga and then took down Kentucky in the Champions Classic. They then lost Jaden Akins and Malik Hall for an extended period of time and lost in the PKI to Alabama shorthanded.

Then they lost to Notre Dame and Northwestern in back-to-back games before bouncing back and beating Penn State on the road. Michigan State reeled off seven straight wins before going on another cold stretch in Big Ten play — but they were in each game.

Fast forward to Feb. 23 and the Spartans are sitting at 17-10 overall, fresh off a huge 15-point win over No. 17 Indiana to move to 9-7 in conference play.

And, according to Kevin Pauga, Michigan State’s associate AD, the Spartans have one of the better resumes in the nation.

Not too shabby.

Michigan State basketball’s March Madness seeding

As we all know, the NET has taken center stage in college basketball. Teams are judges based on their NET ranking and their performances against Quad 1 teams and Michigan State’s eight wins against those top-tier schools is going to help coming seeding time.

Selection Sunday is just a couple of weeks away and that means bubble teams are scrambling to add to their tournament resumes with Quad 1 wins (preseason No. 1 North Carolina has 0) while Michigan State is sitting here with eight.

It’s safe to say Michigan State will be going dancing yet again.

Right now, the Spartans are projected as a No. 8 seed but they could move up with a road split between Iowa and Nebraska and a home win against Ohio State to end the season and even a makeup game win over Minnesota. That would make Michigan State 20-11 overall and a potential top-four seed in the Big Ten Tournament, earning a double-bye.

While this year has been weird and inconsistent, Michigan State has proven that it can play with, and beat, just about anyone.