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Michigan State basketball’s history as a 7-seed in the NCAA Tournament

By Scott Tolonen

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo reacts to a play against Duke during the second half of MSU's 85-76 loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday, March 20, 2022, in Greenville, South Carolina.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo reacts to a play against Duke during the second half of MSU's 85-76 loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday, March 20, 2022, in Greenville, South Carolina. /
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WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 31: Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates winning the the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament against the Duke Blue Devils at Capital One Arena on March 29, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 31: Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates winning the the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament against the Duke Blue Devils at Capital One Arena on March 29, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

2015: 7-seed in the East Region

The 2014-15 squad is the one I keep looking at when trying to compare this year’s team to past ones. In their overtime win against Louisville to go to the Final Four, Verne Lundquist explains, “One month ago, Jim, I saw Michigan State play at Wisconsin. I would never have been convinced that they’re going back to the Final Four on that day,” and man, oh man does that sound eerily similar to this year’s team.

This run was no easy feat, having to go through the 10-seed Georgia, the 2-seed Virginia (who was ranked No. 6 by the AP poll at the time), the 3-seed Oklahoma Sooners, and winning in overtime against the aforementioned Louisville Cardinals with all games being decided by seven points or less.

They ran into a buzz saw against Duke, losing by 20 points to the eventual national champions.

2022: 7-seed in the West Region  

The Spartans opened up last year “randomly” against Davidson and former Spartan Foster Loyer. While most of the game was neck-and-neck, the Spartans had an eight-point lead with a minute to go.

Through a series of missed free throws, turn overs and Davison making some incredible 3-point Hail Marys, the Spartans lead was down to one with two seconds to go (this all sounds so familiar).

The Spartans squeaked out the win and went on to face Duke in the Round of 32. They had a five-point lead with five to go and we all know how that one ended.

2023: 7-seed in the East Region 

I think we all took a collective breath when we saw MSU’s 7-seed draw, with what looks like favorable matchups along the way.

My early scouting report is that USC is also a guard-heavy team, but will get more analysis this week. I reached out to a buddy who lives near Los Angeles and asked if he had any intel, and he said “OJ Mayo played there at one point. Also I think their coach became an AD or got in trouble. Maybe both.” So some hard-hitting scouting done right there.

I know USC football dominates the fanbase like most other schools. For now, let’s just sleep a little easier knowing we don’t have to face a 1-seed in the first weekend.

Next. 3 teams MSU won't want to see in the first round. dark

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