Tom Izzo and his Michigan State basketball team will be huddled around the TV together on Sunday evening, awaiting their seed, region, and first-round matchup.
Selection Sunday is upon us, and that means there’s going to be plenty of speculation until the bracket is finally announced. We won’t know if Michigan State is a 2-seed or a 3-seed until Sunday evening, but we have a decent idea of who the first-round opponent could be.
I’ve narrowed it down to three teams I’ve seen the Spartans matched up with the most.
1. Siena (23-11)
This is the team that I’ve seen tied to Michigan State the most as a first-round matchup, assuming the Spartans get the last 2-seed. Siena has been projected as Michigan State’s 15-seed matchup in pretty much every bracket that has the Spartans as a 2.
Siena is 2-7 against Quads 1-3 and the Saints are 0-2 against the common opponents that they had with Michigan State this year.
Siena is very mediocre offensively, averaging about 70 points per game, and it shoots just 30 percent from deep. It’s also a poor rebounding team. This would be a great matchup for MSU.
2. North Dakota State (27-7)
North Dakota State is another team that I’ve seen matched up a lot with Michigan State, and this would be the likely scenario if the Spartans were to drop to a 3-seed.
The Bison had a strong season, going 27-7, but they were just 5-5 against Quads 1-3 and they had the No. 327 strength of schedule in the country. They won the games that they were supposed to, for the most part, but they aren’t exactly turning heads.
They do shoot fairly well from deep, making nearly 37 percent from long range, and they average over 80 points per game. They do turn the ball over a lot, though.
3. Furman (22-12)
The last team that I’ve seen Michigan State paired with in the first round quite a bit is Furman, a 22-12 team from the SoCon which finished fifth in the league in the regular season.
Furman doesn’t have a single Quad 1-2 win and it’s just 5-8 against Quads 1-3. The Paladins have only beaten one tournament team this season and they’ve been projected as low as a 16-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Furman also isn’t great offensively, shooting just 33 percent from deep and averaging just over 76 points per game. The Paladins also turn the ball over 12 times per game.