It's that time of the year again, Michigan State basketball fans. The Spartans are gearing up for another March run, but this time it'll likely take place as a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
A month ago, Michigan State was viewed as a 4/5-seed after losing to UCLA and USC in back-to-back games and then shortly after, losing to Indiana at home. Since then, however, the Spartans reeled off eight straight Quad 1 wins and were a play away from making it nine on Saturday afternoon against Wisconsin.
Even with that loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals on Saturday, the Spartans are likely locked in to a No. 2 seed and the potential matchups are starting to reveal themselves.
I've look at the bracketologists projections and here are the three most likely first-round opponents for Michigan State.
1. Bryant
Bryant is likely to earn a 15-seed after winning the America East Tournament, finishing the season with a 23-11 record. They had a solid end to the season after starting the year 6-9. They finished with a 17-2 record in their final 19 games but the Bulldogs really struggled against non-conference teams that had a pulse like St. Bonaventure (85-70 loss), St. John's (99-77 loss), and Grand Canyon (112-66 loss).
They have a top-25 offense but a poor defense. They are one of the best rebounding teams in the country (ranked No. 7) and shoot around 34 percent from deep.
2. Wofford
Wofford did not have a great season in the SoCon, by any means, finishing with a 10-8 record in conference play and earning the 5-seed in the conference tournament. But that didn't matter as the Terriers won the SoCon Tournament by beating a red-hot Furman team in the championship.
The Terriers are 19-15 this season and have the No. 142 scoring offense in the country. They do rebound the ball well (48th nationally) and have solid depth with nine guys averaging at least 15 minutes per game. That could test the Spartans more than most lower-seeded teams, but depth and quality depth are two different things.
Wofford lost to Duke by 51 earlier this season as that was the only non-conference game they played against a team with a pulse.
3. Norfolk State
After winning the MEAC regular season title, Norfolk State went into the conference tournament and fought their way to an auto-bid, beating South Carolina State in the championship. It wasn't easy as the Spartans snuck by Morgan State (58-55) in the semifinals and beat SC State by just one in the championship.
Norfolk State did play some solid teams in non-conference play, beating James Madison in the third game of the year but the Spartans lost to Stanford, Grand Canyon, Baylor, and Tennessee.
The Spartans have a top-100 scoring offense and a solid defense, but they're bad on the glass (244th nationally) and they turn the ball over 12.4 times per game. They do have two really good 3-point shooters, however.