The first-round matchup for Michigan State has been announced and the Spartans will be taking on 14th-seeded North Dakota State on Thursday afternoon.
Michigan State fans probably don't know a whole lot about North Dakota State but that's what I'm here for. The Spartans are going to face a 27-7 team that won the Summit League by a couple of games and the Bison are 17-2 over their past 19 games and they're going to be hungry for a massive upset on Thursday afternoon.
North Dakota State fans, however, don't love the matchup with Michigan State. They thought that they were going to pull a 13-seed and they wanted to avoid playing a 3-seed in round one.
This will be an interesting matchup, but here's what you should know about the 2025-26 Bison.
1. David Richman is a very good coach
Having success at a program like North Dakota State isn't easy, especially when you have to win your conference tournament just to make the NCAA Tournament. Fortunately, Richman has done that four times since taking over in 2014-15, and he's been to three NCAA Tournaments -- it should be four, but the 2020 tourney was obviously canceled.
Richman has 238 career wins at North Dakota State and six 20-win seasons since 2014-15. He's one of the best mid-major coaches and I wouldn't be all that shocked to see him hired away soon.
He's also only 47.
2. NDSU is lightly tested
All but one opponent for North Dakota State this season has been in Quads 3-4. That's right, North Dakota State has played only one opponent in the Quads 1-2 range, and they lost to St. Thomas (Quad 2) by 22 points.
North Dakota State's best non-conference win was probably against Cal State Northridge which isn't saying a whole lot. The Bison haven't played many tough opponents and that usually bites teams in March.
They're 0-1 against Quads 1-2 and 26-7 against Quads 3-4 -- and they're just 5-4 vs. Quad 3. That means North Dakota State has played 21 Quad 4 games this season. Yikes.
3. NDSU has several dangerous 3-point shooters
Although North Dakota State shoots a little over 36 percent from deep as a team, it has several weapons from long range like Damari Wheeler-Thomas, Trevian Carson, Treyson Anderson, Andy Stefonowicz, and Tay Smith who all shoot over 36 percent from 3-point land.
As a team, the Bison shoot very similarly to Michigan State from deep, but having five guys who shoot over 36 percent from deep makes them very dangerous, especially against a team that has struggled with perimeter defense lately -- the UCLA game was a prime example. The Bison shoot about 25 per game, and even making 10 would put a ton of pressure on the Spartans.
Michigan State will need to defend that perimeter on Thursda.