After suffering its first two losses since November, Michigan State basketball heads back home for a two-game stint against Oregon and Indiana before going back on the road next week.
The Spartans have fallen to 18-4 after an 18-2 start and are now 9-2 in the conference after a perfect 9-0 start. If you read Twitter over the past week, you would think the sky is falling and Michigan State would be struggling to make the NCAA Tournament but that's far from the case.
In fact, Michigan State is ranked No. 9 in the country and sitting up there tied for first place in the Big Ten (separated by percentage points) with Michigan and Purdue.
While it may feel like Michigan State is trending down, there's no way to truly say because this February skid happens darn near every season. Actually, February has been the worst month, win percentage-wise, for Tom Izzo throughout his coaching career in East Lansing.
Many are wondering what Michigan State's NCAA Tournament outlook may be following this recent two-game skid which arguably should've been a 2-0 West Coast trip.
I've got you covered with the latest bracketology projections.
ESPN (Joe Lunardi): No. 4 seed in the East vs. Akron
Bleacher Report: No. 4 seed in Midwest vs. Akron
CBS Sports (Jerry Palm): No. 3 seed in East vs. Jacksonville State
On3: No. 5 seed in West vs. McNees
TeamRankings: No. 4 seed
Andy Katz: No. 3 seed in South vs. Jacksonville State
As you can see, most experts still have Michigan State as a No. 3 or No. 4 seed, at worst, in their bracketology, but this hurts a bit to see because some had the Spartans as a No. 2 seed before their loss to USC on Saturday evening.
A good couple of weeks against the likes of Oregon, Indiana, and Illinois could have Michigan State surging back into that 2-seed conversation.