Duke's first-round troubles should have Michigan State fans dreaming big

Michigan State fans should always come into the national tournament with a high level of confidence because the Spartans are coached by Tom Izzo and deep tournament runs are sort of his thing.

And while Spartan fans aren't necessarily looking ahead, they know that there's a good chance that winning the East Region will go through the Evil Empire from Durham. But after slogging through a six-point win against No. 16 seed Siena, who knows if the Blue Devils will make it out of the first weekend?

Siena led by double digits for most of the first half, and they were the better team for most of the game. Unfortunately, the Saints don't have a deep rotation and literally rode their starting five from the opening tip to the final buzzer. It wasn't exactly the sort of game that you'd expect from the number-one overall seed.

Meanwhile, the Spartans were rolling through North Dakota State in Buffalo and easily advanced after a 25-point win over the Bison. Now it's onto a second-round game against Louisville.

Duke didn't show much in its first-round tournament win

It's likely Duke will get better as the tournament goes on, but there's also a chance that the Blue Devils just aren't ready. It's one thing to win some tournaments in December and even beat the Wolverines in February, but in those games, the Dukies didn't have the constant threat of single elimination. One bad game this time of year and it's over. It's all or nothing. Not every team is built for that sort of pressure.

But Michigan State is built for March.. Tom Izzo builds his teams to shine in the tournament. The regular seasons are hard, and the Spartans will often face adversity from a losing skid or the team getting out of rhythm for a few games, But Michigan State always seems to bounce back right around this time of year. 

The bottom line is, if Duke wants to get to a point where they might play Michigan State in this tournament, the Blue Devils will have to be much better than they were Thursday afternoon. If they can't step their game up, the Spartans will be glad to see them on the second weekend.

As long as they can get there.