Entering Thursday night’s Michigan State vs. Purdue game, the Spartans weren’t exactly getting a ton of respect from bracketologists. The 22-5 Spartans weren’t exactly getting projected as a 4-seed with the potential to slide down to a 5-seed with a loss.
Tom Izzo and Michigan State silenced the doubters, picking up a huge win at Mackey Arena over the nation’s No. 8 team who was also projected to be a 2-seed before the game.
The loss, however, marked Purdue’s fourth at home this season and it dropped them to 22-6 while Michigan State improved to 23-5. Michigan State is now 7-5 against Quad 1 opponents and 16-0 against Quads 2-4. Purdue is 8-6 against Quad 1 and 14-0 against the rest.
Michigan State is now also 5-3 against ranked opponents and Purdue drops to 4-4.
The Spartans also have the head-to-head battle won. Michigan State clearly has the better resume (the strength of schedule is differing by only 10 spots).
And yet some bracketologists, namely Joe Lunardi, disagree.
Joe Lunardi served up a fresh batch of Michigan State disrespect
On Friday afternoon, Lunardi shared his updated bracketology projections after the Spartans beat Purdue in West Lafayette on Thursday night.
There were no changes in seeding.
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) February 27, 2026
Michigan State, a team with a better record, equal Quad 1 record, better record against ranked teams, and a head-to-head win, is still five spots lower than Purdue. Make that make sense.
Lunardi didn’t provide an explanation, but he was getting dragged in the comment section. Fans of other programs that have no dog in the fight were even lobbying for Michigan State to be much higher and Purdue to be lower. It makes no sense that a team teetering on 3-seed status doesn’t move up after beating a top-10 team on the road.
Not that this deserves any praise, but Lunardi moved Michigan State up to the top 4-seed and Purdue down to the lowest 2-seed, but I think Michigan State should be somewhere around 11 and Purdue should be 12.
This new bracket projection is extremely disrespectful and it won’t be forgotten.