Despite some matchup concerns with first-round opoonent North Dakota State, there's no reason to think that Michigan State won't have a pretty clear road to Saturday's second round and when the Spartans get there, they could have another advantage.
Louisville, the No. 6 seed in the East Region, announced that freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr., the Cardinals' second-leading scorer, will miss at least the first two games of the tournament, potentially putting the ACC squad at a major disadvantage against the Spartans if they can get past South Florida on Thursday.
Louisville will be without star freshman Mikel Brown Jr. in the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament, the school announced. He's been dealing with a back injury and will not play against No. 11 South Florida and will also not play if Louisville advances.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) March 18, 2026
Brown Jr. is a likely lottery pick if he declares for the NBA Draft as expected once the season ends. He is averaging 18.2 points and 4.7 assists a game this season. The third-team All-ACC performer only played 21 minutes against Clemson on February 28 and missed the next four games.
It's unfortunate that a talented young player like Brown is not going to be able to show off his skills in the tournament and back injuries are tricky, so it makes sense that he is going to proceed with caution. But it also makes the toughest region in the tournament a little less daunting for the Spartans.
Mikel Brown Jr.'s injury clears out Michigan State's path to the Sweet 16
Louisville was already on upset watch because they are facing a very good first-round opponent, a South Florida team that swept through the American Conference. Tom Izzo has to look at that 6-11 matchup as a complete toss-up and will likely do implore his staff to do little more look-ahead preparation for what the Bulls might offer.
South Florida shoots a lot of 3-pointers as well. The Bulls are averaging neaerly 30 attempts from long range per game and they will push the pace to get out in transition. And they rebound well. The Bulls aren't necessarily a big team, but they read the rim well and everyone contributes on the glass. Maybe the Bulls don't pose as big of an overall threat as a healthy Louisville, but they haven't lost in seven weeks and they would be playing with house money.