It's way too early to even think about the NCAA Tournament and if Tom Izzo and Michigan State basketball will continue their streak this season, but Joe Lunardi works all year round.
ESPN's famous (some might say infamous) bracketologist has not only created that title, but he's been updating his 2026 NCAA Tournament bracketology all offseason. Michigan State has been in each of his tournament projections, but the Spartans recently got a decent bump.
Lunardi has been projecting Michigan State as a 6-seed, and has even slotted the Spartans up to a borderline 5-seed, but now they are a firm 5-seed in his final preseason edition of the bracketology.
The popular bracketologist has Michigan State as the No. 5 seed in the East Region, facing No. 12 seed Yale in the first round. If the Spartans were to beat Yale, they'd move on to face the winner of Texas Tech (4) vs. McNeese (13). That would be a tough matchup for Michigan State seeing as Texas Tech is always a threat in March these days -- even in the post-Chris Beard era.
Florida is the No. 1 seed in Michigan State's region, UConn is the No. 2 seed, and UCLA is the No. 3 seed. Michigan State just faced UConn and lost by seven on the road and it'll also play UCLA this year.
Another potential intriguing matchup in this region would be if NC State is able to make it past the first two rounds and Michigan State is, too. They would face off in the Sweet 16 and it would be a heated battle between former Spartan Tre Holloman's Wolfpack and Jeremy Fears Jr. and Co. and the Spartans. That would be a fun showdown -- Michigan State has faced a former Spartan guard in the NCAA Tournament before (Foster Loyer).
Other Big Ten teams in Lunardi's bracketology include Purdue (1), Michigan (2), UCLA (3), Illinois (4), Oregon (6), Wisconsin (7), Ohio State (7), USC (9), Iowa (10), and Washington (11). Indiana is listed as a 'first four out' and Maryland is in the 'next four out' category.
Michigan State will face projected 5-seed Arkansas, 2-seed Kentucky, 1-seed Duke, and 6-seed North Carolina in non-conference play.