After a big week in Maui and an upset of No. 12 North Carolina, Michigan State basketball missed being ranked in the AP Top 25 by one spot this week.
That's right, the Spartans were left out of this week's rankings in order for UConn to remain in the AP Top 25 despite losing all three of their contests in Maui against Memphis, Colorado, and Dayton. The Huskies lost to three straight unranked teams and looked horrible in the process while the Spartans beat Colorado, lost by eight to now-No. 16 Memphis, and beat No. 12 North Carolina.
But hey, we're not going to get hung up over early-season rankings.
Instead, we're going to take a look at where top bracketologist Joe Lunardi has Michigan State projected in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Lunardi updates his bracketology every Tuesday and this week, he has Michigan State up one seed line after going 2-1 in Maui with that win over the Tar Heels.
According to Lunardi, the Spartans are projected as a No. 7 seed while also trending up after a 6-2 start to the season. They would be playing in the South Region against No. 10 seed Georgia in this scenario. Indiana (No. 11) and Michigan (No. 8) are also in the region which is led by No. 1 seed Auburn who I believe is the best team in college basketball right now.
Other notable Big Ten teams to make the bracket projection are Oregon (No. 4 seed - West), Illinois (No. 6 seed - West), UCLA (No. 8 seed - Midwest), Wisconsin (No. 5 seed - Midwest), Ohio State (No. 6 seed - Midwest), Purdue (No. 3 seed - East), and Maryland (No. 10 seed - East). Maryland and Indiana are two of the four "last four byes" and Nebraska is in the "first four out" category.
It's interesting to see no Rutgers anywhere as well after a disappointing start to the season despite beginning ranked with two top-five freshmen.
Michigan State needs a strong showing this week against Minnesota and Nebraska to improve that seed line potentially one more spot in Lunardi's projections next week.