Four years ago, Michigan State faced a familiar face in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Spartans got a matchup with former point guard Foster Loyer and Davidson in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, and it was almost a lose-lose situation for Michigan State.
A win was expected so there was not to be much of a celebration for beating a former point guard who caught a lot of flak in East Lansing. A loss would’ve been excruciating.
Fortunately, Michigan State hung on to win despite a late surge by Loyer’s team.
The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee has a chance to make Michigan State fans sweat out yet another first-weekend matchup against a former Spartan.
There‘s actually a chance that Michigan State could face any one of the three former Spartans projected to make the NCAA Tournament. Two are more likely, however.
There’s a real chance MSU could face Tre Holloman
With the NCAA Tournament seeding taking shape, it’s starting to look like a matchup between Tre Holloman and Michigan State in the first weekend is very possible.
Michigan State is projected to be a 3-seed right now with possibilities to either drop to a 4-seed or rise to a 2-seed in the final weeks of the regular season. The likelihood that Michigan State gets a 2-seed is slim, but it’s not out of the question. If it goes get a 2-seed, there’s going to be a 25 percent chance that they’ll be in the same location for the first two rounds.
NC State is projected to be a 7-seed with an 8-seed possible. All signs are pointing to a 7-seed, though, and that means that if Michigan State gets the 2-seed, I wouldn’t put it past the committee to match the Spartans up with Holloman for the storyline.
Even if Michigan State doesn’t get Holloman early, Gehrig Normand and Santa Clara could be an option, too. In the event that Michigan State gets a 3-seed, Normand and Santa Clara are a projected 11-seed currently. That would mean if Michigan State was in the same region as Normand, all it would require is a win over the 14-seed and a Santa Clara upset of whatever 6-seed is there (and potentially a First Four win, too).
The least likely matchup would be Michigan State against UCLA and Xavier Booker. Big Ten teams rarely face each other before the Sweet 16 but UCLA, too, is a projected 11-seed. The committee may either try to avoid the conference opponents facing before the second weekend, but it’s a possibility.
Losing to a former Spartan in the first weekend would put a lot of us into hiding for a while.