The NCAA Tournament bracket was revealed on Sunday night, and every college basketball expert weighed in on the regions and gave their picks for who they believed would be playing for a national title in April. Surprisingly, Michigan State was a popular pick.
While I did see several experts not even give Michigan State a second glance in the East Region that also has Duke, UConn, Kansas, UCLA, Louisville, and St. John's, others were high on the Spartans.
Two prominent, well-respected college basketball experts gave their Final Four picks, and they both included Michigan State.
One of those prominent members of the college basketball media was Jay Bilas. The ESPN personality and former Duke star predicted his Final Four already and he has Michigan State making it out as the East Region champ. The Spartans are in Bilas' Final Four along with Illinois, Arizona, and Iowa State. That would be quite the Final Four. He has Michigan State losing to Arizona in the national title game.
Seth Greenberg, too, put Michigan State in his Final Four. He also has the Spartans making it to the national title game against the Michigan Wolverines for showdown No. 3 this season.
That would break the internet, I'm sure.
Michigan State has the pieces to make a run
Every good national title team has three things: a great coach, an elite point guard, and a strong defense that leads to easy transition buckets. Michigan State has all three.
While it would be easy to count the Spartans out because of how the regular season and Big Ten Tournament ended along with getting paired in Duke's region, Michigan State has what's necessary to make a legitimate national title run, and guys like Bilas and Greenberg who have watched the Spartans all season can see that.
Michigan State has an elite point guard, a defense that creates easy transition buckets, one of the best rebounding teams in the country, a Hall of Fame coach, and veteran role players.
Don't count Izzo out in the month of March because that's when he does his most damage. Actually, we like when you count him out. Keep doing that.