Death. Taxes. Michigan State getting placed in the same NCAA Tournament region as Duke. It’s happening again, folks. Everyone and their brother could have predicted that Michigan State would end up in the same region as the Blue Devils, but the selection committee confirmed our suspicions on Sunday night.
Duke earned the top overall seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament with UConn as the 2-seed, Kansas as the 4-seed, Louisville as the 6-seed, and UCLA as the 7-seed. St. John’s being the 5-seed is also tough along with Ohio State and TCU as the 8/9 seeds, respectively.
In the most predictable result ever, Michigan State earned the toughest region in the 2026 NCAA Tournament and lost its 2-seed to Purdue.
The fact that Michigan State lost its 2-seed to a team that finished the final month of the regular season with a losing record, including a home loss to the Spartans is not only egregious, but it’s disrespectful and it should be used as fuel for this team.
Tom Izzo isn’t going to complain about earning a 3-seed after being projected as a 2-seed for weeks, but getting placed in the toughest region in the tournament is upsetting.
Michigan State faces a gauntlet to the Final Four
If Michigan State wants to make a run at the Final Four, it’s going to have to beat Louisville, UCLA or UConn, and either Kansas, St. John’s, or Duke. It’s going to be one of the toughest roads to a Final Four in the entire field and I can bet that no team that was placed in this region was thrilled.
Purdue, on the other hand, got a favorable draw in the bottom half of the West Region, only having to go through Miami, Missouri, Gonzaga, BYU, Texas, and NC State to make the Elite Eight.
It’s crazy that this is the first year that the Big Ten Tournament title game actually meant something, apparently. The seventh-seeded Purdue Boilermakers got the 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament, jumping two whole lines after beating Michigan. That’s wild to me.
The disrespect for Izzo and the Spartans lives on for another tournament.