Michigan State basketball seeded higher than expected in ESPN's 2025 Bracketology
The 2024 NCAA Tournament just came to an end, and not long ago we saw Michigan State basketball suffer a heartbreaking loss to North Carolina in the second round.
But that's in the past now, so who cares about that, right?
Now it's time to put our full attention on the upcoming season and the 2025 NCAA Tournament in which the bracket will be revealed in about 11 months.
ESPN's Joe Lunardi has released his first version of the 2025 NCAA Tournament Bracketology, so let's dive in and see where he has the Spartans slotted.
Michigan State earns a 5-seed
According to Lunardi, Michigan State will earn a 5-seed in next season's NCAA Tournament. He also has the Spartans matched up with 12-seed McNeese State with a potential second-round date against 4-seed Texas.
On top of that, Lunardi has the Spartans in the same region as one-seed Duke (because apparently MSU needs to be in the same region as Duke every year).
Are you as shocked as I am that the Spartans are a projected 5-seed? I personally would not have Michigan State that high at this point considering they just lost four starters from a team that was a 9-seed in this year's tournament. So why does Lunardi have MSU this high?
Why could Lunardi have Michigan State seeded this high?
Unfortunately for us, Lunardi never gives much reasoning behind his seeding decisions, especially this early in the offseason. But maybe he's putting his trust in Tom Izzo heading into next seson. That wouldn't be the dumbest thing in the world for Lunardi to base his seeding off of, even with Izzo's struggles over the last couple of sesons. Izzo has rescued the Spartans from bad stretches in the past, and I know I'm still a firm believer that he can do it again.
Lunardi also might be expecting big roster moves from Michigan State in the transfer portal this offseason as well. The Spartans haven't earned a commitment yet, but they have been in on a few talented transfers including star forward Frankie Fidler. But there's no denying that Michigan State has many solid pieces already on the roster going into next season, so this team could very easily improve if the right pieces from the portal are brought in.
Now even though it does seem silly to care about the 2025 NCAA Tournament right now, it's still nice to see that Michigan State is viewed as a respectable program across the country, even if the product on the court hasn't always matched that the last few years.