What does Michigan State basketball need to do to make the NCAA Tournament?

Folks, we are just a couple of weeks away from the Big Ten Tournament as Michigan State basketball just played its final game in the month of February -- we won't talk about it.

The Spartans are 17-11 on the year and Joe Lunardi projected them to earn a 9-seed in his latest bracketology. While that may not seem horrible, there's about a 95 percent chance the Spartans drop a third straight game this weekend at Mackey Arena where they haven't won in a decade. Sure, there's a chance for an upset, but this team's recent games show that we just can't expect anything from them.

So if the Spartans drop to 17-12 on the year with two games left against Northwestern and Indiana, what will they need to do to make the NCAA Tournament, locking up an at-large bid?

Of course winning the Big Ten Tournament as a 6-seed would be an easy way to ensure a bid but that's not likely. To secure an at-large bid, the Spartans will likely need to beat Indiana and Northwestern to end the year and potentially win one in the Big Ten Tournament just to be safe and maybe even move up a seed line.

It may sound wild, but Michigan State is probably better off earning a 10-seed because it would get a chance at facing a 2-seed instead of a 1-seed like Purdue, Houston, or UConn in the second round. The 2-seed matchups would likely be far more favorable for this team.

I'm not saying Michigan State should lose a game that it should win in order to fall to a 10-seed projection, but there's nothing wrong with dropping a line with a Purdue loss and then winning the final two games to ensure a tourney berth.

This team should be in the NCAA Tournament, but it can't suffer any more Iowa/Ohio State hiccups.