NCAA Tournament: 2019 Final Four favorites from each seed line (8-1)
By Chris Kern
Two Seed: Michigan State
The Michigan State Spartans are always a tough out in the NCAA Tournament and despite having some struggles in recent tournaments they’re set up to make a Final Four run. They have dealt with injuries for much of the season and while they do have some key players out for the tournament, getting Nick Ward back is a huge lift and will be key in each game they play.
This is a team that can beat you in a variety of ways. Not having Joshua Langford is a big loss, but Matt McQuaid, Aaron Henry, and others have been very good filling in. Playing in the NCAA Tournament is much different than the regular season. The Spartans have yet to advance past the first weekend in the past three years so they will be extra motivated to make a deep run.
This is a team that is playing some of their best basketball of the season which is always a good thing going into the tournament. They have one of the best point guards in the country in Cassius Winston, he makes a huge impact on this team as he is averaging 18.9 points and 7.1 assists per game. Whenever you have a player of his caliber you have a chance to do something special.
This is a team that is very good on both ends of the floor. They do a good job making shots while doing a good job at forcing tough shots for their opponents. Their 49% field goal percentage is 16th in the country while they also allow just 38% shooting for their opponents which is the 3rd best in the nation. Those numbers seem pretty simple but it just shows their effectiveness on both ends of the court which leads to a lot of wins.
They get started against the 15th seeded Bradley Braves. They did lose to a 15 seed just a couple of seasons ago but I don’t see it happening again anytime soon. That sets up a matchup with either Louisville or Minnesota in which they should be able to win somewhat comfortably. You never know for sure in the NCAA Tournament but that could be an emotional game with those schools being involved in the Pitino situation and when you add that into the fact that they just aren’t as good as Michigan State, I don’t see an upset happening.
Their potential Sweet 16 opponent is hard to predict. Just a couple of weeks ago the LSU Tigers looked like a potential Final Four contender but with the investigation and Will Wade not coaching they will struggle to get to the second weekend. Tremont Waters and Naz Reid lead a team of studs but the door is open for an upset to occur.
A possible opponent could be the Maryland Terrapins, Belmont Bruins, or even the Yale Bulldogs. All of those teams have star players that could give Michigan State problems. You have Bruno Fernando at Maryland, Dylan Windler at Belmont, and Miye Oni at Yale. In the NCAA Tournament, you’re always going to be facing top players, but these stars are truly great and are capable of taking their team’s on a deep NCAA Tournament run.
If they were to advance to the Elite Eight the obvious pick to be their opponent would be the Duke Blue Devils. They have so much talent and with Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett leading the way, it’s hard to envision them being upset early. The past two seasons we’ve seen just one 1-2 matchup in the Elite Eight and if we had to predict one to happen this season, this matchup would very likely be the pick.
It would be tough for Michigan State to beat Duke but it sure is possible. They are a very good basketball team and not many people believe in them. Their recent NCAA Tournament struggles are a little bit worrisome but I still don’t want to bet against Tom Izzo. If anybody is going to keep Duke from the Final Four, it likely will be these Spartans.