Busting Brackets
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Bracketology 2020: Villanova, Michigan State among this week’s losers

By Andrew Dieckhoff

PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 21: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats reacts against the Kansas Jayhawks in the first half at the Wells Fargo Center on December 21, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 21: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats reacts against the Kansas Jayhawks in the first half at the Wells Fargo Center on December 21, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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EAST LANSING, MI – NOVEMBER 10: Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans hugs Cassius Winston #5 (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI – NOVEMBER 10: Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans hugs Cassius Winston #5 (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

Michigan State Spartans (16-8, 8-5 Big Ten)

Along with Villanova, the Spartans were the other team on this list to be featured in the NCAA’s early reveal of the tournament seeding as of Saturday. Many took umbrage with Michigan State’s inclusion, clamoring that another Big Ten team—Penn State—was more deserving of the spot.

After all, the Nittany Lions had just walked into the Breslin Center days earlier and stolen a win right out from under Sparty’s nose. But taking the Selection Committee’s statement into account regarding their early decision-making, maybe it was understandable.

If Tom Izzo was trying to persuade bracketeers to support his team’s cause, he certainly could have tried something better than logging a 77-68 loss to rivals Michigan in Ann Arbor. The defeat almost surely knocks the Spartans outside of the Top 16 and could send them falling even further.

The Big Ten has already seen some wild swings in perception regarding most, if not all, of its membership. Michigan State could be the next one to see a downturn in the public eye after laying two whoppers this past week.

Looking at their overall resume, the Spartans don’t really have a lot at the top. A mid-November win over Seton Hall is going to carry them a long way, but their only other Q1A victory came against Minnesota—and the Gophers are just one spot in the NET away from moving out of that zone. Michigan State also has a nice bundle of home wins in the Big Ten, and the only baddish loss on their resume is their neutral-site loss to Virginia Tech.

Simply put, Michigan State is a team that has done next to nothing wrong—but hasn’t exactly done enough things right, either. Their final seven games of the regular season provide many opportunities to tack on great wins and secure a top-four seeding. On the flip-side, six of those seven opponents currently reside in the KenPom top 30—well, it’s really five, since the Spartans will play #8 Maryland twice during the final stretch—so Michigan State will also have to tread carefully as they navigate the Big Ten minefield.

Any more two-loss weeks will see them stumble even further away from a protected seeding.

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