NCAA Basketball: AAC, Michigan State, and Saint Joseph’s headline Mailbag

2. As a humble Michigan State fan, what on earth do I do with myself in March?  I have never had to make alternative plans before. – Cedar Village Bagel (@CVBagel)

I will say this, it doesn’t look good right now for the Spartans’ chances, but something tells me that Michigan State is nowhere close to out of the race.  The Spartans currently would be out if the tournament were selected today but they have been playing much better after their long Covid pause and have a great opportunity the rest of the way to drastically improve their resume.

Michigan State currently has a NET ranking of 81 which is nowhere close to good enough for an at large.  They are also 10th in the Big Ten which puts them in the first day of games which is what every team wants to avoid if they want a chance to make the final and get the auto bid.

The Spartans always have enough talent and Coach Izzo has done this too many times for anyone to think that they are going to go quietly into the night.  The remaining schedule sets up well for Michigan State to receive an at large if they can win 2 of them and then a few games in the tournament.

The Spartans play Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio State all at Breslin and then have a road game at the Xfinity Center against Maryland to close.  Each one of those games is a quad 1 opportunity and that would give the Spartans 4-5 quad 1 wins depending on how they fare in those games.  If they lose them all, then yes make alternative plans in March.  However, if they win at least 2 of those games then watch out for Michigan State.

Don’t make plans yet, like I said the Spartans are struggling but they are nowhere done yet.  Maybe wait until the conference tournament seeding and see how the Spartans are playing to make your alternate plans.