Bracketology 2023: 10 most complicated resumes to analyze this season

Michigan State Spartans

Head coach Tom Izzo took a major risk this offseason in this season’s non-conference schedule, which was arguably the toughest in all of NCAA Basketball. The result was favorable, going 8-3. That included wins over Kentucky, Villanova, and Oregon, along with what’s become a bad loss at Notre Dame in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

In the Big Ten, the Spartans have been jumbled with every other team not named Purdue, Minnesota, or Ohio State. All are around .500 in the standings and have been beating up each other. The good news for Michigan State is that they just beat Indiana at home, the second-best team in the conference when it comes to getting a signature victory. So just in case they were on the bubble, that win likely clinched a ticket for them on Tuesday.

Overall, the Spartans are 10-9 against Quad 1/2 teams and with a Quad 3 setback to the Irish. Since all of the non-con victories have underperformed a bit, the true strength of the schedule can’t be seen, though it is a top-3 overall national SOS.

It’s the kind of resume that barring a late-season loss to either Nebraska or Ohio State, should get them to a favorable seed and away from the 8/9 seed range. Are they good enough to be a 6 or a 7? Maybe not. But when you schedule the way Michigan State did in the non-conference, the committee tends to reward that with a bump up a line or two.