Michigan State basketball should be a 1-seed in the 2025 NCAA tournament.
That was the consensus on the Big Ten Network postgame show, after the Spartans dispatched yet another quality team, this time Oregon, 74-64, on Friday afternoon in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals in Indianapolis.
Former Michigan basketball head coach John Beilein was on the desk and said it pained him to agree. MSU is currently widely projected as a 2-seed, including by USA TODAY Sports, ahead of Selection Sunday for men’s March Madness.
“We’ve gotta start talking about them as a 1-seed, they have won eight straight games against Quad 1 opponents, and they have the second-most Quad 1 wins in the year,” host Dave Revsine said. “They are playing absurdly good basketball right now.”
Beilein interjected.
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“It hurts me to say this, Michigan State is really good; they should be a 1-seed.”
ANALYSIS: Michigan State basketball lacks focus in running past Oregon at Big Ten tournament
“When the Michigan guy is saying Michigan State should be a 1-seed, you know they should be a 1-seed,” Revsine said as Beilein laughed.
Duke, Houston, Auburn and Florida are the projected No. 1 seeds.
MSU (27-5), which won the conference regular-season title outright with a 17-3 record, next plays Saturday in the semifinals against either Big Ten tournament 4-seed UCLA or 5-seed Wisconsin (1 p.m., CBS).
Michigan has dropped to a 6-seed according to USA TODAY’s NCAA tournament projections, but has a chance to boost itself starting Friday night as an underdog against Purdue (9 p.m., BTN). The Wolverines are the 3-seed; the Boilermakers are the 6-seed. The teams split their two regular-season meetings.
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