Michigan State received a No. 2 seed in the South Region and will take on 15th-seeded Bryant in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
“You’re still one and done,” said MSU head coach Tom Izzo on Sunday. “That hasn’t changed since day one. If you lose a game, you go home and hang up those sneakers."
MSU saw its name called for a 27th consecutive time on Selection Sunday, but this is the first time the Spartans have received a top-two seed in the tourney since 2019, the program’s last appearance in the Final Four.
But before the team can worry about going that far, the Spartans will have to take care of the Bryant Bulldogs first.
“It’s ironic — (drawing) Bryant, (former St. Joe’s head coach) Phil Martelli and I were on a lot of committees in the last six, seven, eight years,” Izzo said. “I’d have to say he’s one of my better friends in coaching, and he just sort of retired last year (at Michigan), and his son, Phillip (is the coach at Bryant)."
Izzo called the younger Martelli this week to congratulate him on winning and getting in the tournament. Ironically, now the Spartans are going to play them.
Martelli Jr. also said that one of the first phone calls he received after receiving the job at Bryant was from Izzo.
“Just an incredible person, an incredible man,” Martelli Jr. said about Izzo after the bracket was revealed.
The first round game will take place on Friday, March 21 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, and will be the first-ever meeting between Michigan State and Bryant.
Tip time is set for approximately 10 p.m. EDT.
“I feel like (going to Cleveland), it’s a pretty good draw,” said senior guard Jaden Akins. “I know (Bryant’s) a good team, they’ve got four guys averaging double figures and won their conference tournament, obviously. It’s a good team that we’ve got to prepare for, for sure.”
If MSU were to advance to the second round, the Spartans would take on either seventh-seeded Marquette or No. 10 New Mexico. Michigan State recently took down Marquette in the 2023 tourney to advance to the Sweet 16 when the Spartans were the seven seed and the Golden Eagles were a two seed.
MSU has played New Mexico twice all-time, but the two programs haven’t met since December 1985 and have never done so in a March Madness game.
Looking at Bryant, the Bulldogs got into the dance by winning the America East Conference Tournament. Even before that, Bryant — currently sitting at No. 149 nationally on Kenpom.com — won its conference regular season title outright, with a 14-2 conference record.
“I can’t say I know a ton about them,” Izzo said. “I know a little bit that their pace is very good. I’ll know a lot more at the end of (Sunday).”
Bryant has only played one major-conference opponent all season, falling by 22 to No. 2 seed St. John’s on Dec. 11. In fact, that is only one of two games on the season where Bryant has faced a top-100 opponent on Kenpom.com, also dropping a game to No. 93 Grand Canyon, 112-66, on December 30.
Bryant’s total schedule is ranked at 317 out of 364 in the country.
What makes the Bulldogs a fascinating first round opponent,though, is how quick they are, as Izzo mentioned. Bryant has the seventh-highest tempo rating in the country and scores 82.4 points per game, good for 17th best in the country.
As Akins brought up, four of its players are averaging 10+ points per contest, with the top three having been at higher-tier programs before: leading scorer Rafael Pinzon came from St. John’s, Earl Timberlake portaled from Memphis, and Barry Evans just came in this year from St. Bonaventure.
Also, the Bulldogs also have the sixth-tallest roster in all of Division I and have lost only twice in the current calendar year, showing it certainly has the potential to make the Spartans nervous.
“I’ve been a part of a (15 upsetting a 2) loss,” Izzo said. “Been there, done that. As I told my team, when you stay here 30 years and you’re in 27... NCAA tournaments, (I’ve) kind of been through everything, and so I don’t feel comfortable with anything and I don’t feel afraid of anything.”
Izzo is, of course, referring to MSU’s first round loss to Middle Tennessee State back in 2016.
These types of upsets have become more common lately, with a 15 seed taking down a 2 seed in three of the last four tournaments — with all three reaching the Sweet 16 thereafter — and two 16 seeds beating 1 seeds since 2018.
The first 16 seed to beat a one seed, UMBC, also came from the America East.
“We’ll have our work cut out for us (Friday),” Izzo said. “It’s just the nature of the beast nowadays. When a (16) beat a (one) a few years ago, it kind of changed everything, and now nobody’s safe. So I won’t sleep any better than I slept last week or the week before, but at least I know ahead of time who the competition is.”
Overall, MSU is just four wins away from hanging another Final Four banner in East Lansing and is six wins from its players never having to pay for a meal in East Lansing ever again.
That path will start late Friday night, with the Michigan State-Bryant set to be nationally televised on TBS around 10pm.
Don't miss out on any of our exclusive football, basketball, hockey, and recruiting coverage, not to mention our non-revenue sports coverage and subscriber exclusive forum. Sign up with Spartans Illustrated now!
- DT
- RB
- WR
- CB
- OLB
- PRO
- OLB
- CB
- OT
- TE
