The No. 9-seeded MSU women’s basketball team (20-11) will face No. 8 Central Michigan (25-7) at 1 p.m. on Saturday (ESPN2) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Purcell Pavilion at Notre Dame, Ind. If the Spartans win, they will face the winner between host and No. 1 seed Notre Dame and No. 16 Bethune Cookman on Monday

Here are three observations, two questions, and one prediction.

1. MORE MEANINGFUL THAN YOU KNOW - To the casual observer, this is just another 8-9 matchup between two teams from the same state that will most surely be eliminated in the second round by the host No. 1 seed. But there are numerous subplots that make this one of the tournament’s most intriguing first-round matchups.

First of all Michigan State coach Suzy Merchant is a graduate of CMU, where she starred at guard from 1988-91. Until recently, she held her alma mater’s all-time assist record of 463.

CMU guard Presley Hudson eclipsed that mark this year, and then some, and enters Saturday’s contest with 640 assists.

While this will be the first time Merchant has faced her alma mater as a coach, she is well-versed in the dynamics of MAC basketball because she made her name as a head coach at Eastern Michigan from 1998 to 2007.

Sue Guevera is a former MSU assistant coach, where she shared the sidelines with former Spartan head coach Karen Langeland for 10 years (1986-96). Speaking of Langeland, she will be in attendance and be the most interested observer in the stands on Saturday as she will be battling her allegiances to both schools and both coaches.

“I am going to try very hard to be like Switzerland and be neutral,’’ Langeland said. “I’m not going to wear anybody’s colors. I’m just ready to watch a great game. I have talked to one of the coaches but I haven’t talked to the other one yet. And no, I’m not gong to tell you which one. All I know is, it’s an 8, 9 seed and that’s about as close as you can get, and they seem to be seeded correctly from what I know.’’

2. DEPTH IS A PREMIUM - While most teams have one, two or maybe three players that they depend on for their overall success, MSU has gone as many as 10-deep this season to get to 20 victories. Redshirt junior guard Shay Colley leads the way at 14.5 points contest, senior forward Jenna Allen adds 12.6 and a team-leading 6.6 rebounds a game. Freshman guard Nia Clouden contributes 12 points, while junior guard Taryn McCutcheon adds 9.8 points a contest.

MSU’s reserve corps, led by sophomore Sydney Cooks’ 8.8 points a game, heads up a bench that features four players that add six or more points a contest. MSU also has four players who average 4.2 or more rebounds a game.

“I don’t know if you can make it an advantage but one way you can look at it is you have to play and turn around pretty quickly, so that depth does end up helping you some,’’ Merchant said. “Knowing you can go onto your bench, reach down there and get kids out there to relieve kids if we get in foul trouble is a really positive thing at this time of year.’’

3. RECIPE FOR SUCCESS VS. RECIPE FOR DISASTER - By now, MSU’s lack of success on the road has been well-documented, but just as a reminder, the Spartans were 15-1 at home and just 3-8 on the road. But this is not a true road game. It’s a neutral site matchup with the Chippewas. MSU holds an all-time mark of 27-8 against CMU.

CMU and MSU have three common opponents: Bowling Green, Virginia and Oakland. Both teams went 3-0 against them.

MSU is at it best when it wins the rebound battle, holds one of the opponent’s premier scoring options under their average and most importantly, when they share the ball. That will mean limiting the successes of CMU senior forward and MAC Player of the Year, Reyna Frost, who’s averaging 21.8 points and 13.5 rebounds per game or Hudson, who adds 20.4 points per contest.

The Spartans are 12-0 when they have 21 or more assists in a game and MSU is 16-2 when it wins the rebound battle and just 3-6 when its opponents have more boards.

“Offensively, we share the ball. We finished sixth in the country in assists. So we’re a very unselfish team,’’ Merchant said. “The difference has been, when we’ve had lower-assist games, is because we didn’t make the buckets. But I feel good about this team and these kids and at this time of year, anything can happen. You’ve just got to roll with it a little bit and the team that handles it the best, with the least distractions and plays the hardest, with the most competitiveness and energy, usually wins.’’

1. CAN MSU OVERCOME IT’S LACK OF FOCUS AND EXECUTION AWAY FROM HOME?

While MSU played brilliantly at home in wins over No. 3 Oregon, No. 9 Maryland, No. 16 Iowa and No. 18 Minnesota, they were equally as bad, at times, against lesser teams on the road they should have beaten.

“I feel like we’re an underdog,’’ Allen said. “We’ve proven that we can beat a lot of good teams in the nation but we’ve kind of had an up and down year, and we’ve had a couple of bad losses.’’

2. IF THE SPARTANS WIN DO THEY HAVE A CHANCE AGAINST THE IRISH?

There always a chance, especially when you consider the fact that in 2009, MSU was the host site, a No. 9 seed and beat No. 8 seed Middle Tennessee State, 60-59, before upsetting top-seeded Duke, 63-49, in the second round.

So there’s history and there’s also recent history in the fact that the Spartans shared a closed-gym scrimmage against the Irish before the start of the season. So, while both teams are obviously different squads now, there’s a familiarity for MSU if they earn the opportunity to meet the Irish again on Monday.

“We scrimmaged Notre Dame back on Oct. 26th, so it’s kind of ironic that our first round of the NCAA Tournament is going to be on their floor,’’ Merchant said. “By no means am I overlooking anyone. CMU is a great, great team. They were a good team last year and a lot of those players are back. (In terms of Notre Dame though), just like anybody, we’re both very different teams than we were in October, in some good ways and some bad ways on both sides.’’

Expect big time performances from one or both of MSU’s two Indiana natives, Allen and redshirt junior forward Victoria Gaines. Allen is from Bedford, Ind., which is a little over four hours from South Bend, while Gaines, who hails from Merrillville, Ind. is even closer at just over 70 miles. Both should have plenty of support and will be looking to close out the season with big performances for those who haven’t had an opportunity to see either of them play live since they chose MSU.

“I was actually praying that we were going to be able to go to South Bend so all of my family members could come and watch me,’’ Allen said. “It’s special and I’m excited for the opportunity.”

As for a prediction on the game? Too close to call. It’s a true in-state rivalry.