Michigan State earns double-bye with No. 4 seed for 2023 Big Ten Tournament
Michigan State will get almost a week off following its 84-78 senior day victory of Ohio State on Saturday at the Breslin Center as the Spartans earned the four-seed for the 2023 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament following a near chaotic day of finishes Sunday. The Spartans could have earned anywhere from the seven-seed to the three-seed depending on the results of Sunday's final six games.
Thanks to Nebraska defeating Iowa in Iowa City, Purdue beating Illinois in West Lafayette, and Penn State's buzzer-beating win over Maryland in University Park, MSU earned the No. 4 seed.
Had Rutgers won at home over Northwestern, Michigan State would have earned the No. 3 seed, as would have MSU if the Minnesota game had been played and MSU won. If NU had lost in Piscataway, the Wildcats would have earned the No. 9 seed in Chicago. The victory over RU gave NU the No. 2 seed. Certainly as great of an indication of how wild the final day of results was as any.
Michigan State will now open play on Friday at approximately 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday at the 2023 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament at the United Center. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
The Spartans could face any of No. 13 Ohio State, No. 12 Wisconsin or No. 5 Iowa in the team's first game of the tournament. The Buckeyes and Badgers will open play Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time and the winner will advance to take on Iowa at approximately 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday in the second round. The winner of Friday's quarterfinals matchup could face any of No. 9 Rutgers, No. 8 Michigan or No. 1 Purdue.
It marks just the second time in the 25 years of the conference tournament that MSU will be a No. 4 seed. The only other time was in 2008 when the Spartans defeated No. 5-seeded Ohio State 67-60 to advance to the semifinals where the team then lost 65-63 to Wisconsin, the No. 1 overall seed that year.
In the era of a double-bye for the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan State has earned one five times, although the 2020 tournament was canceled on Thursday before any games occurred that day. MSU is 9-2 all-time with a double-bye, only failing to advance to the championship game once (2018), losing in the title game once (2015) and winning two titles (2016, 2019).
Overall, Michigan State has won six conference tournament titles, all under head coach Tom Izzo. That is the most of any Big Ten program.