With Saturday’s win over No. 2 Michigan, it appears the Spartans are heading back to the NCAA Tournament for a 23rd consecutive season.
The win over the Wolverines was Michigan State’s third against a top five team in the past two weeks and capped off an impressive 5-2 stretch to end the regular season. The Spartans are certainly on the right side of the bubble entering the Big Ten Tournament this week, and a win over Maryland on Thursday should all but secure a spot in March Madness. But what happens if they lose vs. the Terps?
There’s still a little bit of wiggle room and uncertainty surrounding the Spartans and their NCAA Tournament status, and a loss to Maryland could leave open the door for a fellow bubble team to steal their bid. I don’t think that’ll necessarily happen — but since there’s still a chance, it would be smart to look at who else is in the similar spot as Michigan State as we enter the final week before Selection Sunday.
Here is a complete breakdown of the fellow bubble squads (put together by bracket projections) and their upcoming schedule this week. As Spartan fans, these are the teams we’d like to see lose to help cement a spot in the NCAA Tournament.