MSU paired with Duke in NCAA Tournament bracket prediction from The Athletic

Two of college basketball’s biggest brands could be linking up in the first round of this year’s NCAA Tournament

Two of college basketball’s biggest brands could be linking up in the first round of this year’s NCAA Tournament.

The Athletic released an updated NCAA Tournament bracket projection on Friday, and Michigan State came in as a No. 9 seed. That, off the bat, seemed rather low for the Spartans compared to other bracketologists. What’s more attention-grabbing is who they would face in the opening round: No. 8 seed Duke.

Michigan State and Duke have played their share of big-time matchups over the years, including numerous ones in the NCAA Tournament. Just last year, Duke knocked out the Spartans in the second round.

But this would be the first time these two teams met this early in the event and would do amazing in TV ratings. So this may be a matchup we actually see in a couple of weeks.

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