The madness has arrived, and for Michigan State men’s basketball, it will take place in Buffalo.
On Selection Sunday, the Spartans heard their name called on television as they landed the No. 3 seed in the East Region. They will begin their NCAA tournament play at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y., on Thursday, March 19, at 4:05 p.m. Their opponent will be the No. 14 North Dakota State Bison, who won the Summit League championship on Sunday, March 8. The winner will remain in Buffalo to face either No. 6 Louisville or No. 11 South Florida in the second round.
“There’s a side of this where we have to take [our selection] in and celebrate, but at the same time we have to be mature about this and make sure we don’t get too over-excited and to not lose focus on the main mission,” senior forward Jaxon Kohler said. “This is the most important stretch for us. Whether freshman or senior, we need everybody to play.”
MSU enters the NCAA tournament on a two-game losing streak—a loss to Michigan in its regular-season finale and a loss to UCLA in its Big Ten tournament opener. Now it enters a new season, one where the stakes are high and the emotions run deep, one where a single team will stand victorious and 67 others will be sent home with nothing.
MSU has made three final fours when losing its Big Ten tournament opener. Against a strong region of teams, it looks to do it again.
“As always when you go into these tournaments, you have to know your competition but worry more about your team,” MSU head coach Izzo said. “That’s what we practiced today, and tried to iron out a few things that we thought we didn’t do a good job of in the last game.”
The Spartans are familiar with these high stakes and intense emotions. This tournament will mark MSU’s 28th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance, which is currently the longest active NCAA tournament appearance streak. It’s also tied for the longest consecutive streak in NCAA history, tying the 1990-2017 Kansas Jayhawks.
Last year’s NCAA tournament run brought renewed expectations for MSU basketball. After four consecutive years of mediocrity—a 4-4 tournament record and an inability to advance past the Sweet 16—MSU advanced to the Elite Eight thanks to a deep bench and strong senior leadership. While the Spartans fell short of the Final Four with a 70-64 loss to No. 1 Auburn, they offered a vision of what MSU basketball can be year in and year out.
On Thursday, this vision returns, and with it, the hope of cutting nets in April.
A date with No. 14 North Dakota State
