“I kind of knew we would get it,” Wood said of his feelings prior to the selection show. “I watched some shows, and they said the winner would get it. We were all excited. (Playing in the tournament) is something I’ve always dreamed of. Once in a lifetime opportunity, and I’m glad we did it.”

The Spartans (27-7) are the fourth-overall No. 1 seed and will play in the West Region, with the first game Friday in Columbus, Ohio, against LIU Brooklyn. LIU Brooklyn was 25-8 and the champions of the Northeast Conference. Kentucky, Syracuse and North Carolina make up the other top seeds.

MSU head coach Tom Izzo is excited for the first game in Big Ten country.

“It’ll be good, we have a lot of Ohio players,” Izzo said. “I think the Ohio State people will pull for us. For the most part all Big Ten teams pull for one another. I think we’ll get a lot of fans down there. I’m looking forward to it.”

The winner of Friday’s game will play the winner of the No. 8-seed Memphis vs. No. 9-seed St. Louis game.

Missouri (30-4) is the No. 2 seed in the West Region and a potential second-weekend matchup in Phoenix in the Elite Eight.

It is the fourth time a Tom Izzo-led team is a No. 1 seed in the tournament, along with 1999, 2000, 2001. The Spartans went to the Final Four in each of those three tournaments, including a National Championship in 2000.

The 2000 team was led by Mateen Cleaves, a player senior forward Draymond Green tries his best to emulate.

“I thought we would get a 2 (seed),” Green said. “Cleaves had a 1 seed before, I try to do things Cleaves did. We always see the No. 1 seed and the people celebrating and the camera has never been there. It’s a great feeling to celebrate and see it on the delay.”

MSU earned the top seed with nine wins against top-25 teams. The wins included three against No. 4-seed Wisconsin, two against No. 2-seed Ohio State, and one a piece against No. 4-seed Michigan, No. 3-seed Florida State and No. 7-seed Gonzaga.

The Spartans also played competitively against No. 1-seed North Carolina and No. 2-seed Duke at the beginning of the season. The Big Ten has six teams in the tournament.

MSU played the toughest schedule in the nation and played many of the teams in the tournament field. Izzo credits a lot of this season’s success on that slate.

“We did have to battle that tough schedule,” he said. “We played everybody. I look at that (bracket), ‘Yup, yup, yup.’”

Green said Sunday’s hard-fought win against the Buckeyes will benefit Spartans and shows the nation they belong with the nation’s top teams.

“It just helps keep the confidence growing, gives us some momentum,” he said. “We’re not ecstatic because we just beat a good team. We put ourselves up there. … It gives you momentum and different things you can do. Gives guys individual confidence. That’s really the biggest thing. It helped us get a No. 1 seed.”