“There has been a lot of ups and downs and I don’t wanna say doubt - adversity these last couple months.” sophomore guard Denzel Valentine said. “To put it out on the floor and win is huge.”

In Wisconsin and Michigan, MSU beat a pair of teams that ended up being No. 2 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

Many, including ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi, projected MSU to move up to a No. 3 seed.

But according to the NCAA selection committee, the Spartans were the No. 14-ranked team in the field, two spots away from a No. 3 seed.

“Kind of surprised to see the four seed,” junior forward Branden Dawson said. “Kind of thought we were going to be a three seed. It really doesn’t matter because whatever seed we are, we’re just going to keep playing hard from here on out.”

Valentine echoed his teammate’s sentiments and said that MSU just needs to focus on the team at hand.

“I thought we could have gotten a better seed, but we’ve got to go out there and do what we’ve got to do and get wins,” he said.

First up for MSU are the Fightin’ Blue Hens of Delaware with a matchup against either Cincinnati or Harvard on the horizon.

Nate Silver, East Lansing native and founder of fivethirtyeight.com, has the Spartans at a 91 percent chance to beat Delaware and a 6 percent chance to win the whole shebang, the highest of any Big Ten team.

The last time the Spartans in Spokane, they won both games, including a buzzer-beater by Korie Lucious against Maryland to send MSU on what would be a Final Four-bound run.

“No matter the seed,” Harris said. “You can be a one seed, a 15 seed, 16 seed, whatever, you’ve still got to play the games to win a championship. I feel like the seeding thing doesn’t matter.”

No matter the number in front of their name or where they travel for their games, the Spartans have one goal: get to Dallas.

“We made a pretty good statement that we can play with anybody in the nation and we’re not down and out,” Valentine said. “We can still win a national championship.”