Going with the parallel of this season and the 2015-16 season, the only other time the Spartans achieved the No. 4 seed was during that season just about a decade ago. 

Landing the No. 4 seed grants the Spartans a couple of extra days off as they earned the double-bye. After their rest, the Spartans' first matchup will be in the quarterfinals on Friday, March 8, however, the tournament will begin on Wednesday. 

It was not expected that the Spartans would have the dominant run they did during the regular season, especially when because of the team's brand-new head coach and some new faces to a roster that lost some key players. 

However, head coach Robyn Fralick was able to find what she calls a “spirit of togetherness” early on and all season long, her Spartans continued to play on that spirit and relied on each other when needed. 

The Spartans will have to continue to find that spirit within themselves as they wait to see who they will face off against in their first matchup. Their opponent will be either No. 5 seed Nebraska, No. 12 seed Purdue or No. 13 seed Northwestern. 

The Spartans are using their extra days to get prepared for whoever they may be facing and although their opponent is technically unknown, Fralick knows that the Spartans are aware of their opponents and prepared for anything.

“We've all played each other," Fralick said. "You know, there’s a number of opponents we’ve played recently. You look at Nebraska, we played them I feel like a season ago, so you’ve got to be prepared for a number of different scenarios."

Although the Spartans earned the double-bye and are one of the top four teams in the tournament, one single loss will still be enough to end their shot at the Big Ten Championship as the tournament is single-game elimination style. 

While that style of tournament raises the stakes, Fralick doesn’t believe the team will be approaching the games differently.

“I don’t know if you approach them differently, I think we already know what’s at stake," Fralick said. "The ability to execute, and the ability to dial into details, the ability to make adjustments on the fly and execute those are going to matter, but those have mattered all season."

Finishing in the fourth spot puts Michigan State below three teams that the team lost to throughout the year: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Iowa and No. 3 Indiana. So, the Spartans will still have to prove themselves throughout the tournament if they want to finish on top. 

Sophomore guard Theryn Hallock is well aware of the losses the team took to some of the other top Big Ten teams, however, she also knows that tournament play is a different game than the regular season. 

“I think we fell short obviously a couple times to the bigger teams but tournament play is a lot different than regular season," Hallock said. "We’re ready to get after them and we’re gonna scout and we know what to do so I’m ready and really looking forward to playing them too." 

Graduate student guard/forward Julia Ayrault knows that for the team to thrive in the tournament, they will have to play to their season motto, the same one they've had the entire season.

"'Sticking focused on what we’ve been doing, sticking together,'" Ayrault said. "That’s kind of been our motto all year is trusting each other, trusting the process, and just kind of, 'If we have each other, then we’re all good,’ so that’s kind of my focus from now on."

The Spartans will have another day of practice on Wednesday before flying out to Minnesota as the tournament will be showcased in the Target Center in Minneapolis. Michigan State's first matchup will be in the quarterfinals on Friday, March 8 at 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Streaming will be available on Big Ten Network.