“It’s pretty much what we expected,” said head coach Mike Rowe. “We’re excited. It’s a good bracket.”

The top two teams from the regional final advance to the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 16 and 18, where they will face the top two teams from the remaining three regions.

“The regional there sets us up for success,” senior Sage Kellerman said. “We’re really gritty and there’ll be some close teams by us, but I just think we’re really hungry and really excited. Once we do our best, we’re going to nationals.”

While the first step is to make it into the regional final, Rowe has his sights set higher: The NCAA Championships.

“Four on the floor is our goal,” Rowe said. “There’s some tough competition out there, but it doesn’t change the goal. It doesn’t change the way we’re gonna train or do things, we’re gonna take it one step at a time.”

MSU has never made it to that final stage. Last season, the Spartans made history by reaching the Elite Eight for the first time since 1988.

The Spartans head to Tempe off the back of an impressive performance at the Big Ten Championships, finishing runners-up to UCLA.

“I thought we were really great with our energy,” Kellerman said. “We did our best and put it all out on the floor, and that’s exactly what we need to do for regionals.”

Rowe said although the team had a slow start to the season due to some key injuries, the Spartans are building momentum at the right time of the season.

Rowe’s focus is on “minimizing the grandeur” for his relatively young team. Instead of relying on the messaging that “this is it,” Rowe said it’s just another meet.

The Spartans start their road to the Championships on April 2. All meets will be aired on ESPN+.