Bracketology Round-Up: Where Spartans, Wolverines Stand
(WWJ) - With the NCAA Tournament rapidly approaching -- Selection Sunday is just a little more than three weeks away -- "bracketology" is becoming a hot topic in the world of college basketball.
ESPN's Joe Lunardi and CBS's Jerry Palm, two of the most well-respected "bracketologists" in the country, update their brackets a few times a week, based on recent results. Both Palm and Lunardi dropped new brackets on Friday.
In Lunardi's ESPN update, Michigan State remains as a projected No. 3 seed. That's where the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee placed the Spartans in last Sunday's Bracket Preview Show on CBS.
The Spartans would be in the East Regional, playing their first-round game in Pittsburgh against 14-seed Rider, with the winner advancing to play the winner of Florida-Kansas State.
Lunardi has the Michigan Wolverines dropping to a No. 7-seed in the West Regional, despite handily beating Iowa on Wednesday. His matchup has the Wolverines squaring off against 10th-seeded Providence in Wichita. The winner of that game would potentially face No. 2-seed Kansas.
Palm's CBS projections show a little more love for the Spartans. He has them as a No. 2-seed in the South Regional, staying closer to home in the first weekend, matching up with 15-seed Northern Kentucky in Detroit. Palm has Michigan as a the 7-seed in the Midwest Regional playing against Florida in Charlotte, with the winner facing Duke or Bucknell in the second round.
SB Nation has Michigan State as a 3-seed and Michigan as a 9-seed in their most recent projections.
In today's era of analytics, the Selection Committee still relies heavily on the RPI, which many people call outdated. The new buzzword in college hoops this year is "quadrant win," putting more emphasis on beating quality teams away from home, but the system is still receiving criticism because the committee is putting too much stock in the RPI. This is part of the reason the Spartans are not currently projected higher than they are.
Michigan State improved its NCAA Tournament resume with a 30-point blowout victory at Minnesota on Tuesday, fresh off a win over No. 4 Purdue in East Lansing over the weekend. But will the Spartans be able to reach the top seed line? Lunardi doesn't think so. At least not right now.
Both Lunardi and Palm have Virginia, Xavier, Villanova and Auburn as their current projected 1-seeds. Xavier and Villanova meet in Cincinnati Saturday on what could be another wild weekend in college hoops.
Could that open up a spot on the top line for the Spartans?
