No introduction needed; today's the day. Here's how bracketologists of varying expertise see things playing out for Your Spartans:
- SBN Blogging the Bracket: 11 seed vs. West Virginia in Denver.
- Bracketology 101: 11 seed vs. Temple in Washington, DC.
- Rush the Court: 11 seed (no placement).
- Andy Glockner/Sports Illustrated: 11 seed vs. Texas A&M in Washington, DC
- Jerry Palm/CollegeRPI: 9 seed vs. Villanova in Tulsa.
- Crashing the Dance: 9 seed (no placement).
- Joe Lunardi/ESPN: 11 seed vs. Kansas St. in New Orleans.
The full bracket matrix is here; it's noteworthy that of the 50ish expert bracket predictions the matrix includes, only one has MSU on the outside looking in (and the last update to that bracket was on 3/7, so it's of dubious relevance). So, barring a horrific turn of events, MSU is in -- and will likely be a 9, 10, or 11 seed, thus avoiding the "first four" games. My personal feeling is that an 11 seed placement is the most likely outcome, but all will be revealed in due time.
Dylan at UMHoops led off with a good discussion question, and we're not too proud to steal. So: which likely 6/7/8 seeds would you most like MSU to avoid, and which would you like to play? The most likely candidates seem to be (6) Georgetown, Kansas State, Texas A&M, Cincinnati, (7) Xavier, Temple, UNLV, Old Dominion, (8) Mizzou, George Mason, UCLA, and Utah State. I'll lead off: Georgetown, with Chris Wright's health still in question and poor play down the stretch, seems the most dodgy 6 seed. Conversely, I'd really rather avoid Xavier, a talented and rested team with a great tournament track record.
Anyway, the BTT final tips off in a 20 minutes, and we'll be around from time to time all the way through the selection show. Should be an exciting night.