Mitten State Madness
By Levi Bright
Following a tightly contested season finale in which the Michigan Wolverines emerged victorious over the Michigan State Spartans, the college basketball regular season is officially over. The former finishes the season with a 29-2 record, while the latter checks in at 25-6. Each will participate in the Big Ten tournament over the next few days, but the real focus is on the competition for the national title — the NCAA tournament, which tips off on March 19. Let’s preview the upcoming games and take a look at each team’s prospects.
Both teams have high hopes coming into the latest tournament. Michigan just capped off a season in which they recorded the best winning percentage in program history, the gravity of which needs no explanation. Led by forwards Yaxel Lendeborg and Morez Johnson, the Wolverines feature a relentless defense and one of the most high-powered offensive attacks in the nation.
Head coach Dusty May has only one season under his belt in Ann Arbor, but that isn’t tempering anyone’s expectations. He’s already shown that he has what it takes to win big games — two years ago, his Florida Atlantic Owls made it all the way to the Final Four. It was because of those kinds of results that Michigan hired him in 2024, and it’s those kinds of heights that the university (and the sports world) expects to return to very soon. May and the Wolverines haven’t backed down all season long, and they clearly have what it takes to win it all.
While they can’t boast as historic of a season as their in-state rivals, Michigan State also presents a real threat for the national title. This tough, scrappy Spartans team has been led by point guard Jeremy Fears all season long. The Joliet, Illinois native is leading the nation in assists per game (9.1) and is unquestionably Michigan State’s top dog — the team’s success in this tournament will live and die with his performance. After Fears, the frontcourt trio of forward Jaxon Kohler, forward Coen Carr and center Carson Cooper will play the bulk of tournament minutes.
The Spartans, as they have been for decades, are captained by legendary coach Tom Izzo. The Hall of Famer, 71, is chasing his ninth Final Four appearance and second national title. This year will mark Michigan State’s twenty-eighth consecutive tournament appearance, all of which have come under Izzo. It is the longest streak in the nation. Expectations for Michigan State, once again, are high.
The full list of participating teams across the nation and their rankings will be revealed on March 15, also known as “Selection Sunday”. For context, the NCAA tournament is divided into four regions — each with sixteen teams, ranked in order, for a total of sixty-four. The team viewed as weakest in each region is seeded sixteenth, and the team viewed as strongest is seeded first. The one seed plays the sixteen seed, two plays fifteen, and so on.
Michigan is essentially guaranteed to be selected as a No. 1 seed. Their record is among the best in the nation, and they’ll be rewarded for it with one of the tournament’s four most prestigious spots. Michigan State’s status is a little murkier, but they’ve had a strong season and we can expect them to slot in as a likely No. 2 or No. 3 seed. The last year that both the Wolverines and the Spartans entered the tournament ranked as a two-seed or better was the 2018-19 season. It’s an exciting time for college basketball in the state.
With all that said, there’s a reason why the NCAA tournament is known as March Madness. Every year, we see upset after upset — highly-seeded teams bowing out early, otherwise small-time schools making it farther than anyone expected them to and so on — it’s an extremely fickle event, and that’s what makes it so entertaining. The seedings are helpful for a general idea of how good a given team is, but every game is anyone’s game. As we head into one of the most entertaining sporting events of the year, prepare for some chaos, but also for some great basketball from Michigan and Michigan State.