If the NCAA Tournament started today, the four No. 1 seeds would likely be Auburn, Duke, Houston and Florida.
But let’s talk about Michigan State.
Tom Izzo’s Spartans beat Michigan 79-62 on Sunday to improve to 26-5 overall, 17-3 in the Big Ten. As a result, they secured the outright conference championship by three games and remained in contention, I think, to be a No. 1 seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Do the Spartans control their own destiny?
Probably not.
But if Florida or Houston stumbles early in their conference tournaments, and Michigan State adds three more Quadrant 1 victories en route to winning the Big Ten Tournament, the Spartans would have a case to make. Based on current numbers, winning the Big Ten Tournament would likely have Michigan State with a 15-4 record in Q1 to go with a 5-1 record in Q2, which would have them sitting at 20-5 in the first two quadrants on Selection Sunday.
Again, that might not be good enough if Auburn and Duke are locks to get No. 1 seeds, and if Houston and Florida win out (or at least get to their conference tournament title games). But if the Cougars or Gators get caught early, a door will open — and the Spartans could be the team that walks through it.
Michigan State remains No. 5 in Monday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Auburn is No. 1 for the 61st consecutive day. The Spartans will open the Big Ten Tournament in Friday’s quarterfinals against the winner of Thursday’s game between Indiana and Oregon.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
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