https://t.co/vW0tBZwWH5 🏀🏀 The announcement flew under the radar a bit, but Grand Canyon’s accelerated move from the WAC to the Mountain West for the upcoming season is quite significant from a bracket perspective. The most obvious implication is that a team other than GCU,…
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) July 29, 2025
We are months away from tipping off the next college basketball season, but, hey, it’s never too early for bracketology, right?
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has released an updated batch of bracketology for the 2026 NCAA Tournament and to no surprise Michigan State is safely in the field of 68. But the Spartans did slip since the last time Lunardi released a bracket projection earlier this offseason.
Lunardi currently has Michigan State as the No. 5 seed in the East Region with a first round matchup against Missouri Valley Conference champion Illinois State in Buffalo. In this projected bracket, Michigan State would face the winner of No. 4 seed Arkansas and No. 13 seed Miami (OH) should they knock off Illinois State in the first round.
Michigan State is looking to continue the hot play from last year’s Big Ten championship season and Elite Eight finish next season. The Spartans have widely been projected as a top 25 team in the preseason polls for next year so Lunardi’s projection of a No. 5 seed is aligned with the national media.
Click on the post below to read the complete NCAA Tournament bracket projection from Lunardi:
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