Michigan State a 3-seed in March Madness, will play North Dakota State
Tom Izzo extended his ongoing record to 28 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances with Michigan State basketball .
The Spartans (25-7) are the No. 3 seed in the East Region and face No. 14 seed North Dakota State (27-7), the Summit League champions, in the first round Thursday, March 19, in Buffalo, New York.
The winner would play either 6-seed Louisville (23-10) or 11-seed South Florida (25-8) on Saturday.
Tip off times and TV networks will be announced later Sunday.
Duke, the No. 1 overall seed, is the bracket . UConn is the 2-seed.
The East regional Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games will be held in Washington, DC.
MSU finished tied for second during the Big Ten regular season with Nebraska and Illinois at 15-5. The Spartans won five of their final six heading into the Big Ten Tournament before flopping vs. UCLA in the quarterfinals.
Entering Sunday, MSU sat at No. 11 in the NCAA's NET rankings .
SEIDEL: What was Michigan State basketball lacking against UCLA? Desperation
It is MSU's 39th all-time NCAA tournament appearance. The Spartans have a 76-37 overall record with two national championships and 10 Final Four berths, as well as last year’s 11th Elite Eight appearance under Izzo, who is 59-26 (.694) in his 27 previous NCAA appearances.
MSU was a No. 2 seed in the South Region last season and beat Bryant and New Mexico in Cleveland, then in Atlanta knocked off Mississippi in the Sweet 16 before falling to 1-seed Auburn in the Elite Eight.
MSU tied Kansas for the longest streak of consecutive NCAA Tournament berths, set from 1990-2017. The Jayhawks will make their 36th straight appearance this year, but their 2018 appearance was vacated, meaning the NCAA recognizes MSU as the longest active streak.
Izzo, in his 31th season, owns the most consecutive NCAA appearances by a Division I coach with a single school. MSU missed the 1996 and 1997 tournaments in his first two seasons in East Lansing but has made every Big Dance since 1998 (the 2020 event was canceled due to the pandemic).
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com . Follow him @chrissolari .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: MSU basketball a 3-seed in March Madness, will play North Dakota State
