Spartans No. 2 seed in mock NCAA selection

The MSU men’s basketball team has earned the top No. 2 seed in the 2009 NCAA Tournament — the simulated tournament selection, that is.

In the third annual NCAA Tournament mock selection held this weekend in Indianapolis, a committee of college basketball analysts and reporters awarded the Spartans the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Regional, supposedly determined to be the highest No. 2 spot in the tournament, pitted against Portland State in the first round.

After that, the Spartans could have the toughest 7-10 matchup in a second-round contest against Georgetown or Arizona State. Sounds scary to me.

Either way, I think a two seed is an appropriate place for the Spartans to end up. Even if they win the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles, I don’t think the committee would reward them with a No. 1 seed ahead of Connecticut (currently No. 1 in the country), North Carolina (who trounced the Spartans at Ford Field), Pittsburgh (former No. 1 team and probably the most talent in the country’s toughest conference) and Oklahoma (the only one-loss team in the country outside nobody Utah State not to be ranked tops in the nation, with all-everything Blake Griffin).

In the mock bracket, five teams made the tournament from the Big Ten (five-seed Illinois, seven-seed Purdue, nine-seed Minnesota and six-seed Ohio State). Michigan did not make the cut (a Michigan-Notre Dame NIT championship, anyone?).

For the record, as of Feb. 13, ESPN.com Bracketologist Joe Lunardi has the Spartans as No. 2 seed, as well, playing against Cal-State Northridge in first-round action in Minneapolis.

With the way the mock committee chose the Tournament to be laid out, the Spartans would play in Dayton, Ohio, before their regional championship in Indianapolis and the Final Four in Detroit. Never having to travel more than one state away would be a huge boost for the Spartans and the MSU faithful.

Another appealing aspect of that placement could be two rematches from last year’s NCAA tournament: a Sweet 16 game against predicted three-seed Memphis and a Elite Eight showdown against top-seeded Pittsburgh. If MSU could make its way back to Ford Field, there would be a rematch from earlier this season against favorite North Carolina.

I guarantee Tom Izzo and the Spartans would be excited to see the tournament field turn out as predicted and MSU fans should be also.