Spartans earn 2 seed; 12th Consecutive Year in the Tournament

MSU opens their road to the Final Four in Minneapolis, Minnesota where they will take on the 15 seed Robert Morris. Robert Morris comes out of the Northeast Conference where they won the conference tournament. Robert Morris is led by Jeremy Chappell, who averages 19.6 PPG, and is the Northeast Conference Player of the Year. MSU should beat the Colonials in blowout manner and advance easily to the second round.

In the second round, the Spartans will face off against the winner of the 7/10 game which features 7 Boston College and 10 USC, who won the Pac-10 tournament. The Trojans finished 5th in the regular season in the Pac-10, but have won their last 5 games, including wins over Cal, UCLA, an Arizona St. I have in my bracket the Trojans upsetting BC, setting them up with a game against the Spartans. Again, the Spartans have too many offensive weapons and are solid on D. Spartans should easily advance to the Sweet Sixteen with a possible matchup with defending national champion, the Kansas Jayhawks.

In the top bracket in the Midwest Region, I have the Wake Forrest Demon Decons upsetting the Louisville Cardinals. I think Louisville, along with Kansas, is the most ovverated team in the country. The Cardinals did not win into the number one top seed, other teams lost their opportunity to get to the top seed. Louisville also has some bad losses against good teams and some bad losses. For example: 51-68 loss at home against UConn, 59-90 loss at a struggling Notre Dame team, and losses to Minnesota, a bad UNLV team, and a bad loss to the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. They should have lose to Syracuse in the Big East final, but 'Cuse was too fatigued from plating 7 OT's in two games. The Demon Deacons should beat Louisville and play the Spartans in the Elite Eight.

For my complete bracket, click here.

FINAL FOUR: Michigan State, Memphis, Villanova, Syracuse

TOP FIRST ROUND UPSETS: Western Kentucky over Illinois, VCU over UCLA

Michigan State: Big Ten Champions

MSU finished off their championship season with a 62-51 victory over No. 19 Purdue. The Spartans ended up winning the Big Ten by 4 games over Purdue and Illinois. It's their first outright championship since 1999 and their first title since 2001. MSU clinched a share of the title last week with a win at Illinois and clinched the outright title with a win over Indiana, but Izzo wouldn't let the players celebrate until the end of the regular season.

Four seniors made their final appearance at the Breslin Center: Travis Walton, Goran Suton, Idong Ibok, and Marquise Gray. Suton lead the seniors with 11 points and 10 boards. The Senoirs ended their Spartan career with a regular season record of 97-38. One of the best sights last Sunday was the senoirs kissing the S at half-court.

Kalin Lucas lead all scorers with 21 points, again showing his ability to completely take over games. If Lucas continues to step up, I belive he will lead us to Detroit.

Monday, three Spartans were givin major awards in the Big Ten. Izzo was given Coach of the Year, as voted by other Big Ten coaches. Travis Walton was awarded the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and Kalin Lucas was the Big Ten Player of the Year.

The Spartans play on Friday in the Big Ten Tournament.