As celebrations after epic upsets go, Middle Tennessee’s Friday was March Muted more than March Madness.
There was no wild dog pile of players. No frenzied coaches running around in search of someone to hug. No Blue Raiders lost their minds.
It was like they expected to beat Michigan State, and in the process plunge office pools everywhere into complete chaos. And across two unbelievable hours, you could see why. The Blue Raiders never trailed the high-and-mighty Spartans, jumping out to a 15-2 lead and withstanding every Michigan State rally.
They had it all the way.
Here’s what might also have played a part in Middle Tennessee’s calm reaction to shocking the world: the Blue Raiders knew they were no 15 seed. That was a joke, and part of a major choke.
By Michigan State, yes. But also by the NCAA tournament selection committee.
All hail MTSU, which put Murfreesboro, Tenn., on the map Friday. Its 90-81 upset of the Spartans is one of eight all-time victories for a No. 15 seed over a No. 2 seed – but Middle Tennessee never should have been a 15.
That’s on the committee.
The winner of Conference USA has never been seeded so low. Yes, the league has gone through turmoil and transition that has robbed it of many of its best basketball schools, but it still deserves more respect than that. Especially for a team that went 24-9, was 13-5 in league play and was the No. 2 seed in the conference tourney. The Blue Raiders didn’t sneak in the back door; they were solid all season.
Conference USA was the No. 21 league in the nation out of 32 according to both the Pomeroy and Sagarin Ratings. That’s not the kind of conference that generally produces a No. 15 seed. This isn’t the Northeast Conference or something.
The committee dissed C-USA last year as well. It made champion UAB a No. 14 seed – and the Blazers responded by shocking No. 3 seed Iowa State, making the Cyclones the first team eliminated after the play-in round.
But beating Iowa State is one thing. Beating Michigan State – which a lot of people thought should have been a No. 1 seed, and a lot of people picked to win it all, and with a head coach who has become an NCAA tournament legend – is something else entirely.
Michigan State fans gleefully call March the Month of Izzo. That’s because Tom Izzo has taken the Spartans to seven Final Fours – several times dragging flawed teams to the final weekend of the season by sheer force of will and coaching skill.
This Michigan State team figured to need few magic tricks or great escapes or big upsets to get to Houston. The Spartans appeared to have everything – a national Player of the Year candidate in Denzel Valentine, a capable second offensive threat in sharpshooter Bryn Forbes, all the requisite size and depth and athleticism – to make a run at their first title in 16 years.
And then Friday happened.
This was the kind of thing you expect to see happen to Scott Drew – and it did again this year – not Tom Izzo. He’s lost four other times in the first round, but in those years the Spartans were seeded sixth, seventh and 10th twice. The time Michigan State was a No. 6 seed, George Mason pulled the upset on the way to the fairy-tale Final Four.
Could Middle Tennessee be the next uber-Cinderella to start a run by beating the Spartans? Remains to be seen. But second-round opponent Syracuse had better take the Blue Raiders seriously.
Middle Tennessee shredded Michigan State’s trademark defense, shooting 56 percent overall and 58 percent from 3-point range. Time after time, the Spartans would make a shot to climb closer, run back on defense and slap the floor in bring-it-on intensity. And time after time, the Blue Raiders would make a mockery of that show by scoring a key basket in response.
Defensively, MTSU refused to let Valentine dominate the game. He finished with 13 points, six below his average, and needed 13 shots to get there. He had 12 assists, but also six turnovers.
And Kermit Davis, a coach’s son who blew a big chance early in his career when he was fired at Texas A&M 25 years ago for NCAA violations, finally found his way to an NCAA victory. He’s beaten around the lower levels of the game for a long time – junior colleges, two short stints at Idaho, now 14 years at MTSU. And he just took down Mr. March.
So the Month of Izzo is a bust. And the Big Ten has been bruised.
The two teams in the Big Ten tourney title game last Sunday are both first-round knockouts. Purdue was broomed out by Arkansas-Little Rock on Thursday, and Michigan State is gone Friday.
It will take a long time for the Spartans to live this one down. But the NCAA tournament selection committee should feel badly for underseeding Conference USA champion Middle Tennessee.
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