MSU hockey considered lock for No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament
Michigan State hockey is considered a lock to get a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, and should be stationed close to home for their first weekend game(s).
College Puck NXT released an updated batch of college hockey bracketology on Wednesday, which stated the Spartans are considered a lock for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They also have the Spartans positioned to open the tournament in Toledo -- this isn't necessarily a lock but I don't see how that could possibly change at this time in the season.
Michigan State is projected to face No. 4 seed Holy Cross in the first round of the tournament, and would then face the winner of No. 2 seed UConn and No. 3 seed Denver should they advance. One interesting note from College Puck NXT is that there's a possibility that the Spartans could be matched up with rival Michigan in the first round of the tournament should the Big Ten land five or more teams in the field. As of right now, that is the case with Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State and Minnesota also projected to be dancing this year.
As of right now, College Puck NXT has the Wolverines facing off with No. 1 seed Boston College in the Manchester Region. But certainly, this is something to keep an eye on. As Spartans faithful will remember, Michigan State was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by Michigan in the second round last year.
Check out the full bracket projection from College Puck NXT in the post below. The official NCAA Tournament bracket will be released on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET. The show will be televised on ESPNU.
Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
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USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Updated Big Ten Class of 2026 football rankings
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New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
What if college basketball ran conference realignment? We sorted all 364 teams to find out
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That conference is now much more concentrated on the East Coast (go figure!), with its 10-team membership reminiscent of a streamlined version of the Big East's classic 16-team alignment. Rutgers, West Virginia, Syracuse and Pittsburgh are back where they belong. Another former Big East power, Louisville, remains in its new ACC digs. The conference also welcomes back Maryland, which always felt more at home there, and rids itself of its illogical Bay Area/Dallas outposts. Louisville replaces the Florida State/Miami (FL) duo from the 2005 setup of the league — again, I tried to defer to historical membership where reasonable. Just below the P5 rests this quintet of conferences, all of which would have a high likelihood of multiple NCAA Tournament bids in this new landscape. I had to invent two new leagues, the Central and Eastern, to create enough landing spots for all of the remaining high-end programs. 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The bottom of the league got a little watered down with the additions of UTEP and New Mexico State, but those programs have solid upside and fit the geographical footprint. And at least they've been better than Fresno State! And welcome to the first two 'new' conferences that I made up, the Central and Eastern! The Central makes a ton of sense in my mind: a Midwestern hotbed of programs that have been pulled toward the coasts in the current realignment world. The Eastern group is more of an odd fit, with Cincinnati and Xavier getting slotted into a sunnier southern setting. I'd be open to tweaking there, but I couldn't make anything work perfectly. This next tier introduces the most likely candidates for Cinderellas come March Madness. These leagues did not need much tweaking, aside from adding another invented league (the Western) to supplement the Pac-12, Mountain West and WCC. The result is more rationally split leagues with the ability to easily play a concentrated conference schedule. The 'Best of the Rest' remains the Missouri Valley, which has weathered plenty of realignment storms over the years. Here, the Valley gains a strong program in Western Kentucky, while struggling squads Valpo, UIC and Evansville drop down to the Horizon (see below). The brand of the Atlantic 10 takes a hit here, though I suppose you could swap the newfangled 'Eastern' moniker above with the A-10 and keep some luster to it. This new A-10 gives Boston College an actual chance to compete in basketball, and it restores UMass to where it belongs, rather than its ridiculous football-motivated move to the MAC. Advertisement The new 'Texas/South' league could probably use better branding, but it's a pretty logical assembly of programs in both geography and basketball success, especially now that Wichita State has proven mortal in a post-Gregg Marshall world. It would be nice to have an obvious travel partner for UAB, but that's a minor concern. Appalachian State makes a triumphant return to the SoCon now that football is not dictating life in Boone, and Middle Tennessee and Jacksonville State arrive as well. This trio replaces the two military academies, VMI and The Citadel, which have always struggled at this level, and Western Carolina, which has long been on the low end of league budgets. Not touching the Ivy League was an easy choice. The Ancient Eight belong together, even if some programs clearly outstrip the others in terms of resources and basketball upside. Davidson fans may not be thrilled to see a return to the CAA, but hear me out, Wildcats fans: big fish in a little pond! Charlotte and East Carolina also join, clustering the league's locations, but a New England chapter still remains via Hofstra and Drexel. The Western is another newly formed conference, picking up some remnants of the WCC and Mountain West, plus a few high-upside programs in Hawaii, Cal Baptist and Portland State. The Big Sky is made up of more inland programs, largely ones in the Mountain time zone. You could swap Eastern Washington and Air Force for what might be a better fit all around, but it felt cruel to demote the troops that far. Only one change for the Summit League, with Northern Colorado fitting in snugly as a Denver travel partner and bolstering the membership to 10. Similarly, the MAC looks a lot like its current version. The changes: Cleveland State and Wright State join to amp up the Ohio representation, while Ball State, Buffalo and Northern Illinois shift to better geographical situations. The bottom of Division I hoops got a makeover, as well! Many of these leagues ended up at 11 teams by necessity, as my self-imposed geographical mandate grew tricky if I kept many of these conferences limited to 10 members. This was especially important with the 22 combined members of the SWAC and MEAC, both leagues made up of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). It felt natural to keep those schools aligned. Advertisement Eleven teams in a league means a 20-game league schedule, which does limit buy-game opportunities (aka crucial revenue sources) for many smaller athletic departments. However, with the NCAA's coming expansion to a 32-game season, that issue could be somewhat alleviated. On the plus side of this arrangement, 11-team leagues at this level will also keep the power conference fat cats happy by limiting the additional auto-bids doled out to mid- and low-majors. That would surely be a discussion point in this approach, as more conferences equals more auto-bids and fewer at-larges available for the NCAA Tournament. However, with the eventual expansion of the Big Dance seemingly inevitable, that concern is also mitigated to an extent. One final note: Saint Francis will be dropping down to Division III after this season, so the NEC would revert to a 10-team conference in 2026-27. Realistic or not, this setup for college basketball makes the sport better. Regular-season standings would matter again with fully balanced schedules; those who didn't like seeing 6-12 SEC teams make the NCAA Tournament should support this alternative wholeheartedly. Using geographical proximity encourages more heated rivalries and satisfies basic common sense for travel. As superconferences continue to balloon in size and footprint, the luster of regular-season competition wanes to a degree. Reverting to smaller, more localized leagues like the ones proposed here would generate huge benefits for college basketball as a whole. (Illustration: Will Tullos / The Athletic; Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Ennis Rakestraw injury update: Detroit Lions get good news on second-year CB
An injury that forced Ennis Rakestraw Jr. to leave midway through the Detroit Lions' first training camp practice isn't expected to keep him out long term. 'Yeah,' head coach Dan Campbell said Monday, July 21, 'he should be OK. Everything came back negative.' Campbell said the second-year cornerback will be out 'a few days' and remains 'sore' after he appeared to hurt his upper body Sunday. Rakestraw's arm hung limply following a repetition during a team drill, and he appeared to be in pain as he clutched his shoulder soon after retreating to the sideline. The team later told reporters Rakestraw's chest was being evaluated. 'Structurally everything looks pretty good,' Campbell said of the test results. That is cause for relief in these parts. SHAWN WINDSOR: Lions know exactly what this season means: 'The year of the reckoning' Rakestraw's fledgling pro career, after all, has already been significantly impacted by injuries. After being selected No. 61 overall in 2024, he was limited during the ramp-up period to his rookie campaign as he continued to recover from a sports hernia suffered during his college days at Missouri. Then, in pregame warmups before the Lions' Week 2 loss to Tampa Bay last September, he pulled his hamstring. Although Rakestraw returned to the field, the strain lingered, and he only played 43 more snaps the remainder of the season before he was placed on injured reserve in late November. This spring, after he returned to full health, the Lions expressed optimism Rakestraw could carve out a role as one of the top reserve players in the secondary. In workouts, he practiced exclusively outside after playing almost 50% of his snaps in the slot last year. 'We're really excited and looking forward to what he's going to be able to bring this year,' general manager Brad Holmes said in April. They'll just have to wait a little bit longer before seeing whether Rakestraw can meet their expectations. Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@ Follow him @RainerSabin on X. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ennis Rakestraw injury update: Lions CB expected to miss 'a few days'
