It's way too early to even think about the NCAA Tournament and if Tom Izzo and Michigan State basketball will continue their streak this season, but Joe Lunardi works all year round.
ESPN's famous (some might say infamous) bracketologist has not only created that title, but he's been updating his 2026 NCAA Tournament bracketology all offseason. Michigan State has been in each of his tournament projections, but the Spartans recently got a decent bump.
Lunardi has been projecting Michigan State as a 6-seed, and has even slotted the Spartans up to a borderline 5-seed, but now they are a firm 5-seed in his final preseason edition of the bracketology.