:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/9608305/20130310_lbm_aa1_041.0.jpg)
The No. 6 Michigan Wolverines and No. 8 Michigan State Spartans have taken different routes to similar top-ten rankings at the end of college basketball's regular season. At the conclusion of the Big Ten tournament, both should receive similar seedings when March Madness begins, according to the latest Bracketology update from Chris Dobbertean of SB Nation.
The Wolverines are projected to earn a No. 3 seed in the West Region. They would face Stephen F. Austin in Auburn Hills to kickoff the Big Dance, and if they won, they'd play the winner of Memphis and Boise State.
Joe Lunardi of ESPN sees a similar fate for Michigan. He has the Wolverines playing as the three seed in the West, taking on South Dakota State in the second round. They would face UNLV or Villanova if they beat SDSU.
Michigan State is projected as a No. 4 seed in the South. The Spartans are currently projected to face Bucknell in the second round. Lunardi has them slightly higher up as a three seed in the South while facing Harvard to kick off their tournament.
Michigan and Michigan State will still have a chance to improve their seeding for the NCAA Tournament. Michigan State is the third seed in their conference tournament and has the easier draw, while fifth-seeded Michigan will open against Penn State. If either school is able to cut down the nets as the Big Ten champion, a No. 1 seed may not be out of the question depending on other schools such as Duke, Georgetown and Louisville do in their respective tournaments.
More in College Basketball:
• Tracking the NCAA Tournament auto-bids
• Projecting the bracket with Easy Bubble Solver
• Previewing the Big East tournament
• Big Ten Tournament: Complete coverage