No No. 1 seed has ever fallen to a No. 16 seed in NCAA tournament history, though Syracuse tried their hardest to become the first on Thursday against UNC Asheville, so the Michigan State Spartans should have absolutely no trouble dispatching the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds on Friday.
The Blackbirds have a very good shooter in Julian Boyd (17.6 PPG), but past that their offense and defense are lacking much quality. Contrast that with the deep offense that the Spartans have that includes Draymond Green and the confidence-filled Brandon Wood and there's not too much of an opening for an LIU-Brooklyn upset.
Michigan State also has one of the best defenses in the league, problematic for a Blackbirds team that turned the ball over 16 times per game in the regular season. The best they can probably do is try their hardest to keep it close so the Spartans can't run away with it.
Game time: Approx. 9:20 p.m. ET
TV: TBS
Location: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
You can find more about the Michigan State Spartans at The Only Colors. For more coverage of the 2012 NCAA tournament, visit SB Nation Detroit's StoryStream. Also, make sure to check out SB Nation's NCAA tournament hub and our printable NCAA tournament bracket.
