They knew they were going dancing. Now they have their partners.
The 68-team NCAA Tournament field was announced Sunday night with Michigan State receiving the No. 1 seed in the West Region, Michigan the No. 4 seed in the Midwest Region and the University of Detroit-Mercy the No. 15 seed in the Midwest Region.
Michigan State (27-7) opens against No. 16 seed Long Island (25-8), the Northeast Conference champion, Friday in Columbus, Ohio. MSU would play Memphis or Saint Louis Sunday in the next round.
Michigan (24-9) takes on No. 13 seed Ohio (27-7), the Mid-American champ, Friday in Nashville, Tenn. The Wolverines would play Temple, California or South Florida in their next game on Sunday.
Detroit (22-13) hopes to upset No. 2 seed Kansas (27-6), the Big 12 regular-season champ, Friday in Omaha, Neb. If that happens, Detroit would play Saint Mary's or Purdue on Sunday.
Game times were not immediately announced.
Michigan State, which defeated Ohio State Sunday afternoon in the Big Ten championship game, is making its 15th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, the third-longest active streak behind Kansas' 23 and Duke's 17.
This is the fifth time the Spartans have earned a No. 1 seed. They went to the Final Four in 2001, won the national championship in 2000, went to the Final Four in 1999 and to the Sweet 16 in 1990.
Sunday’s victory clinched the No. 1 seed. Michigan State is the fourth of the four top seeds (Kentucky, Syracuse, North Carolina).
The other high seeds in Michigan State's bracket are No. 2 Missouri, No. 3 Marquette and No. 4 Louisville.
For Michigan, it’s the second straight NCAA bid and the third in coach John Beilein’s five seasons.
The Detroit Titans, in Ray McCallum’s fourth year as coach, punched their NCAA ticket for the first time since 1999 after winning the Horizon League tournament title for an automatic bid.
The other top seeds in the bracket with Michigan and Detroit are No. 1 North Carolina and No. 3 Georgetown.
