Bracketology: Michigan loses to Iowa, falls to a No. 2 seed and, to make it worse, Michigan State jumps to a No. 1

This was not a great night for the Wolverines

By Jerry Palm

Feb 2, 2019 at 10:55 am ET • 1 min read

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- So, the bad news for Michigan is that the Wolverines got taken down at Iowa by a score of 74-59 on Friday night. It's the second loss of the season for Michigan, which is now 20-2 after a 17-0 start.

The worse news for Michigan is that the Wolverines are no longer a No. 1 seed in the projected bracket. The top of the bracket is very competitive and not much separates the teams on the top two lines, so one loss can matter a lot.

The, um, worserer news for Michigan is that the team replacing them as a No. 1 seed is in-state rival Michigan State. The Spartans lead college basketball with eight Quadrant 1 wins, including victories over Purdue, Maryland and a sweep of the Hawkeyes. MSU has played one of the toughest schedules in the country and that is a big reason for their high seed.

Michigan and Michigan State are not done battling for a top seed and the top of the Big Ten. They will play each other twice in the last four games of the regular season, and possibly again in the conference tournament.