Michigan lands No. 1 seed in 2021 NCAA Tournament; Spartans get No. 11 seed with play-in game

Both schools will play in East Region

Michigan head coach Juwan Howard questions a call in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Maryland at the Big Ten Conference tournament in Indianapolis, Friday, March 12, 2021. Howard was later ejected from the game. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) (Michael Conroy, Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The Michigan Wolverines will start the 2021 NCAA Basketball Tournament as the No. 1 seed in the East Region.

The Wolverines won the Big Ten Regular Season title and lost to Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal, finishing the season with a 20-4 record. U-M will play the winner of Mount St. Mary’s vs. Texas Southern.

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The Michigan State Spartans, on the bubble to get in just weeks ago, got a No. 11 seed and will take on No. 11 UCLA on Thursday in the First Four round play-in game, with the winner playing No. 6 BYU on Saturday.

Gonzaga is the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The tournament was canceled in 2020 shortly before it was scheduled to begin just as the coronavirus was deemed a pandemic by the World Health Organization.

Here’s the round-by-round March Madness schedule:

  • First Four — 4 p.m. start on Thursday, March 18
  • First round — 12 p.m. start on Friday, March 19, and Saturday, March 20
  • Second round — 12 p.m. start on Sunday, March 21, and Monday, March 22
  • Sweet 16 — 2 p.m. start on Saturday, March 27, and 1 p.m. start on Sunday, March 28
  • Elite Eight — 7 p.m. start on Monday, March 29, and 6 p.m. start on Tuesday, March 30
  • Final Four — 5 p.m. start on Saturday, April 3
  • NCAA championship game — 9 p.m. Monday, April 5

Check out the full 2021 bracket below:


About the Author:

Ken Haddad has proudly been with WDIV/ClickOnDetroit since 2013. He also authors the Morning Report Newsletter and various other newsletters, and helps lead the WDIV Insider team. He's a big sports fan and is constantly sipping Lions Kool-Aid.