The March Madness brackets have been set. While much of the bracket is set up in advance, some last-minute changes may be needed due to upsets. One of those cases was Purdue's upset of Michigan in the Big Ten Championship game.
Now, it is being reported what changed in the brackets, according to Nicole Auerbach of NBCSports.
“Keith Gill says Michigan dropped from the #2 No. 1 seed to the #3 No. 1 seed because of the Big Ten title game result. Purdue moved up from a No. 3 to No. 2 seed because of the win,” Auerbach posted on X, formerly Twitter.
It may not have been a major difference. Arizona got the second number one seed and is playing in the West. They would have still played in the West and the third number one seed, but would have had some different matchups. Meanwhile, Michigan got the top seed in the Midwest. They do have Iowa State and Virginia in their bracket as the two and three seeds, but that was not the big shift.
The major shift was Purdue jumping to the two-line. They got the final number two seed, according to the final rankings. This knocked Michigan State to a three seed, which could have major ramifications. Purdue is the two seed in the West region and will face Queens.
Meanwhile, Michigan State moved to the East region. They would have a Sweet 16 matchup with UConn, and then an Elite Eight game against Duke. Had they stayed as the last two seed, the Sweet 16 could have been against Gonzaga, and an Elite Eight game with Arizona.
Maybe Michigan State got lucky, though. They dodge Arizona, which is the pick to win it all by some pundits.
