Big Ten title boosts UM in brackets; MSU slips in ESPN projection

Michigan is moving up.

The Wolverines are making a move in the seed lines in updated NCAA Tournament projections, climbing to a No. 3 seed in Joe Lunardi’s bracket for ESPN, and No. 4 in Jerry Palm’s for CBS Sports on Monday.

In Lunardi’s bracket, Michigan (28-7) climbed two spots since Saturday, on the strength of its second straight Big Ten tournament title — a run that included victories over NCAA locks Michigan State and Purdue, among others.

Neither bracketologist has the Wolverines playing at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. Lunardi has Michigan facing No. 14 seed Bucknell in an East regional in Wichita, Kan., while Palm has Michigan taking on No. 13 seed Louisiana in a South matchup in San Diego.

Lunardi, interestingly, has Purdue as a No. 2 seed in Detroit.

In Palm’s bracket, Michigan could see No. 5 seed Kentucky in the round of 32 in a showdown of Charles Matthews’ current and former teams.

Palm still has Michigan State playing in Detroit as a No. 2 seed, despite an early exit in the Big Ten tournament as the top-seeded team. The Spartans are taking on No. 15 seed UC Davis, with the possibility of facing the winner of No. 7 Rhode Island (and former Romulus star E.C. Matthews) and No. 10 Oklahoma.

Lunardi dropped the Spartans to a No. 3 seed in his bracket, shuttling Michigan State from Detroit to Nashville, Tenn., where he projects a matchup with No. 14 seed North Carolina-Greensboro.