Coming off its best season in six years, Michigan State is a 2 seed entering March Madness. Coming off a huge turnaround in year one under Dusty May, Michigan is a 5 seed -- and Valenti will be the first to tell you that Michigan "got screwed."
"You should have been a 4. Even if you're a 5, I think they put you against a 12 that's designed to give you problems."
Turnovers have been an issue all season for Michigan, and the Wolverines are playing the team with the best turnover margin in the nation in UC San Diego. Michigan fans "have a right to say, that was a mean draw," says Valenti.
Some numbers of note on UC San Diego: "They force opponents into turnovers on 19.7 percent of possessions. One of every five trips down the floor, they force a turnover. 37 percent from deep, and they get about 20 points a game off the turnovers. If Michigan takes care of the ball, they'll win the game. If they don't, I think you're in a lot of trouble."
Regarding the Spartans, who play Bryant in the first round, "here’s the deal," says Valenti. "Anything short of the Elite 8 is a complete failure. I don't know what else to tell you."
"I do look at some of the matchups. Do you have good teams in your region? Sure you do. Is it going to be a picnic to play the winner of Marquette and New Mexico? Absolutely not. But unless you are just not anything like what many — Rico and I included — think you are, there are no excuses."
To those MSU fans who say, "'Mike’s being mean,'" tell me where I’m wrong," he says. "You gotta at least get to that Elite 8." A potential Sweet 16 matchup with 3-seed Iowa State would come against a team decimated by injuries that went 7-7 to close the season.
"If you’re any good, you’re going to have to beat someone good," says Valenti. "If you get to the Elite 8 and lose to Auburn, what am I gonna do? Cry bloody murder? I can’t." Rico agrees that the floor for Michigan State is the Elite 8.
The path for Michigan, says Valenti, "is murkier. They have a fatal flaw, three of them to be specific. The turnovers don’t stop, the free throws are atrocious, and hate to break it to you, you’re not a great rebounding team. Those are things that kind of get you sent home. ... But if you are what you think you are, if you think you rediscovered something in Indy, your job is to go and beat this team."