There are 40 days remaining until selection Sunday for the 2024 NCAA men's basketball tournament, and Michigan State basketball is projected to extend its streak of making the tournament.

The Michigan basketball is poised to miss the big dance for the second year in a row and faces big picture questions about its future.

The Spartans have won five of six to move to 14-8 on the season and 6-5 in Big Ten play, helping move them further toward the right side of the March Madness bubble heading into the final month of the regular season.

MSU had sky high expectations coming into the season as a top-five ranked team, but struggled to find its footing early, dropping early nonconference games to James Madison, Duke and Arizona, then lost two Big Ten games in early December to Wisconsin and Nebraska to fall to 4-5 overall. The Spartans rebounded with a blowout win over top 10 Baylor and closed the nonconference schedule with four straight wins.

Michigan State lost two of its first three games during the uninterrupted portion of the Big Ten schedule, leaving them with a 9-7 record and 1-4 conference record in early January, leading to some doubt whether the 25-year streak of making the tournament, which dates back to 1998, would be in jeopardy. Since then, MSU has been able to turn things around with five wins over the next six games, with the only loss coming on the road to No. 10 Wisconsin, and beat teams below them in the standings. Now, Michigan State is 6-5 in conference, tied with Northwestern in fourth place, and bracketologists are confidently predicting a 26th straight March Madness trip for Tom Izzo's squad.

Down the road in Ann Arbor, the outlook for this season and future is much more bleak. Barring a late-season run securing an automatic bid through the Big Ten tournament, Michigan is projected to be on the outside for the second straight year, marking the first time since 2007-08 they have missed the Big Dance for two consecutive seasons.

The Wolverines, No. 111 in the NET rankings, are 7-15 and in the basement of the Big Ten standings with a 2-9 conference record. Juwan Howard's squad has lost 10 of its last 11 games, with a jarring number of late-game collapses that had the coach threatening to play walk-ons Saturday after a crumble vs. Rutgers.

Oakland is projected to make the tournament as an automatic qualifier out of the Horizon League by some bracketologists. The Golden Grizzlies (15-9, 10-3) are tied for first place in the conference with Green Bay. The Horizon League is projected to be a one-bid league, so Oakland will need to win the conference tournament to secure its first trip since 2010-11.

Here is a look at where national bracketologists are projecting for Michigan State and Oakland with a month left in the regular season.

MORE: Tom Izzo wants Michigan State to show same grit at Minnesota as he did 47 years ago

Michigan State & Oakland NCAA tournament projections

• USA TODAY's bracketologist team has Michigan State as an 8-seed in the West region as of Tuesday prior to their midweek game at Minnesota. MSU is projected to play 9-seed Boise State, another at-large team, in the first round at the site in Memphis. Houston is the projected 1-seed in that portion of the bracket, projected to play against 16-seed South Dakota State. If MSU were to make it through the first two rounds, the Sweet 16 would be hosted in Los Angeles.

• USA TODAY does not project Oakland to make the tournament, instead slotting Green Bay in as the automatic qualifier with a 16-seed in the Midwest region playing Purdue. The bracketologists project six Big Ten teams and list Washington State, Gonzaga, Florida and Colorado as the first four teams on the wrong side of the bubble.

• The most famous bracketologist, ESPN's Joe Lunardi, has Michigan State listed as the 7-seed in the East region in his updated bracket projection from Monday. MSU would be playing in Omaha against 10-seed Texas A&M, one of its teams on the bubble under "last four byes", with a chance to play No. 2 seed Kansas or No. 15 seed Colgate in the round of 32. If MSU made it to the Sweet 16, the game would be played in Boston.

• Lunardi has Oakland in his field of 68 as the automatic qualifier out of the Horizon League. The Golden Grizzlies are projected as the No. 15 seed in the South region with a matchup against 2-seed Marquette in Indianapolis in the first round. If Oakland becomes the 12th No. 15 seed in tournament history to secure a first-round upset, they'd play the winner of Texas-Mississippi State, the 7-10 matchup, in the second round.

• CBS bracketologist Jerry Palm doesn't think Michigan State has as much security as his other colleagues believe, and has the Spartans listed as one of the last four teams in, playing in the first-round matchups in Dayton as a No. 11 seed with a chance to make the field of 64. MSU is his highest team in the "last four in" group, and are projected to play New Mexico in a battle of 11 seeds days before the round of 64 kicks off. IF MSU were to win that game, they are projected to play No. 6 seed Clemson in the first round in Pittsburgh in the West region. The potential round of 32 matchup is between South Carolina and Drexel in the 3-14 matchup and the Sweet 16 would be hosted in Los Angeles.

• Palm also has Oakland in his tournament field after winning the Horizon League. Oakland is the projected No. 15 seed in the East region, playing No. 2 seed Kansas in the first round in Omaha. If Oakland manages the upset, the winner of Boise State and St. Johns in the 7-10 matchup would await.

• Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller has Michigan State as the No. 8 seed in the West region, playing No. 9 seed New Mexico in the first round, hosted in Charlotte. If Michigan State moves on to the second round, they would play the winner of No. 1 seed North Carolina or No. 16-seeded Eastern Kentucky or Norfolk State. The Sweet 16 and Elite 8 for the East are hosted in Boston, if MSU were to make it that far.

• Oakland, listed as the 59th overall team in Bleacher Report's projected field, is the No. 15 seed in the Midwest region. Tennessee is Oakland's projected opponent as the No. 2 seed and the game would be played in Charlotte as well. If Oakland were to upset the Volunteers, they would play the winner of Colorado State-Butler in the 7-10 matchup.

• Fox Sports' Mike DeCourcy has Michigan State just above the final four teams in and has them as a No. 11 seed in the South region. The Spartans' first-round opponent is No. 6 seed Oklahoma, with no location listed, and would play the winner of Creighton-Louisiana Tech (3-14 game) in the second round if they were to advance.

• DeCourcy has Oakland listed as the No. 15 seed in the East region, playing No. 2 seed Wisconsin in the first round. The projected 7-10 matchup in their bracket is TCU-Boise State.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State & Oakland basketball projected in 2024 NCAA tournament