March Madness 2025: When Michigan and Michigan State play

(FOX 2) - Another year, another season of success for both Michigan universities from the Big Ten.

Both finished at the top of the conference, with the Spartans winning the conference title and the Wolverines winning the conference tournament. 

What's next:

It would take a lot, but both the University of Michigan and Michigan State University could find themselves playing each other this March Madness.

But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, both schools will need to beat their side of the bracket before facing one another.

Both the Spartans and the Wolverines were placed in the South division, with MSU earning the second seed and UM the fifth seed.

Michigan will take on the Tritons of UC San Diego while MSU will play the Bryant Bulldogs. 

Timeline:

Michigan owns the late slot on Thursday, playing UC San Diego at 10 p.m. on March 20.

Then on March 21, MSU will also play at 10 p.m.

Both games will air on TBS.

Dig deeper:

Opening round games come with some predictability as some of the best teams face off against more mediocre competition, but as anyone who has watched the NCAA tournament knows - that's when things can get dangerous.

And the Wolverines find themselves in one of the more dangerous seeding scenarios. 

According to the NCAA, 12 seeds have a 35% win record, which amounts to 55 upsets going back to 1985. Last year, two No. 12 seeds won.

But Michigan is also hitting its stride after winning the Big Ten conference tournament, which included a last-second shot to beat Maryland in the semi-finals.

While MSU scored a favorable matchup, Spartan fans won't have forgotten their early exit from the tournament in 2016 after they were shocked by No. 15-seeded Middle Tennessee.