Where an early bracket has Michigan State — and Michigan? — in the 2025 NCAA Tournament

The Michigan men's basketball program looks a lot different than it did six weeks ago.

The Wolverines, coming off a season considered among their worst ever, have a new head coach and a revamped roster that includes six additions via the transfer portal, the most recent a 7-foot-1 center in former Florida Atlantic star Vladislav Goldin.

Despite appearances of nearly starting from scratch, it could be a quick turnaround for new coach Dusty May, at least according to the latest bracketology projections from ESPN's Joe Lunardi, released Thursday.

Lunardi, who is updating his bracket monthly, given the constantly shifting landscape fueled by the transfer portal, has Michigan among a host of new teams to his May bracket for the 2025 NCAA Tournament, installing the Wolverines as a No. 7 seed South, where it would face another big-name program under new leadership, in No. 10 seed Arkansas, helmed by John Calipari.

For Michigan, that would mark a significant leap from last season's 8-24 disaster that led to the firing of head coach Juwan Howard.

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Michigan State, which received a boost of its own from the transfer portal with the addition of wing Frankie Fidler, also is in Lunardi's bracket as a No. 5 seed in the East, facing No. 12 seed McNeese State, which Lunardi projects as an automatic qualifier out of the Southland Conference.

The Spartans will be seeking their 27th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament after a 20-15 season in 2023-24 in which they reached the tournament's second round.