For the second straight season, Duke men's basketball was rewarded the top-overall seed in the Men's NCAA Tournament.

The NCAA selection committee did not do the Blue Devils — who open March Madness on March 19 against 16-seed Siena — any favors with the teams they included in the East Region. The Blue Devils were paired with national championship contenders Connecticut and Michigan State and Big East champion St. John's, which is coached by Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino. There's also Kansas, which Duke beat in the Champions Classic, in the region.

Former Blue Devil and ESPN basketball analyst Jay Bilas pointed to the Spartans as the team that could provide some difficulty to Duke's path to the Final Four.

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"I think Duke makes it to the second weekend but they don't have the easiest of draws. St. John's is in their way. And Michigan State is in there way down at the bottom of that draw in their way," Bilas said on ESPN's post-NCAA Tournament bracket reveal show. "I think Michigan State's one of the most interesting seeded threes.

"... In my view, they're the most likely three seed to make a Final Four."

Michigan State earned a top-three seed in the NCAA Tournament for the 11th time under Tom Izzo on Sunday. The Spartans have one of the top point guards in the country in Jeremy Fears Jr., and a defense that is known to wear down opponents with the amount of attention they create inside the paint and around the rim.

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The earliest the Blue Devils could meet up with the Spartans is the Elite Eight on Sunday, March 29. To get there, Duke would have to beat Siena and either 8-seed Ohio State or 9-seed TCU in Greenville on the first weekend, and then any of 4-seed Kansas, 5-seed St. John's, 12-seed Northern Iowa and 13-seed Cal Baptist.

The Spartans have a tough path themselves to the Elite Eight. Izzo's squad would have to beat 14-seed North Dakota State in the first round, and then either 6-seed Louisville or 11-seed South Florida in the second round. Then they'd have to beat any of the likes of 2-seed UConn, 7-seed UCLA, 10-seed Central Florida and 15-seed Furman in the Sweet 16.

If Duke and Michigan State do meet up at Capital One Arena in The Nation's Capital in two weekends from now, it'd be a rematch of a non-conference meeting from December in East Lansing. Behind 18- and 12 points from Cameron Boozer and Caleb Foster, respectively, the Blue Devils were unable to earn one of their XXX Quad 1 wins of the season.

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Foster's availability for the NCAA Tournament, of course, is up in the air as Jon Scheyer said his guard is out for the 'foreseeable time' with a foot fracture before the ACC tournament.

Duke and Michigan State do have some recent history in the NCAA Tournament against each other. The Spartans upset the 1-seeded Blue Devils and Zion Williamson 68-67 in the Elite Eight of the 2019 NCAA Tournament thanks to a go-ahead 3-pointer from Kenny Goins. Duke then repaid the favor in the 2022 NCAA Tournament to send Michigan State home after the second round.

The Blue Devils are 14-4 in 18 meetings in the NCAA Tournament against the Spartans.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jay Bilas says Michigan State 'most likely' three seed to make Final Four