The Harvard Crimson (12) have a chance to put a dagger in many people's NCAA Tournament brackets when they play the Michigan State Spartans (4).

Harvard had not seen a single ranked opponent all season going into their Thursday matchup against Cincinnati, but they took the Ivy League handily with a 13-1 conference record. Michigan State, on the other hand, is one of the best teams in the tournament and favored by many to at least reach the title game.

CLICK HERE to watch the game live.

Tom Izzo is not thrilled to be playing a 12-seed and would seemingly rather be scheduled to face Cincinnati after seeing the damage done by several other double-digit seeds.

"I was hoping for a forfeit, if I was to tell you the honest-to-God truth," Izzo told reporters, according to the Associated Press.

Michigan State had to battle injuries and illness all season, but have been at full strength since March 1. Since, they have had one of the deepest and most formidable lineups, but a rough stretch in the middle of their season was a big contributor to their fourth seed.

Harvard is in the NCAA Tournament for the third-straight year, but last year, they won their first tournament game in school history.

"We're getting better and better slowly, so obviously, the next step would be to win two games in the NCAA tournament," senior Brandyn Curry said, according to the AP. "That's what we're aiming to do. At least."

The winner of this game will go to New York to play either Virginia or Memphis. Harvard will try to punch their ticket with a hard-nosed man-to-man defense, which will certainly have to step up to stop the Spartan's dynamic duo of Gary Harris and Adreian Payne.

Harvard is certainly putting its basketball program on the map, but they will not be satisfied with simply being recognized. An upset win would satisfy both as well as gutting a majority of the nation's brackets.