The path to a Big Ten championship is set and will require Michigan State basketball to get through the defending national champs, with the hope that ultimately leads Tom Izzo back to Detroit and another Final Four.
The conference released its 2026-27 schedule Wednesday, Sept. 16. And Spartans know they will face Michigan twice, first in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Feb. 13 and then later in East Lansing on Friday, Feb. 26.
Izzo, who owns 11 regular season conference championships, will be looking to break a tie with Bob Knight and Ward “Piggy” Lambert for the most in Big Ten history. MSU won the Big Ten most recently in 2025 en route to an Elite Eight appearance.
The Spartans went 27-8 overall last season and made the Sweet 16 for third time in the past
four years, finishing at 15-5 and in a three-way tie for second in Big Ten play after winning the league title the previous year. The postseason league tournament returns to Indianapolis from March 9–14.
The Wolverines and former coach Dusty May swept MSU last winter, 83-71 at Breslin Center and 90-80 at Crisler Center. U-M ran away with the Big Ten title and captured its first national title since 1989 in April.
Entering his 32nd season as the Spartans’ head coach, Izzo is looking for his second national title to go with the one he won in 2000 and trying to get to his first Final Four since 2019, which was his eighth. MSU also is the host school for the 2027 Final Four at Ford Field on April 3 and 5.
Along with playing defending Big Ten champ Michigan in the annual rivalry two-play, MSU will face Maryland and Nebraska both at Breslin Center and on the road.
The Spartans’ home one-play opponents will be Minnesota, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, Washington and Wisconsin. Their road-only games will be at Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio State, UCLA and USC.
The games at USC and UCLA mark the second Los Angeles trip in three years since the Big Ten expanded to 18 teams in 2024-25. The Spartans will welcome Washington and Oregon after traveling to the Pacific Northwest last season.
Michigan State basketball 2026-27 schedule
Here is a look at MSU’s schedule so far, with tip times TBD and a handful of nonconference dates still in the process of being finalized (*Big Ten games).
Oct. 20: Connecticut (exhibition)
Oct. 25: At Marquette (exhibition)
Nov. 2: Quinnipiac
Nov. 5: Toledo
Nov. 10: Duke at Champions Classic, Chicago
Nov. 17: At Tennessee
Nov. 21: Detroit Mercy
Nov. 26: Arkansas at Little Caesars Arena, Detroit
Dec. 2: Minnesota
Dec. 13: at Maryland
Dec. 19: Gonzaga at Acrisure Series, Palm Desert, California
Dec. 22: Oakland
Dec. 29: Penn
Jan. 2: at Nebraska
Jan. 5: Washington
Jan. 9: at UCLA
Jan. 12: at USC
Jan. 16: Oregon
Jan. 23: at Ohio State
Jan. 26: Penn State
Jan. 30: Purdue
Feb. 2: Maryland
Feb. 5: at Illinois
Feb. 10: Rutgers
Feb. 13: at Michigan
Feb. 16: at Iowa
Feb. 20: Nebraska
Feb. 23: at Indiana
Feb. 26: Michigan
March 2: at Northwestern
March 6: Wisconsin
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball learns 2026-27 Big Ten schedule
