Michigan State basketball is opening the season ranked in the top 10 of a notable poll.
The official preseason KenPom rankings have been released, and Michigan State is near the top of the list. The Spartans came in at No. 7 in the country, which is second among Big Ten teams. Only Illinois was ahead of the Spartans at No. 4 in the preseason KenPom poll.
You can see a quick screenshot of the top 60 teams in the preseason rankings:
Preseason KenPom rankings are live. Here's the top 60.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) October 11, 2026
Duke is No. 1—not Florida.
Iowa State is 6!
TTU is 12, presumably under the notion all the 5-for-5 guys are eligible.
Reigning champs Michigan at 28.
Highest-ranked mid-majors: Grand Canyon (44), Utah St (51), SLU (54). pic.twitter.com/v9TAAbVfEO
The KenPom rankings
are an advanced, analytics-driven rating system for NCAA Division I men’s college basketball. The KenPom rankings are considered one of the best analytics rankings in all of college basketball and often referenced when analyzing teams.
The preseason Associated Press (AP) poll should be coming out soon, which should have the Spartans in the top 10 as well. Michigan State comes into this year with extremely high expectations and considered a true national championship contender.
The Spartans will open the 2026-27 season on November 6 against Quinnipiac. They will play a pair of exhibition games prior to that against UConn and Marquette as well.
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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Michigan State basketball listed near top of preseason KenPom rankings
