Tom Izzo faces a daunting gauntlet featuring a rapid-fire Michigan rivalry and grueling West Coast double-header as the Spartans navigate college basketball’s most intimidating road slate.
Michigan State’s 2026-27 schedule is all but wrapped up. There may still be one more non-conference game to announce, but the part that matters most is locked in: where and when the Spartans will face their Big Ten foes.
The in-state rivalry is coming at an unusual speed this year. Michigan State and Michigan will play twice in 13 days. The Spartans travel to Ann Arbor on Feb. 13, then host the Wolverines in East Lansing on Feb. 26.
The early-January West Coast trip is another piece that jumps off the page. Michigan State goes to UCLA on Jan. 9 and USC on Jan. 12 — just the fifth and sixth conference games of the season. Get that one out of the way early and move on.
The Spartans are going to have to be road warriors. The average rank of their road opponents sits around 29. The average rank of the teams they see at home is closer to 50. Four of their first six Big Ten games are on the road.
On the road, Michigan State will see Ohio State, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, UCLA, USC and Iowa, along with Maryland, Nebraska and Northwestern. At home, Nebraska, Michigan, Penn State and Oregon headline a Breslin slate that also includes Minnesota, Washington, Purdue, Maryland, Rutgers and Wisconsin.
Tom Izzo already built a non-conference schedule that would take most programs out. For Michigan State, that is just another year at the office. They go from a non-conference gauntlet straight into a Big Ten gauntlet, all in hopes of making the NCAA Tournament gauntlet that much easier.
With one of the top rosters in college basketball, anything less than Final Four expectations would be a surprise. Jeremy Fears Jr. is being touted by more than a few talking heads as the best player in the country. Coen Carr is being called the best dunker in college basketball. This team should not have excuses for falling short.
If they were going to find one, it would be those road games in the Big Ten. That is more than a gauntlet. It is a hot-coal walk where you have to stand in the middle for a minute.
It is brutal.
One guy knows a thing or two about brutal schedules, and he seems to come out of them unscathed every time. That guy is Tom Izzo.
Michigan State Big Ten Schedule
Dec. 2 — Minnesota
Dec. 9 — at Maryland
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
Tip times and TV assignments have not been announced.
