Tom Izzo’s highly touted Michigan State basketball team knows who it will play early in the 2023-24 season.
Not surprisingly, it is another tough nonconference slate for the Spartans, who are coming off a Sweet 16 appearance and projected to be among the top five teams or higher in most preseason rankings.
MSU opens with a pair of exhibition games, first against Division II Hillsdale on Oct. 25 and then against Tennessee on Oct. 29. The season opens with back-to-back games at Breslin Center against James Madison on Nov. 6 and Southern Indiana on Nov. 9 before the first big test – a Nov. 14 matchup against Duke at the Champions Classic in Chicago.
That is the first of a key stretch that includes a Nov. 17 home date with Butler in the Gavitt Games and a Thanksgiving Day matchup against Arizona in the Acrisure Classic on Nov. 23 in Palm Desert, California. The Spartans also host Alcorn State on Nov. 19 as part of the Acrisure Classic.
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MSU is still awaiting its Big Ten schedule, but non-conference play resumes in December with a Dec. 16 visit from Baylor to Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. The Spartans wrap up nonleague play Dec. 22 against Oakland and either Dec. 29 or 30 against Indiana State, both at Breslin.
Izzo enters his 29th season coming off a 21-13 finish in 2022-23 and his 15th Sweet 16 in a Division I-record 25 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.
Here is MSU’s complete nonconference schedule:
Oct. 25 (exhibition) Hillsdale
Oct. 29 (exhibition) Tennessee
Nov. 6 James Madison
Nov. 9 Southern Indiana
Nov. 14 (Champions Classic) Duke at United Center in Chicago (TBD/ESPN)
Nov. 17 (Gavitt Games) Butler
Nov. 19 (Acrisure Classic) Alcorn State
Nov. 23 (Acrisure Classic) Arizona at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California (4:30 p.m./Fox)
Nov. 28 Georgia Southern
Dec. 16 Baylor at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit
Dec. 22 Oakland
Dec. 29/30 Indiana State
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball’s non-conference schedule: Duke and Baylor
