East Lansing — Add another heavy hitter to Michigan State men’s basketball’s schedule this coming season.
Michigan State will play Tennessee in Knoxville during the 2026-27 season, Volunteers coach Rick Barnes told The Tennessean’s Gentry Estes, and a Michigan State spokesperson confirmed Wednesday. Details of the arrangement are being finalized.
The game will be Michigan State’s first appearance at Tennessee with Tom Izzo as head coach. The last came Dec. 21, 1993, with Jud Heathcote as head coach and Izzo as an assistant. Michigan State won that game 69-60 and owns a 5-2 all-time record against the Volunteers with the last official meeting a 70-69 win in the Elite Eight of the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
Tom Izzo is 6-4 all-time against Rick Barnes, 1-0 since Barnes joined Tennessee and 5-4 when Barnes coached Texas. MSU and Texas faced off seven times in the eight seasons between 2006-07 and 2013-14, and Michigan State won five of those meetings.
The teams played a charity exhibition Oct. 29, 2023, at Breslin Center, that raised money to support victims of the Maui wildfires that summer. Tennessee won that meeting, 89-88.
Fresh off an Elite Eight appearance in which it lost to eventual national champion Michigan in Chicago, Tennessee went 25-12 to finish fourth in the SEC. Rick Barnes, the 2019 Naismith Coach of the Year, is 257–121 (.680) in 11 seasons leading the Volunteers with four straight Sweet 16s and three straight runs to the Elite Eight.
Barnes is 861-435 (.664) all-time including a 402–180 record in 17 seasons at Texas before he joined Tennessee in 2015. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo is 764-310 (.711) in 31 seasons leading Michigan State, including a 27-8 record last season that ended at the hands of national championship runner-up UConn in the Sweet 16 in Washington, D.C.
Duke, Arkansas and Gonzaga are also on Michigan State’s schedule in 2026-27. The Spartans will see the Blue Devils at Chicago’s United Center for the Champion’s Classic on Nov. 10 and the Razorbacks at Little Caesars Arena on Thanksgiving. Gonzaga and MSU will also play at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif., with the game expected to take place Dec. 19.
Arkansas’ John Calipari (905 wins), Tennessee’s Barnes (861), Gonzaga’s Mark Few (773) and Michigan State’s Izzo (764) rank second, third, fifth and sixth among active coaches in career wins. St. John’s Rick Pitino leads all active coaches with 915 career wins. All are among the top 20 winningest coaches all-time.
cearegood@detroitnews.com
@ConnorEaregood
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan State basketball to play at Tennessee in 2026-27 schedule
Reporting by Connor Earegood, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
