Tom Izzo now knows the road ahead for Michigan State basketball to get back to the Final Four − or at least who the Spartans will face in home and road Big Ten games in 2026-27, with the Final Four in Detroit awaiting afterward.
The conference announced its slate of opponents for next season on Tuesday, May 12, with the full Big Ten slate of dates typically released in mid-September.
MSU will play defending Big Ten champ Michigan in the annual rivalry two-play, along with facing 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.
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.
The Spartans went 27-8 overall and made the Sweet 16 for the second straight season in 2025-26 and the 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.
MSU is the host school for the Final Four at Ford Field on April 3 and 5, 2027. Izzo has taken his program to eight over his 31 seasons, including finishing as runner up to North Carolina in 2009 in Detroit. The Spartans are likely to face Tennessee, Gonzaga and Arkansas during another arduous nonconference schedule, but a source told the Free Press those deals and dates are not yet finalized. MSU-Arkansas is expected to meet Nov. 26 at Little Caesars Arena. MSU also will face Duke in the Champions Classic on Nov. 10 at United Center in Chicago.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Here’s who Michigan State basketball will face in 2026-27 Big Ten play
Reporting by Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
