Michigan State Boasts Third-Toughest Non-Conference Schedule

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Tom Izzo has once again put together a fiery non-conference schedule filled with blue bloods, national contenders and top-tier mid-major programs.

The goal is simple — prepare Michigan State for another gauntlet of a Big Ten schedule and, ultimately, an NCAA Tournament run that could end in Detroit.

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This year, Izzo may have outdone himself.

The Spartans will face teams such as Duke, Arkansas, Tennessee and Gonzaga, while also taking on smaller programs that have been dominating their respective conferences in recent years, including Drake, Merrimack, Penn and Quinnipiac.

And that doesn’t even include two other major opponents Michigan State will face in exhibition play: UConn and Marquette.

The schedule has become so challenging that one of college basketball’s leading analysts, Andy Katz, has Michigan State ranked as having the third-toughest non-conference schedule in the country.

In fact, of the six teams Katz has ranked as having the toughest non-conference schedules, Michigan State will face five of them.

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Michigan State’s Non-Conference Gauntlet

Coming in at No. 1 is UConn, the lone team in Katz’s top five that Michigan State will only face in exhibition competition.

The Huskies, who finished as the national runner-up last season, have also put together a brutal schedule before the NCAA Tournament even begins.

At No. 2 is Duke, a team the Spartans will face on November 10 in Chicago.

Duke defeated Michigan State last season and would have been the Spartans’ next opponent in the NCAA Tournament had Michigan State been able to get past UConn.

Then comes Michigan State at No. 3.

At No. 4 is the second Big Ten team on the list, the Illinois Fighting Illini. Michigan State will travel to Illinois on February 5.

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Last season, the Spartans shocked the Fighting Illini at the Breslin Center. Illinois returns a tremendous roster featuring plenty of size, although the Illini did lose freshman phenom Keaton…

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Publish date : 2026-09-18 22:14:00

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