Michigan State basketball: Full 2023-24 non-conference schedule announced

Exhibition fun

The beginning of every season always sees us start out with one or two exhibition games. Usually this is just a fun introduction to the season, but this year is much different. The Spartans first exhibition game is against Hillsdale on Oct. 25.

The second exhibition game on Oct. 29 is against Tennessee at the Breslin Center. Yes, you read that correctly. Michigan State will face off against Tennessee in a charity exhibition game to benefit those suffering from the Hawaii fires. Exhibition games of this caliber never happen, so of course Tom Izzo would be the one coach to get it scheduled, especially for a good cause. Good on both Michigan State and Tennessee to set this up.

Champions Classic

This year, we will get a few tune-up games before the annual Champions Classic. On Nov. 6 and Nov. 9, the Spartans will welcome James Madison and Southern Indiana, respectively, to East Lansing. Not much to say here other than it should be two wins and give our team some needed live action to prepare for the first big game of the season.

Duke is this year’s Champions Classic opponent. The event will take place in Chicago on Nov. 14 and will once again be at the center of the college basketball world. Both teams will likely be top five in the country and will put on a show for the entire country to witness. Can Michigan State basketball beat Duke in their first matchup since Coach K’s retirement?

The fun doesn’t stop there

Just three days after Duke, MSU welcomes another Power Six opponent in Butler to East Lansing. This year’s Gavitt Games matchup has an interesting storyline to it. Former Spartan Pierre Brooks transferred to Butler this offseason, so it will be awesome to welcome him back to East Lansing.

After Butler, the Spartans have a quick turnaround against another easier opponent in Alcorn State on Nov. 19. After that, the Spartans will head to California to face off against Arizona on a neutral court. Arizona will likely be ranked this season and will be another great test for our squad. On paper, this could be a pro-Arizona crowd, but Spartan Nation is everywhere and I expect to see a lot of green and white on Thanksgiving at this game.

We play one more game before a long break from non-conference play on Nov. 28 as Georgia Southern comes to town. They have been a regular in the NCAA Tournament in past years, so this will be no easy game. The last marquee non-conference matchup is on Dec. 16 as Michigan State takes on Baylor in Detroit. The 2021 national champs will be very good again this season and will provide  another tough test for our group. I am hoping this will feel like a home game because a rowdy atmosphere could be the difference in this game.

Cooldown before conference play

Michigan State will have three more games at home before Big Ten play fully begins. Oakland is the first opponent on Dec. 18. We need to be careful in this matchup as Oakland always plays us tough. This is also only two days after the Baylor game, so our guys may still be a little tired from that one. This game has “let down potential” written all over it.

The non-conference schedule concludes with Stony Brook on Dec. 21 and Indiana State either on Dec. 29 or Dec. 30. This will be the first meeting with Indiana State since the magical (pun intended) 1979 National Championship game.

Two things to note with this schedule. The first being that we will not have a true road game against a non-conference opponent this season. This will be the first time that’s occurred since the 2017-18 season. Secondly, we likely will play one or two Big Ten games between the Georgia Southern and Baylor games. As of now there’s a 21-day gap between these games with some of that being for finals week. But the Big Ten always plays a game or two in the beginning of December, so we likely will have some more action slotted in there.

As is customary of a Tom Izzo-coached team, we will be greatly tested in non-conference play. It makes the season way more exciting and always has us prepared come March. I can’t wait.