MSU Hoops to Play Blue Blood in Exhibition Game

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Aidan Champion | Last updated Jul 24, 2025 1:28 PM ET

One thing is certain about next season's Michigan State basketball squad: it's going to be ready for Big Ten play.

The program announced on Thursday that it will face UConn in an exhibition game on Oct. 28 as part of a home-and-home series. The two teams will play again in an exhibition contest at the Breslin Center in 2026.

UConn comes off a 24-11 season that concluded with a second-round exit in the NCAA Tournament. That, of course, followed back-to-back national titles.

The Huskies are expected to be back as one of the top teams in the nation next season, returning three of their top four leading scorers from last season, while also bringing in one of the top recruiting classes in the nation, headlined by five-star guard Darius Adams, who Michigan State had been in the running for, and five-star guard Braylon Mullins. They also added Silas Demary Jr., who transferred over from Georgia and was one of the top guards in the portal this offseason.

Michigan State and UConn last met in the 2021 Battle 4 Atlantis when the Spartans narrowly defeated the Huskies, 64-60.

The two teams have faced off eight times in the regular season and twice in the NCAA Tournament. Their last meeting in The Big Dance was when the No. 7-seeded Huskies knocked off the Spartans in the 2014 Elite Eight and before eventually winning the national title. They also met in the 2009 Final Four when Michigan State prevailed to move on to the national title game, where it lost to North Carolina.

Michigan State and UConn first met in the 1998-99 season, which resulted in a home win for the Huskies, who would eventually win the national championship. It was the first of a home-and-home meeting, and ironically, the Spartans would win the next one in East Lansing and also win the national championship that season.

The Spartans already have a stacked non-conference schedule that includes Kentucky, North Carolina, Arkansas and Duke. The Spartans will have already seen some of the best there is before the turn of the calendar year when they face a gauntlet of a Big Ten schedule.

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