Feb 4, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Jeremy Fears Jr. (1) handles the ball in the second half against the UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Preview: MSU's Battle vs. UCLA

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Jacob Cotsonika | Last updated Feb 17, 2026 6:24 AM ET

There is less than a month to go until the 68-team bracket gets revealed. It's already a lock that Michigan State will be one of those teams, but the Spartans have to position themselves better if they want to play more than one or two games in March Madness.

The Spartans, now ranked 15th in the country, have lost three of their last four games. MSU still sits fine at 20-5 overall and 10-4 during Big Ten play, but it's clear that it has not been playing its best basketball lately.

Next up for Michigan State is an interesting game against UCLA (17-8, 9-5). Both of these teams are entering off blowout losses. MSU lost by 21 at now-No. 24 Wisconsin, and the Bruins lost by 30 at now-top-ranked Michigan, though they were actually within two points at halftime.

The other big storyline is the return to East Lansing for Xavier Booker, who transferred from Michigan State to UCLA this past offseason. Here's how you can watch the Bruins' first trip to the Breslin Center since December 2004, and the program's first visit to East Lansing as members of the Big Ten:

TV Info

Tip-Off: 8:30 p.m. ET

TV Channel: NBC Sports Network

Streaming: Peacock

Peacock Prices w/ Live Sports: $10.99/month OR $109.99/year

Announcers: John Fanta (play-by-play); Jess Settles (analyst)

Radio Info - Spartan Media Network

Lansing: WMMQ (94.9 FM), WJIM (1240 AM)

Detroit: WJR (760 AM)

Grand Rapids: WBFX (101.3 FM)

Other radio stations from around the state of Michigan can be found RIGHT HERE.

Announcers: Will Tieman (play-by-play); Matt Steigenga (color analyst); Zach Surdenik (host)

More on the Bruins

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This matchup last year was a pretty tight game that got away from Michigan State. The biggest difference ended up being MSU's 16 turnovers to UCLA's three, and it still required a bucket by Eric Dailey Jr. (who is averaging 11.0 points per game this season) in the final seconds to lift the Bruins to a two-point victory.

That UCLA team ended up receiving a 7 seed in March and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. This year's Bruins squad is currently projected to be in the 68-team field on all 102 brackets on "The Bracket Matrix," as of Monday evening, but with an average seeding of 10.64. Basically, UCLA still needs some more victories to ensure that it hears its name called on Selection Sunday. It knows that a win at the Breslin Center against MSU, with an average seeding of 3.56, would do wonders for its hopes.