The Michigan State Spartans utterly dominated the Big Ten last season with, most importantly sweeping bitter rival, Michigan, winning by a combined margin of 30 points. They will go for another dominant year over the Wolverines, but both programs have their sights set on a Final Four.
Both teams were good enough to achieve such a feat last year, as both lost to Auburn in back-to-back rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The Spartans went a round further to the Elite Eight, and came just short of their 11th Final Four appearance in program history.
With ESPN tabbing Michigan as the No. 8 overall team in the country for the preseason rankings and Michigan State not cracking the Top 25 in the same ranking, a big question looms of which of the in-state rivals will have a better chance at reaching the national semifinal round of March Madness.
Delving into both rosters and considering a major injury that severely hurts the Spartans, it seems that the Wolverines will have the better chance to do it this year. They possess elite depth and experience, bringing in some of the top transfers from this past offseason.
The No. 1 transfer in the class was UAB Blazers senior transfer forward Yaxel Lendeborg. A guy that was widely projected to be a first-round selection in the recent NBA Draft decided to come back to school for one more year to help Michigan become a dominant team once again.
Lendeborg will share the post with sophomore center Morez Johnson, coming over from Illinois. He recently won Gold at the FIBA Under-19 World Cup for Team USA. He averaged 7.0 points and 6.7 assists last season and will be a driving force for the offense.
Not to mention, the Wolverines also earned the transfer of former UCLA center Aday Mara. The 7-3 big man from Zaragoza, Spain averaged 1.6 blocks per game last year and quickly became one of the top players for the Bruins down the stretch. It will be an extremely loaded post group.
When stacking that post group against the Spartans one-two punch of seniors Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper, the talent and projections certainly favor Michigan.
Not to say Kohler and Cooper are not extremely talented, but both of Michigan's big men will be drafted in the 2026 NBA Draft, something unlikely for the Spartan post players.
The Spartans also suffered a major loss in FAU transfer senior forward Kaleb Glenn. He was expected to be one of the top shooters for next year's team and give MSU a resurgence as a high-scoring team. He suffered a torn patellar tendon, a season-ending injury.
Both teams have size, experience and hunger to not only beat each other and win the Big Ten, but go all the way to the Final Four. MSU is always going to be a top contender due to head coach Tom Izzo's track record, but the current frontrunner is certainly the bitter rivals, the Wolverines.
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