Michigan State Basketball: ACC-Big Ten Challenge is personal for Joey Hauser

The Big Ten-ACC Challenge games have been announced and Michigan State basketball’s Virginia matchup is personal for Joey Hauser.

Guys, it’s basketball season — almost.

A couple of days before Michigan State lines ip for its second football game of the season against Michigan, the Big Ten-ACC Challenge has officially unveiled its 2020 matchups.

For Michigan State, it’s usually a matchup against one of the league’s best teams like North Carolina, Duke, Louisville or Notre Dame but this year it’s against college basketball’s most recent national champion: the Virginia Cavaliers.

For one Spartan, this matchup is personal.

OK, maybe for all of them it’s personal because they feel like they should of gotten this matchup for a national title in 2018-19 but Texas Tech cut those dreams short. The players who were on that team probably felt like they would have won that matchup and given Tom Izzo his first national title since 2000.

But you have to win the games in front of you to get there, so they have no one to blame but themselves.

But for Joey Hauser, this game has a little more meaning to it. Not only does he have a chance to prove himself as a starter for Michigan State and a serious pro prospect against one of the ACC’s best teams, but he gets to face off against his older brother Sam Hauser for the first time in their collegiate careers. They were teammates at Marquette a couple of years ago but both decided to transfer and split up.

Sam now plays for Virginia and Joey is a projected starter for Michigan State. This game couldn’t have a cooler storyline.

Michigan State has had some luck against the Cavaliers and Tony Bennett over the years, but will it take care of Virginia this season?