Michigan State Basketball: Game-by-game predictions for 2020-21 season

The 2020-21 Michigan State basketball season is upon us and it’s time to break down the Spartans’ schedule. How will this team fare?

Folks, it’s basketball season. Forget the slow start the football team got off to, Michigan State basketball returns on Wednesday, hosting Eastern Michigan in the opener.

The schedule has been set and there are seven non-conference games separating the Spartans from the start of Big Ten play and their quest to win a fourth straight regular season conference title. That non-conference slate won’t be a cakewalk, though, as the Spartans will see Notre Dame at home and then travel to Duke and Virginia.

A couple of top-10 non-conference matchups will set the team up nicely in league play as they’ll be battle-tested. This is good for a young team to take some early lumps.

Tom Izzo is recovered from COVID-19 after testing positive a few weeks ago and the team is ready to tip things off. It’s been a longer wait than usual because of the pandemic, but it’ll be nice to see the Spartans get back on the court after having their 2019-20 season cut short before the NCAA Tournament because of the virus.

The team felt a bit cheated because they were playing their best basketball of the season at the perfect time and Cassius Winston and Xavier Tillman didn’t get one last shot at a Final Four push.

How will the young Spartans fare in 2020-21? Let’s get into some game-by-game predictions.