Michigan State Basketball: Game-by-game predictions for November 2021

Michigan State basketball is back, folks. On Tuesday night at around 7 p.m. ET, the Spartans will take on No. 3 Kansas in the Champions Classic to start the year.

In the midst of an exciting football season, this almost takes a back seat, but this Champions Classic matchup should be on everyone’s minds.

The Kansas game actually tips off a really exciting month of November that could feature matchups against 2-3 ranked opponents.

How will Michigan State fare in November?

In my bold predictions for the 2021-22 season, I’m likely going to predict a Michigan State win over Kansas in the Champions Classic, so I have to be a man of my word and stick to it.

Kansas is going to be a national title contender this season and there’s a good reason the Jayhawks are ranked No. 3 to start the year. But this is a perfect opportunity for Tom Izzo’s team to make a statement and prove to everyone that being unranked to start the year was a huge mistake. Michigan State plays its best as an underdog.

The Jayhawks just suspended Jalen Wilson for the first four games and he was expected to be one of the team’s top players.

Kansas does have a solid recruiting class coming in as well as transfers Remy Martin (Arizona State) and Jalen Coleman-Lands (Iowa State). But I think Michigan State is going to surprise the Jayhawks and get out and run early and often.

I’m expecting a big two-way game from Tyson Walker here.

Final Score: Michigan State 70, Kansas 68 (1-0)