Michigan State basketball will face off against Pierre Brooks in Gavitt Games

Michigan State basketball fans still have a long time to wait for the return of their favorite sport. The college hoops season just ended in April with UConn winning yet another national title and now we have to wait another six, or so, months for it to return.

But that doesn’t mean the news surrounding college basketball is non-existent.

In fact, on Monday afternoon, the matchups for the 2023 Gavitt Games, which pins the Big Ten against the Big East, were announced.

And two familiar faces will be back in East Lansing, facing off against Tom Izzo and Michigan State.

Michigan State drew a home game against Butler which means Izzo will be facing his former player, Pierre Brooks, along with former Ohio State head coach Thad Matta.

The matchup is interesting given the fact that the Spartans are likely to be favorites to win the Big Ten this year, but it’ll be cool to see Pierre in a Butler uniform, trying to upset his former teammates in a non-conference battle. Fans will be rooting for him to do well but maybe not in this game.

Michigan State basketball should’ve gotten a bigger draw

It would have been nice to see Michigan State draw a team like Marquette which has been considered a clear top-five squad heading into 2023-24. Even matchups against Xavier, Creighton, or Villanova would have been fun.

Instead, the Spartans will be facing a Butler program that went 14-18 in Matta’s first year and will probably be on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble in 2023-24.

Either way, it’ll be cool to see some familiar faces in this non-conference battle.