A couple of exhibition losses have turned some Michigan State basketball fans off to the idea of Tom Izzo’s second national title happening this year, but hopefully all the overreactions are out of the way because the Spartans have some games to win.
The season starts on Monday and Izzo has a good idea of where his team stands and what it needs to work on in the early stages of 2026-27.
The Spartans are ranked No. 6 in the preseason AP Top 25 and although they did lose to UConn and Marquette, they’re going to be just fine and still be contenders for the national title.
And here’s why.
Michigan State got the ugly out of the system early
We usually have to wait until February to see the ugliest side of Michigan State basketball every year, but the Spartans got that out of the system much earlier this year.
Michigan State’s mid-season slump may have been expedited thanks to a brutal exhibition slate, but Izzo knew exactly what he was doing. He scheduled tough early so he can shape and mold his team before Big Ten play begins. Izzo is a Hall of Fame coach for a reason and he knows just how good these two exhibition losses are going to be for the Spartans.
Look at a team like 2025-26 Michigan which looked really sluggish early on and even lost an exhibition game at home to Cincinnati. That team went on to win a national title.
Rough waters make better sailors.
Several scoring options have stepped up
While the team didn’t shoot well overall against UConn or Marquette, they did feature several scoring options which will be necessary if the Spartans are serious about a Final Four.
Some of the past few teams didn’t have an alpha go-to scorer early on but we saw Jase Richardson step up a couple of years ago and then Jeremy Fears became that last season. Now there are at least two more players to add to that go-to mix as Jordan Scott and Jasiah Jervis both look like they could drop 20 points on any given night.
Those two aren’t the only ones who’ve shown an ability to score in bunches though. Jesse McCulloch, Coen Carr, and — once his shot starts to fall — Carlos Medlock Jr. have all shown positive signs on the offensive end of the floor.
Squeeze a little more out of Cam Ward, Anton Bonke, Kaleb Glenn, Ethan Taylor, and Kur Teng and Izzo has one of the best offenses in the country.
Jeremy Fears
That’s right, sometimes it’s that easy. When you have the best point guard in America leading a team of veterans mixed with an elite freshman class, you’ll always have a legitimate shot to win the national title.
Fears is the best point guard in college basketball and Izzo believes that he might just be Mateen Cleaves 2.0. If that’s true, he’s going to be plenty good enough to lead Michigan State to the promised land. He can’t rely on getting fouled every game, though, and he became just slightly too reliant on it in two preseason games, but he was getting hacked, to be fair. I’d like to see him work on his three a little more. MSU will need that from him.
If he lives up to his potential, Michigan State is going to be a top three team in college basketball this season. When he’s at his best, the team plays well. He makes his teammates better — the true sign of a great player.
As long as Fears stays healthy, MSU will have a shot.
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