Michigan State basketball fans have a lot to be excited about for the upcoming season. The Spartans have added a couple of impact transfers (hopefully one more on the way) and they're also bringing in one of the best recruiting classes in the Big Ten to supplement a team that made the Elite Eight and won a Big Ten title by three games last year.
Now, there's yet another reason to be excited.
According to Jon Rothstein, Michigan State is going to host Duke for a return game from the 2020 Champions Classic that was played in Durham (which the Spartans ended up winning).
This game will take place in December and it gives Michigan State a locked-in non-conference game outside of the Champions Classic. The Spartans will also play Kentucky in non-conference play as part of the Champions Classic where Duke will take on Kansas. A non-conference slate with Duke and Kentucky should have this team more than ready for Big Ten play.
Duke was one of the best teams in the country this past season with Cooper Flagg leading the way and they made the Final Four before losing to Houston thanks to an epic collapse.
Flagg will be gone but Duke will just replace him with another top recruiting class and some quality transfers. Jon Scheyer has this program cooking much like Coach K did before him. This rivalry has been one-sided for a while, but getting home-court advantage should help this time around.
A home game against Duke in December is going to have East Lansing buzzing.