Michigan State’s 2026-27 schedule isn’t going to do Tom Izzo many favors. He’s planning arguably the toughest non-conference schedule in his career and the Big Ten is also expected to be loaded once again.
That’s not exactly going to make his quest for No. 2 any easier.
The Spartans will bring back a loaded roster and a top-five recruiting class comes in, making for one of the most complete teams that he’s had in years. He’s going to be legitimately 10-11 players deep and it’s going to be tough to find minutes for a lot of these talented guys.
One thing is for certain, however: he needs to establish a solid rotation by Big Ten play. The conference is going to be loaded at the top again and now we know the Spartans’ schedule.
Although dates and times have yet to be released, Michigan State learned its home and road opponents for the 2026-27 Big Ten season and it’s safe to say that the road slate is actually not that bad.
26-27 B1G Opponents are SET 📆 pic.twitter.com/lXXfOwCKTC
— Michigan State Men's Basketball (@MSU_Basketball) May 12, 2026
Michigan State will go to Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Northwestern, Ohio State, UCLA, USC, Maryland, Michigan, and Nebraska next season. There are obviously really tough ones like Illinois, Iowa, UCLA, Michigan, and Nebraska, but if the Spartans can split the difficult ones and win all of the ones that they’re expected to win, they will be in the driver’s seat.
Outside of Illinois and Michigan, I think the Spartans should be favored in the rest of those road games.
What I did notice, however, is the fact that Michigan State gets to avoid a massive road hurdle that has plagued the program for years — excluding the 2025-26 season.
Michigan State gets to avoid Mackey Arena
The hurdle that is Mackey Arena had plagued Michigan State for over a decade before the Spartans went into West Lafayette this past season and left with a huge win.
Still, that’s a venue that every Spartan fan is thrilled to avoid. Not one single Michigan State fan would have wanted the Spartans to draw a road game against Purdue, but luckily they will avoid it. Not only will Michigan State avoid going to Purdue, but it’ll also avoid Wisconsin, Rutgers, and Minnesota — none of those three were very kind to the Spartans in 2025-26.
Izzo can’t be too upset with this Big Ten slate because outside of UCLA and USC, he’s won at all of these road venues in recent years. He’s not afraid of any of these places.
Michigan State fans feel pretty good about this home-and-away draw for 2026-27.
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