The month of November has been special for this 2025-26 Michigan State basketball team.
The Spartans are 7-0 on the season, and no one expected them to go through Arkansas, Kentucky, and North Carolina unscathed, but the Tom Izzo effect is real. The Hall of Fame head coach has led his team to its best start since the 2015-16 season. We won’t talk about what happened in the postseason that year, but that regular-season team was special enough to earn a 2-seed.
We’ll see if this team has that same success in the regular season, but the Spartans are off to a great start, beating three ranked teams in the month of November.
That’s actually a program record.
In fact, Michigan State has broken the program record for ranked wins in the month of November and it’s also the most ranked regular season non-conference wins since 2007-08, according to Big Ten expert Ben Stevens.
Michigan State’s win vs No. 16 UNC is the Spartans third (3rd!) against a ranked opponent so far this season.
— Ben Stevens (@BenScottStevens) November 27, 2025
That’s the MOST ranked wins for MSU in the month of November in program history.
It’s also the MOST ranked reg. season non-con wins since 2007-08.
Strong start. pic.twitter.com/Xy6Iu7WEaa
The Spartans are 3-0 against Top 25 teams already this season after beating North Carolina on Thursday evening, and they have another chance to record a ranked win next Saturday against a top-five Duke team that many believe is the best teams in the ACC. There’s a good chance that Duke is the best team in the country, but Michigan, Purdue, Arizona, Michigan State, and UConn are also making a case for that distinction.
Michigan State fans are feeling a little nostalgic this season as the Spartans are looking like a vintage Izzo team. They are playing tough, hard-nosed team which is elite at rebounding and defense, but if they can find a consistent offense, they could be Final Four good — if they aren’t already.
Izzo has to be thrilled with the development of his guys from Carson Cooper to Jeremy Fears Jr. There’s a legitimate case to be made about Cooper being his most-developed player ever while Fears is turning into his “next Mateen Cleaves”, as Izzo said himself. That’s some high praise for the sophomore, but it looks like he’s taken a major step this season.
If Michigan State can beat Iowa on Tuesday and then Duke next Saturday, there’s a legitimate chance that the Big Ten has the top three teams in the country heading into conference play.