We are officially two days away from the start of football season in East Lansing, and that's one of Tom Izzo's favorite times of the year. But the Michigan State basketball coach just added more work to his plate.
Earlier this offseason, it was announced that Michigan State would play Arkansas in non-conference play this season. The game would be played in East Lansing and Izzo joked that he was surprised John Calipari agreed to it because he doesn't like to play away games in non-conference play.
Nothing was announced as a potential home-and-home series, however, until Wednesday.
Stephen Brooks of 247Sports reported the news on X.
MSU basketball officially announces a home-and-home series with Arkansas.
— Stephen Brooks (@StephenM_Brooks) August 27, 2025
Razorbacks coming to Breslin on Nov. 8, and MSU heads to Fayetteville next season.
This is something that fans are going to love because Arkansas is one of the best teams from the SEC, and Calipari is a legendary coach. For years, fans have been asking for big-time non-conference battles at home, and Izzo and the basketball program have delivered. The Spartans are always playing away or on neutral floors against these big-time opponents, but this is a nice change of events.
Michigan State will host a really solid Arkansas team that should be ranked to start the 2025-26 season in East Lansing on Nov. 8. This is a great way to get non-conference play started.
Ten days later, Michigan State will be at the Champions Classic, facing Calipari's former team, Kentucky, in what should be one of the best non-conference battles of the season. In the span of two weeks, Michigan State will play Arkansas and Kentucky, and then nine days later, it'll face North Carolina for the Fort Myers Tip-Off Tournament.
As if that wasn't enough elite competition, Izzo and the Spartans will host Duke on Dec. 6.
Anyone. Any time. Any place.