We are about three months removed from the end of the 2024-25 Michigan State basketball season, and it was one of the most memorable in the past decade.
The Spartans won their first Big Ten title in five years, and that was after being projected to finish somewhere in the middle of the pack before the season began. They had lost four starters with AJ Hoggard and Mady Sissoko transferring and Tyson Walker and Malik Hall exhausting eligibility.
Jeremy Fears Jr., Jaden Akins, Jase Richardson, and a handful of others helped lead Michigan State to a Big Ten title with one of the best backcourts in the country -- and they won it by three games.
Once again, however, the Spartans suffered some offseason attrition with Tre Holloman, Xavier Booker, and Gehrig Normand entering the transfer portal and Frankie Fidler, Akins, Richardson, and Szymon Zapala pursuing professional careers.
It's safe to say that the Spartan hoops doubters are back in full force after losing all of these key players as well as incoming transfer Kaleb Glenn for the season after tearing his patellar tendon.
Still, Michigan State is the reigning Big Ten champ that's bringing back Fears, Coen Carr, Jaxon Kohler, and Carson Cooper to go along with guys like Kur Teng, Trey Fort, Jesse McCulloch, Cam Ward, Divine Ugochukwu, and Jordan Scott. The depth will be there once again; a repeat is very possible, but Vegas is not high on the Spartans.
In fact, Caesars Sportsbook gives Michigan State the ninth-best odds to win the Big Ten in 2026.
Big Ten basketball conference title odds at @CaesarsSports pic.twitter.com/jAMYMAmZvc
— ᗩᑎT ᗯᖇIGᕼT (@itsAntWright) July 7, 2025
To me, that's incredible value and Vegas just doesn't believe in Izzo or the Spartans. The reigning champs are down in the middle of the pack behind the likes of Michigan, Ohio State, UCLA, Illinois, USC, Oregon, and Wisconsin which all seem laughable to me. Yes, I believe Purdue is the favorite, but I think Michigan State should be at least in that top five.
But hey, if I have to make a quick buck off of Vegas for these gifted odds, I'll do it.