For the past two seasons, Michigan State basketball has owned the rivalry. In 2023-24, the Wolverines were one of the worst teams in the country at 8-24 but in 2024-25 under Dusty May, they improved drastically and even flirted with the AP Top 25 throughout the year but the Spartans still took care of business.
Both teams are going to look drastically different in 2025-26.
For starters, Michigan State lost Tre Holloman, Jaden Akins, Jase Richardson, Frankie Fidler, Xavier Booker, Szymon Zapala, and Gehrig Normand and they supplemented the returning roster with three transfers and those two four-stars in the 2025 class.
As for Michigan, it lost key stars like Vlad Goldin, Danny Wolf, and Tre Donaldson while adding Elliot Cadeau, Aday Mara, Morez Johnson, and Yaxel Lendeborg. The latter of the four was likely to enter the NBA Draft as a projected first-round pick, but after a so-so NBA Combine and likely multiple meetings with scouts and organizations, he's opted to return to Michigan, defying the odds.
This just made the rivalry that much more interesting.
Lendeborg was projected to go in the first round and decided to join a solid roster at Michigan that should compete for a Big Ten title. The hype surrounding this team has already been immense and now some fans are even saying "national title or bust" about the Wolverines.
Crazy stuff.
The Spartans, on the other hand, have built a solid roster this offseason and return key guys like Jaxon Kohler, Jeremy Fears Jr., Carson Cooper, Coen Carr, Kur Teng, and Jesse McCulloch but yet they're not getting nearly the same hype despite winning the Big Ten in 2025.
The rivalry just got more interesting and we all know how well Izzo does when people doubt and overlook him. The two matchups in 2025-26 are going to be electric.