With the 2025-26 season officially coming to a close on Monday night, Tom Izzo and Michigan State prepared for the opening of the transfer portal on Tuesday.
Izzo surely had a short list of targets ready to go as the window opened up and with more intriguing center options hitting the market daily, it feels like the Spartans could play ball with the big boys over the next couple of weeks.
The Spartans are in need of a center, but that’s really the only glaring deficiency on next year’s team, assuming no one leaves like Izzo hinted at last week.
Michigan State finished this season 27-8 and it was second in the Big Ten standings after winning the conference title by three games a year ago and it will be returning most of the team that made a Sweet 16 and probably should have advanced to the Elite Eight. If not for that horrendous start against UConn, we might be talking about another Izzo Final Four or even a rematch with Michigan.
Unfortunately, the Spartans fell short, but the hunger will be there to get back between Izzo, Jeremy Fears, Coen Carr, or anyone else in that locker room who wants to run it back.
Throw in a top five incoming recruiting class and two transfers back after season-ending injuries, and Michigan State is going to have one of the best rosters in the country.
Vegas agrees.
Michigan State is an early favorite to contend for a title
It’s truly impossible to rank teams right after the season anymore because there’s so much roster movement via the transfer portal and NBA draft decisions.
For instance, take a team like Michigan. The Wolverines just won the national title and they’re going to be ranked highly in all early projections despite the fact that they’re losing at least 2-3 of their star players. They’re bringing in a good recruiting class and everyone assumes that Dusty May will just reload in the portal.
So of course, Michigan is an early top-two favorite to win it all, per DraftKings. The Wolverines are +1200 to win it all next season while Michigan State is fifth at +1600. Here’s who DraftKings currently gives the best odds to win next year’s title:
- Duke (+800)
- Michigan (+1200)
- Florida (+1400)
- Arizona (+1500)
- Michigan State (+1600)
- Kansas (+1600)
- Illinois (+1800)
- Houston (+1800)
- Arkansas (+1800)
- UConn (+2000)
Michigan State will play at least four of those teams next season, so we’re going to find out just how much Izzo wants No. 2. Vegas believes in him and the Spartans, but he has to deliver.