Michigan State opened the preseason exactly where the buzz around this team said it should: No. 6 in the first AP Top 25 of 2026-27.
The Spartans landed in the top 10 when the initial rankings dropped, and the placement backed up the expectation that this group belongs among the sport’s elite. Florida, Duke, Illinois and UConn filled the top four spots, while Arizona came in at No. 5 just ahead of Michigan State.
Michigan State and Illinois were the only Big Ten teams to crack the top 10. Michigan checked in at No. 16, while USC and UCLA landed at No. 21 and No. 22 to round out the conference’s teams in the Top 25. The league should be front-loaded, with Illinois, Michigan State and Michigan projected as the top three Big Ten teams.
That kind of setup should produce plenty of heavyweight meetings during the season.
Michigan State’s early schedule already looks brutal on paper. The Spartans are set to face six teams ranked in the top 15, seven in the top 20 and nine ranked opponents overall. Duke, Illinois, UConn and Tennessee all sit in the top 10, and the first chance to see the Spartans against that level of competition comes Tuesday in an exhibition against Dan Hurley and the Huskies.
For now, the No. 6 ranking feels like a fair starting point. Michigan State was a Sweet 16 team a season ago and brings a roster with more questions than the five teams ahead of it.
The AP voters put the Spartans in the right neighborhood. Now the schedule will decide whether they stay there.
In Other News...
Michigan State Has 3 Big Roster Questions Against UConn
Michigan State gets a useful early measuring stick when it hosts UConn at Breslin Center in a preseason exhibition, and the Spartans have a few roster questions worth watching long before the games count. Freshman center Ethan Taylor, sophomore Cam Ward and freshman two-guard Jasiah Jervis all stand out as players who could shape how this team looks once the 2026-27 season arrives, with each bringing a different kind of intrigue after what they have already shown.
For Tom Izzo, this is less about the final score than about what the rotation starts to reveal. Taylors presence inside, Wards sophomore leap and Jervis fit on the perimeter all give Michigan State something to evaluate against a high-level opponent, and UConn should provide a real stress test for where those pieces stand. The Spartans will leave the exhibition with answers, but probably not all of them. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State May Finally Have The Defensive Front Fans Wanted
Michigan States defensive front looked more like the unit fans had been waiting for in the win over Northwestern, with several players drawing strong Pro Football Focus grades and the group showing the kind of disruption that had been missing at times earlier in the season. Under recently hired coach Winston DeLattiboudere, the line has taken noticeable steps forward, and the Spartans are seeing a blend of veteran presence and younger pieces start to come together.
What makes the performance matter is that it did not feel like a one-game outlier so much as another sign of a room that is being developed the right way. The staff has been encouraged by the progress up front, and with that mix of experience and growth, Michigan State may be closer to having the defensive line it has been trying to build for a while. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Has One Costly Problem It Can't Keep Wasting
Alessio Milivojevic gave Michigan State a little bit of everything in the loss to Northwestern, and that has become part of the problem for a team trying to stop the slide. Pat Fitzgerald pointed to the quarterbacks touchdown passes as proof the offense can still find answers, but he also noted the missed opportunities that left the Spartans with too much wasted potential in a game they needed to squeeze for everything it was worth.
Now comes UCLA, a matchup that adds another layer of uncertainty with backup Ty Dieffenbach having recently started because of an injury to the Bruins starter. Fitzgerald offered his read on both quarterbacks as Michigan State turns the page, but the larger issue remains the same: the Spartans cannot keep letting usable chances slip away and expect a losing streak to sort itself out. [Read more 🡒]