Michigan State’s season opener against Quinnipiac on Monday brings more than just the start of the 2026-27 campaign. It also gives the Spartans a first real chance to sort through a few early questions after shaky exhibition showings against UConn and Marquette.
The sixth-ranked Spartans are a heavy favorite, but with No. 2 Duke waiting on Nov. 10, the first two games matter for more than the win column. A sharp outing would help Michigan State settle in, and a few players in particular could use one.
Coen Carr is one of them.
Carr had a rougher-than-usual stretch in the games that didn’t count, with UConn and Marquette doing a good job cutting off the space he usually thrives in. That matters because Carr’s game has always been built around transition, where his elite athleticism and Jeremy Fears Jr.’s passing can turn possessions into highlight plays.
There’s no real panic here, though. Carr has improved every season at Michigan State, and last year he averaged 12.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.
The next step is his jump shot. It didn’t fall much in the exhibitions, but the form, the quick release and the confidence behind the attempts all looked better.
It’s still too early to know whether that improvement will show up in games that count.
Michigan State may also need Carr to do more in the frontcourt. With the number of guards the Spartans will want, or need, to play, he could spend a lot of time at power forward.
Tom Izzo said Carr has gotten better at putting the ball on the deck and attacking the rim, which would be a welcome development. His rebounding will matter, too, especially if he’s playing the four more often and has to be more aggressive chasing the ball.
Then there’s Anton Bonke, whose role has been the biggest surprise of the exhibition slate.
Bonke was brought in to be Michigan State’s starting center, but he logged only nine total minutes against UConn and Marquette. Izzo left him on the bench for the entire second half of both games.
That said, Bonke did start the exhibitions against Incarnate Word and UConn, which suggested he had shown enough over the summer to enter the year in that kind of role. Even in limited action, his play hasn’t been disastrous.
Izzo said Thursday that Bonke will get more minutes. The real question is how many, because the bar is not especially high right now.
Michigan State may need to adjust how it defends ball screens with its bigs if it wants to get Bonke on the floor more, but that kind of change is not something Izzo has leaned into much over the years. It leaves the Spartans in a tricky spot, because they badly need more from their lone transfer portal addition.
If Bonke doesn’t become a factor, it changes the outlook in a major way.
Monday also brings the long-awaited debut of Kaleb Glenn.
Glenn missed all of last season with a knee injury after transferring from Florida Atlantic. He was healthy enough to help run the scout team during the final month or so of the 2025-26 season, but that is a very different task from handling live game action. Glenn has said there is a mental side to returning from a serious injury, and he still has to fully trust that right knee and patellar tendon again.
Even so, he gives Michigan State another interesting piece. Glenn should see time at both the three and the four, and his skill set includes some guard-like traits.
In 2024-25, he averaged 12.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 41.0% from 3-point range. He struggled in the exhibitions, but he still has the kind of versatility that could earn him a real role on a roster that looks increasingly guard-heavy.
In Other News...
Michigan State Opens With Pressure On Its New-Look Frontcourt
Michigan State opens its basketball season Tuesday night at the Breslin Center against Quinnipiac, with the Spartans carrying the weight that comes with a No. 6 preseason ranking and the familiar expectations that follow a Tom Izzo team. It is Izzos 32nd season in East Lansing, and this opener offers the first real look at how a reshaped frontcourt fits into the bigger picture, especially with the kind of lineup questions that tend to matter early before the rotation settles.
Quinnipiac arrives with Tom Pecora on the sideline and enough structure to make the matchup more than a routine tune-up, even if the Spartans are supposed to have the deeper and more talented roster. The projected lineups, team updates and strengths-and-weaknesses breakdown suggest Michigan State has clear advantages, but also a few areas worth watching as the season begins and the new-look front line gets tested in a game that should reveal plenty about where this team stands. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Opens With Pressure To Look Like A Contender
Michigan State opens its regular season against Quinnipiac with the kind of early test that can tell you a lot about where a team stands before the calendar really gets going. The Spartans are favored by statistical models, and they bring back much of last seasons core while also adding a strong recruiting class, which is exactly the sort of combination that tends to raise expectations in East Lansing.
Quinnipiac has shown in the past that it can hang around against high-major opponents, so this is not the sort of opener Michigan State can treat casually. The game will be available on B1G+ and on various radio stations, giving fans their first real look at whether the Spartans can start looking like the contender their roster suggests they should be. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Opens With Real Buzz And One Big Early Test
Michigan State womens basketball is heading into the 2026-27 season with a little more attention than usual, and for good reason. The Spartans will open against Valparaiso on Nov. 3 after a strong exhibition showing against Michigan Tech, and they bring back a core that gives Robyn Fralick real continuity as she enters her fourth year on the sideline. Fralick has already built a 67-28 record in East Lansing, and the early signs suggest this group has a chance to build on that momentum right away.
A big part of that optimism starts with junior guard Kennedy Blair, who has already landed on the 2027 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and WBCA preseason watch list for the Nancy Lieberman Award. Her return gives Michigan State a proven piece to lean on as the schedule begins to tighten, and the opener against Valparaiso offers the first real chance to see how far the Spartans can carry their preseason buzz. The bigger question is how quickly all of that translates once the games count for real. [Read more 🡒]