For the first time in NCAA history, the Spartan basketball team is set to play five of the 11 winningest programs of all-time in one of the hardest nonconference schedules in school history.

The Spartans will face Duke at Breslin Center, travel to Kansas, UCLA and Syracuse and play Oklahoma and Kentucky at Detroit area neutral sites - the Palace of Auburn Hills and Ford Field, respectively.

Head coach Tom Izzo said in a statement this year's schedule is shaping up to be one of the toughest the Spartans have seen and one of the hardest in the nation.

John Lewandowski, assistant athletic director at MSU, says the schedule against those five schools is arguably the toughest he's seen.

"This schedule will go down as one of the toughest in the history of college basketball, not just MSU," Lewandowski said. "This is something the players relish."

He said one of Izzo's goals by having the Spartans play tough teams is to prepare them for anyone they might face in the conference schedule or postseason tournaments.

"That way the team won't be in awe of anybody they face in the postseason," Lewandowski said. "The players live for moments like this, and that's why Tom's scheduling has always been tough."

The Spartans are 20-27 overall against those five schools. The record includes losses to Oklahoma and Syracuse last season and a win over Kentucky on the road.

MSU last played Duke in the 1999 Final Four, losing 68-62. The Spartans haven't played UCLA since 1960.

Jay Bilas, a college basketball analyst for ESPN, said with a schedule like the one the Spartans have in place, they have the potential to be the best this year.

"Tom Izzo knows his team as good as anybody, and I think that last year this schedule wouldn't have been a good thing for them," Bilas said.

"But now the guys on the team know each other better and have matured together, so it should turn out to be a good thing for the team."

Bilas said the schedule could be a recipe for a national championship, provided the Spartans have a good showing.

"If they do well enough, they're going to be a high seed in the (NCAA) tournament," Bilas said. "Their schedule is for a team that is trying to build towards a championship and with the team they've got, they should be thinking that way."

Mitch Germann, a Kansas athletics department spokesman, said the schedule will be tough no matter what.

"MSU is tough every year and they proved that last year because even though they were young, they came within an inch of being in the Final Four," Germann said. "With a coach like Tom Izzo, it's always going to be competitive and MSU is likely to be one of the best teams in the country."

Duke will play in East Lansing for the first time in school history as part of the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Chris Ripple, Izzone co-director, says it's a certainty Breslin Center will be hopping come game night.

"I know a lot of kids who have talked for years about getting Duke to play at the Breslin," Ripple said. "They're a high-class program, and it should be a fun game to watch."

Bilas added the lineup of opponents represents a force to be reckoned with, but in order to get the Spartans back to the Final Four, tough draws are expected.

"MSU will be playing not only the traditional powers, but some of the best teams in history," Bilas said. "And if you wanna be the best, you've got to beat the best."

Evan Rondeau can be reached at rondeau1@msu.edu.