The hype surrounding the MSU men's basketball team was finally put in writing Thursday evening when the Spartans were ranked No. 3 in the ESPN/USA Today Preseason Poll.

But CBS college basketball analyst Billy Packer said preseason rankings are "more B.S. than anything."

"I don't pay attention to preseason rankings," Packer said. "How can you rank teams that you haven't seen play or practice?

"With all the changes in lineups that take place in college basketball, it's really not anything you put stock in."

Experts will be able to see the Spartans in action at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the team's first exhibition game.

MSU takes on Earvin "Magic" Johnson and the Harlem Globetrotters at Breslin Center. After that, the Spartans will begin their schedule. Seven MSU opponents are ranked in the top 15.

MSU will travel to No. 5 Kansas, play host to No. 2 Duke as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, play No. 15 Oklahoma at The Palace of Auburn Hills, square off in the BasketBowl at Ford Field against No. 9 Kentucky and visit last season's national champion No. 7 Syracuse.

And those are just the nonconference opponents.

The Spartans' Big Ten schedule includes two matchups against No. 14 Wisconsin and a road game against No. 13 Illinois.

ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas echoed Packer's preseason ranking thoughts, saying they are just numbers. But he added that they are educated guesses that, if kept in perspective, can be telling.

"You know the teams that will be competitive," Bilas said.

"There are only a couple of teams that don't have any question marks - Connecticut and Duke. They are the only teams that don't really have any holes."

Connecticut was ranked No. 1, receiving 25 of 31 possible first-place votes. Duke came in at No. 2.

"Michigan State, they have a question mark - how they're going to handle the point guard situation," Bilas said.

"But, heck, they're an Elite Eight team. I would not be surprised to see them in San Antonio."