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MSU basketball will host Florida this season

July 7, 2015
<p>Michigan State coach Tom Izzo and guard Mateen Cleaves hug as they watch a video during the Spartans victory celebration at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. The Spartans beat the Florida Gators, 89-76, to win the NCAA national championship.</p>

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo and guard Mateen Cleaves hug as they watch a video during the Spartans victory celebration at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. The Spartans beat the Florida Gators, 89-76, to win the NCAA national championship.

MSU basketball announced via a press release that the Spartans will play a home-and-home against Florida. The series will begin this season at the Breslin Center on Dec. 12, 2015. MSU will travel to Gainesville, Florida, at a date yet to be determined in the 2017-18 season.

"It’s hard to believe it’s been 15 years since we played Florida in the National Championship Game,” head coach Tom Izzo said in the release. “To be able to mark the 15th anniversary with a game against the Gators is a special opportunity. Between this game and playing Louisville in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, we are excited to bring some of college basketball’s top programs to our home fans this season. It’s part of a continual quest to schedule great non-conference games at Breslin Center for our fans that have been so loyal and give us one of the best home court advantages in the nation.”

The all-time series is tied 3-3. Florida won the last meeting, 77-74, on November 27, 2009, in the Legends Classic in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The Spartans will be looking to build momentum from a team that made a run to the Final Four last season. The team should be more talented this year, playing the top competition early should have the team fine tuned for the NCAA tournament.

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