Michigan State men's basketball will open the season as one of the country's top-10 teams for the first time since 2024 and the fifth time since 2018.
MSU checked in at No. 6 in the Associated Press' preseason men’s basketball Top 25 rankings.
MSU men’s basketball debuts at No. 6 in AP preseason poll
Michigan State University men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo speaks during a preseason media availability at Breslin Center on MSU campus in East Lansing, Mich., on Oct. 15, 2026.
Florida claimed the top spot, earning 47 of 59 first-place votes. Duke is No. 2, followed by Illinois, UConn and Arizona.
The Spartans are the Big Ten’s second-highest-ranked team in the poll, behind the Illini at No. 3. Other Big Ten teams in the rankings include reigning national champion Michigan at No. 16, Southern California at No. 21 and UCLA at No. 22.
MSU returns nine players from a Sweet 16 team, led by junior guard Jeremy Fears Jr., a reigning All-American, and senior forward Coen Carr.
The nation’s No. 7 recruiting class will join them, headlined by four-star guards Jasiah Jervis and Carlos Medlock Jr., along with center Ethan Taylor and forward Julius Avent. The Spartans also added Charlotte senior transfer Anton Bonke, a 7-foot-2 center who averaged 10.6 points and 8.3 rebounds last season.
MSU is fresh off a 27-8 season, going 15-5 in the Big Ten with renewed title hopes.
MSU gets a chance to test itself against a top-five team when it plays the second of three exhibitions at 7 p.m. Tuesday against No. 4 UConn at Breslin Center, a rematch of last season’s Sweet 16 game.
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