The Michigan State men's basketball non-conference schedule for the 2023-2024 season just got a little bit tougher, according to reports.
On Monday, Tony Paul of the Detroit News suggested on Twitter that "There are rumblings that MSU hoops has had some discussions with Baylor about playing a game at Little Caesars Arena this season." Then on Tuesday, Jon Rothstein of CBS News reported that the two teams are finalizing an agreement to play on December 16 at Little Caesar's Arena in Detroit, the home of the Detroit Pistons and Red Wings.
Michigan State has only faced the Baylor Bears twice in history and the Spartans have yet to claim a victory. Interestingly, the teams have never faced each other on American soil.
Both contests took place in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament in Nassau, The Bahamas. In November of the 2016-17 season, the Spartans fell to the Bears in the tournament semifinals by a score of 73-58. Five years later in the 2021-22 season, the Spartans lost in the tournament finals by the similar score of 75-58.
For over 50 years, Baylor was a program that was completely off of the map in the college basketball world. The Bears posted just one NCAA Tournament appearance and zero tournament wins from 1951 to 2007. But the arrival of head coach Scott Drew in Waco in 2003 has resulted in the ascension of the program to national prominence.
Coach Drew has guided his team to 11 of the past 15 NCAA Tournaments. In 2021, Baylor claimed its first and only National Championship in a rout of Gonzaga. However, the Bears have been bitten by the upset bug over the past two tournaments. No. 1 seed Baylor was upset by No. 8 seed North Carolina in 2022. As a No. 3 seed in 2023, the Bears lost to No. 6 Creighton. Both defeats came in second-round action.
The game against Baylor adds to the previously announced non-conference games against James Madison (Nov. 6), Duke (in Chicago as a part of the Champion's Classic on Nov. 14), Butler (Nov. 17), and Arizona (in "The Acrisure Classic" in Thousand Palms, Calif. on Nov. 23). The Spartans are also planning to play their annual intrastate game against the Oakland Grizzlies this season as well with the date still to be announced.
Based on current preseason rankings, the Baylor Bears project to be a top 25 quality team yet again this season. Jeff Borzello of ESPN currently has the Bears ranked No. 21. But in typical Tom Izzo fashion, Baylor is just the third highest ranked team on the schedule so far behind Duke (No. 2, according to ESPN) and Arizona (No. 11).
Michigan State returns a core of veterans in A.J. Hoggard, Tyson Walker, Malik Hall, and Jadin Akins this fall. Those players will be joined by a consensus top 10 freshman class of Xavier Booker, Jeremy Fears, Gehrig Normand, and Coen Carr. Based on this roster, the Spartans also appear in the top 5 of most preseason rankings.
MSU aspires to build on the success of the 2022-23 campaign which ended with an appearance in the Sweet 16 before falling to No. 3 seeded Kansas State at Madison Square Garden in New York. Many experts believe that 2023-24 team is Coach Izzo's best chance in the last several years to build on his already legendary resume.
Assembling a challenging non-conference schedule is a part of Izzo's proven strategy. It should also be noted that Little Caesar's Arena is the site of the NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional in 2024. If things go well in East Lansing, the Spartans may have several chances to earn victories in the city of Detroit.
