Michigan State men's basketball fans can reportedly pencil in yet another one of the non-conference opponents for the 2024-2025 season. This one will come at the Breslin Center on Dec. 21 when the Spartans reportedly host Florida Atlantic.
The Owls will be making a return visit to East Lansing for the first time since Nov. 13, 2015 and just the second matchup between the schools in program history. Rocco Miller of Bracketeer.org was first to report the Owls-Spartans matchup.
Last season, FAU went 25-9 with a 14-4 conference record in the American Athletic Conference. The Owls earned a second-straight bid, and just third in program history, to the NCAA Tournament after advancing to the Final Four in 2023. A tough Northwestern squad ended the dance early last year for the Owls who then lost head coach Dusty May to Michigan over the offseason.
The Owls are now coached by John Jakus who will be entering his first season at the helm of a Division 1 program. The Johnsburg, Ill. native is a graduate of Trinity International University in 1999. He later received his master's degree from Baylor where was a graduate assisting from 2012-2014 and later an assistant coach from 2017-2022 before being promoted to associate head coach. Jakus worked as the director of basketball operations at Gonzaga from 2014-2017 as well.
The matchup will mark just the second meeting between MSU and FAU. The Spartans downed the Owls 82-55 on Nov. 13, 2015 in the first — and only — meeting between the two programs to date.
In other non-conference action, MSU will have a quick turnaround to start the season when it begins play against Monmouth on Nov. 4 before then hosting Niagara on Nov. 7. Next up the Spartans will also once again compete in the annual State Farm Champions Classic. This year’s event is in Atlanta on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at State Farm Arena where MSU will take on the Kansas Jayhawks in the early tipoff ahead of Duke versus North Carolina. Soon thereafter, the Spartans are reportedly hosting Bowling Green.
MSU will play in the 2024 Maui Invitational in the tournament’s return to the island of Maui after the wildfires resulted in the 2023 edition being moved to Honolulu on Oahu. Michigan State will play three games from Nov. 25 through Nov. 27. The bracket was recently released and the Spartans face off against Colorado to start. Then it will be either Memphis or Connecticut. The remainder of the field includes Auburn, Dayton, Iowa State, and North Carolina.
December will see MSU take on Greg Kampe and Oakland on Tuesday, Dec. 17, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit shortly before the Owls visit to East Lansing.
As far as Big Ten play goes, the matchups for the 20-game conference season were announced in May. The schedule is set to be released at a later date.
As for the men's basketball team, it recently returned from a trip to Spain where the Spartans finished 2-1 during a trip to the Iberian Peninsula.
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