MSU Basketball Learns Big Ten Home, Road Opponents for 2026-27

Michigan State basketball now knows which teams they'll be facing on the road and at home next season.

On Tuesday, the Big Ten set down the locations of every single one of MSU's 20 conference games for the 2026-27 campaign. Since the Spartans will only play three teams twice in an 18-team conference, the types of opponents you get at home and on the road do have a legitimate impact on your hopes of a conference title. Dates and tip times for these games are still TBA.

Conference Opponents

Michigan State's Tom Izzo shouts instructions out during a game against Michigan at the Breslin Center on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. | Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans on SI

Home and away: Maryland, Michigan, and Nebraska

Home only: Minnesota, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, Washington, and Wisconsin

Away only: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Northwestern, Ohio State, UCLA, and USC

Instant Reaction to Draw

Mar 21, 2026; Buffalo, NY, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Jeremy Fears Jr. (1) speaks to media after a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Keybank Center. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Life in the Big Ten is tough, but this is going to be another challenging schedule ahead for Michigan State. You can't complain or cry foul play about playing Michigan twice for obvious reasons, but the Wolverines are still the defending national champions. Playing them a second time very much increases the level of difficulty.

Getting Nebraska twice is also a bit of a pain. The Cornhuskers were just a 4-seed in the NCAA Tournament and are returning first-team all-Big Ten honoree Pryce Sandfort and conference Sixth Man of the Year Braden Frager. The atmosphere that awaited MSU in Lincoln last season was extremely rowdy, and Nebraska could easily be good enough to push the Spartans at the Breslin Center.

Michigan State's Coen Carr defends against Louisville during the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the KeyBank Center on Saturday, March 21, 2026. | Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans on SI

Maryland as the third "two-play" team is interesting. The Terrapins were... bad last year, to put it nicely. Michigan State walloped them by 43 in East Lansing, and Maryland finished second-to-last in the conference with a 4-16 Big Ten record.

The expectations are that the Terps are much better next season, though. Buzz Williams, entering his second year, has six incoming transfers and the No. 21 portal class in the country, per On3. Williams also has the No. 9 high school class entering the program, headlined by five-star small forward Baba Oladotun.

L.A. Trip in Store

One of the other things that sticks out is that Michigan State is likely set to go back on a two-game trip to Los Angeles at some point next season.

MSU went 0-2 during that trip in 2024-25. What could help is that the Spartans will go out to California for a game against Gonzaga on Dec. 19, which should be before the trip. That will help Michigan State get acclimated to the cross-country flight.

Michigan State's Tom Izzo looks on during a game against Rutgers on Thursday, March 5, 2026, at the Breslin Center. | Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans on SI

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