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Tom Izzo calls out Michigan State's preseason Big Ten ranking: 'How in the hell would they know?'

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby: Grant Grubbs10/16/25grant_grubbs_
Michigan State's head coach Tom Izzo reacts to the officials during the first half against Wisconsin on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing - Nick King, USA TODAY Sports
Michigan State's head coach Tom Izzo reacts to the officials during the first half against Wisconsin on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing - Nick King, USA TODAY Sports

In the annual media poll conducted by The Columbus Dispatch and Indianapolis Star, Michigan State was picked to finish sixth in the Big Ten in the 2025-26 season. On Thursday, Spartans head coach Tom Izzo responded to the media’s lack of confidence in his team.

“I don’t know how in the hell would they know,” Izzo said, per SpartanMag‘s Kenny Jordan. “We have five teams in our league that have ten new players. Some of those will work out to be positive, some will work out to be negative.”

The media predicted Purdue will win the conference in the upcoming season. Purdue finished fourth in the conference last season, while Michigan State won the regular-season Big Ten title by a three-game margin, the largest in Izzo’s tenure at MSU.

Michigan State built on its regular-season momentum, reaching the Elite Eight before falling to Auburn. The run was the farthest MSU has gone in the NCAA Tournament since the 2018-19 season when the team advanced to the Final Four.

Tom Izzo and Co. suffered several notable losses to the portal this offseason, including starting guard Tre Holloman and backup forward Xavier Booker. The team also lost star guard Jase Richardson to the NBA Draft.

Michigan State didn’t simply accept the losses. The team retaliated, picking up former Miami guard Divine Ugochukwu and former Florida Atlantic forward Kaleb Glenn in the portal, along with others. Alas, voters aren’t confident Michigan State will be able to replicate the magic it captured last season.

As Izzo mentioned, his team is far from the only one in the Big Ten that will have plenty of fresh faces in the upcoming season. Programs like Michigan, Washington and USC also experienced significant roster turnover.

Though Michigan State was voted to finish sixth in the Big Ten in the aforementioned poll, the Spartans landed at No. 22 in the preseason AP Top 25. Izzo believes his team could surprise some people.

“We brought in a couple of guys, but we still have a majority of my team back, and guys that I like,” Izzo said. “Now, Jeremy Fears has to take a big step. Coen Carr has to take a big step. Jaxon Kohler has to take a big step, Carson Cooper.

“And then we have a couple of freshmen (Kur Teng and Jesse McCulloch) who we had sitting out who I think are going to help us a lot. So the cupboard’s not bare, but I’m not sure anybody except Purdue knows what they have coming back.”