Michigan State basketball ranked No. 22 in preseason AP Top 25 Poll
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State will tip-off the 2025-26 season in less than a month, when it plays a non-conference matchup against Colgate on Nov. 3. Tom Izzo and company will enter the season as a top 25 squad, checking in at No. 22 in the preseason AP Poll.
The Spartans will look to defend their Big Ten regular season title, which they won last year while finishing with 30-7 (17-3) record. Michigan State advanced to the Elite Eight, where it fell to Auburn. The Spartans won the Big Ten by a three-game margin, the largest of Izzo’s 11 Big Ten title-winning seasons.
Michigan State returns four key veterans from last year’s team in Jeremy Fears, Coen Carr, Carson Cooper and Jaxon Kohler. The four returnees were named captains for the 2025-26 season.
Izzo will have to replace a trio of key contributors in Jase Richardson, Jaden Akins and Tre Holloman. With three-point shooting a question mark heading into the year, Izzo will look for sophomore Kur Teng and transfer Trey Fort to help bear the load.
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“That’s our question mark right now – our shooter,” Izzo said during Big Ten Media Day last week. “Is it going to be Kur Teng, who’s one of our guards who’s one of our best shooters? Is it going to be Trey, the new transfer portal guy we got from Mississippi State at one time? But I don’t have many (transfers), and one of our best transfers, Kaleb (Glenn), got hurt.”
Michigan State will also add a pair of freshman to the mix in Cam Ward and Jordan Scott.
“Right now, I like our freshmen,” Izzo said. “We have two freshmen who have really come on, and I like those guys. So it’s a melting pot again, but I think we’re going to play 10 players again. Some of that is really good, (but) some of that’s bad, because maybe nobody’s that far ahead of somebody else. But it leads to a better locker room, and locker rooms are important in sports.”
