Latest news with #FortMyersTip-Off
USA Today
22-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Michigan State basketball to play East Carolina in Fort Myers Tip-Off next season
Michigan State basketball to play East Carolina in Fort Myers Tip-Off next season This will be the first ever meeting between Michigan State and East Carolina An addition to the Michigan State basketball schedule for next season has been announced. Michigan State announced on Thursday that they will play East Carolina in this year's Fort Myers Tip-Off. This will be the first of two games for the Spartans during the event, with Michigan State battling the Pirates on Tuesday, November 25. The Spartans will then play North Carolina on Thanksgiving of that week. St. Bonaventure is the fourth team part of the event, with the Bonnies set to face North Carolina. East Carolina went 19-14 overall last year and finished in fifth place in the American Athletic Conference. This will be the first ever meeting between Michigan State and East Carolina. For the Spartans, we now know four of the Spartans' non-conference foes: Kentucky (Champions Classic) East Carolina (Fort Myers Tip-Off) North Carolina (Fort Myers Tip-Off) Duke (home) The full official Michigan State schedule for next season should be released in the next few months.
USA Today
07-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
What we know about MSU basketball's 2025-26 schedule at this point
What we know about MSU basketball's 2025-26 schedule at this point Here's what we know about the Spartans' schedule for next season, which includes a massive home non-conference matchup in December We are still months away from the official 2025-26 Michigan State basketball schedule coming out but who said we couldn't start piecing together what we already know about next year's slate? Unlike football, college basketball schedules are typically built in between seasons with only a few pre-planned games from years before included on the docket. Michigan State is no different with most of its non-conference slate still being constructed, but we do at least know of a few monster matchups on the slate for next year. With that being said, let's dive into what we already know about the 2025-26 Michigan State basketball schedule as we begin to look ahead to next year: Champions Classic Opponent: Kentucky Date: November 18 The annual Champions Classic will continue next year with the Spartans drawing Kentucky in the early season marquee matchup. The Wildcats are widely considered a preseason top 10 team and the Spartans are in the No. 15 - 20 range depending on the media outlet. So this should be a fun early season test for both of these programs that have aspirations of reaching the 2026 Final Four. Fort Myers Tip-Off Opponents: North Carolina and to be determined team Dates: November 25 and 27 The Spartans will take place in a pair of games as part of the Fort Myers Tip-Off event during the week of Thanksgiving. It has already been announced that Michigan State will face North Carolina on Thanksgiving Day, and we are still waiting to see who the Spartans will play in the game before that on Tuesday. Home vs. Duke Date: Reportedly sometime in December The Spartans will play host to the Duke Blue Devils in a non-conference monster matchup from the Breslin Center. This matchup hasn't been formally announced so the date is still to be determined. But Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported last week that it'll occur in December and will serve as the return trip to East Lansing, Mich. after Duke hosted Michigan State in the Champions Classic during 2020. Big Ten Regular Season The official Big Ten schedule will come out over the next few months, but last week we at least got an indication of where Michigan State will play each of its conference games with the official home-road splits announced. Here is an indication of who the Spartans will host at home, play on the road and play both at home and away: Home Only: Illinois Iowa Maryland Northwestern Ohio State UCLA USC Away Only: Minnesota Nebraska Oregon Penn State Purdue Washington Wisconsin Home and Away: Indiana Michigan Rutgers The Big Ten slate includes 20 regular season games and typically begins in December with a few games before the holidays break. My assumption is that will continue again this year, with conference games leading all the way through the first week in March. Big Ten Tournament Dates: March 11 - 15 The top 15 teams in the Big Ten qualify for the conference tournament so this is technically not a given that the Spartans will be playing in the event but we can somewhat assume here. The conference tournament will take place at the United Center in Chicago next season. Other Notes and Thoughts With what we know now, the Spartans have 24 of the 31 regular season games filled for next year. That means we should expect at least seven more non-conference games to be added to the slate. In-state foe Oakland is typically on the Spartans' roster so that should be expected again this year. I'm also anticipating the Spartans to add another marquee matchup in non-conference play to go with the three monsters they already have lined up in Kentucky, North Carolina and Duke. Over the next few months we should get a better indication and reports of who else the Spartans have added to its 2025-26 schedule. But as it stands now, it should have plenty of fun and intriguing games on the slate throughout the season. Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
USA Today
23-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
UNC basketball, Fort Myers Tip-Off schedule announced
UNC basketball, Fort Myers Tip-Off schedule announced Last season, North Carolina men's basketball took on very tough opponents in the Maui Invitational tournament. They defeated Dayton before losing to Auburn and Michigan State in overtime. This season, the team will take part in the Fort Myers Tip-Off event, which is not a tournament; it's a two-game, four-team event. The two-game event with predetermined matchups will take place on November 25th and 27th at Suncoast Credit Union Arena on the campus of Florida SouthWestern State College. On November 25th, the Tar Heels will match up with St. Bonaventure and follow it up on November 27th with a rematch against Tom Izzo and Michigan State. This will be only the second meeting all-time between the Tar Heels and the Bonnies. North Carolina won the first matchup in 1968 with a 91-72 victory. The Tar Heels are no strangers to the Spartans. They met last year in the Maui Invitational. At the time, North Carolina was the No. 12-ranked team in college basketball, and Michigan State was unranked. By the end of the season, UNC was the last team in the NCAA Tournament, and MSU was the No. 7 team in the country. After going down nine at the halftime break, UNC mounted a comeback to send the game to overtime on the back of 18 points from Drake Powell, who declared for the NBA Draft on Wednesday afternoon. There is no doubt that any time you take on Tom Izzo at the beginning of the season, a fight will ensue. North Carolina and Hubert Davis's newly equipped team must be ready to face the future Hall of Fame coach, and hopefully, come away with two strong wins from this event. Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.
