Tom Izzo previews No. 22 Michigan State's matchup with No. 14 Arkansas

After two exhibition games and an 80-69 season-opening win over Colgate, the No. 22-ranked Michigan State men's basketball team gears up to play the No. 14-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks, an opponent MSU has not seen in 30 years. 

The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday and will broadcast on FOX.

This will be a big test for the Spartans early in the 2025-2026 season, but MSU head coach Tom Izzo appreciates the challenge Arkansas brings to the Breslin Center for a multitude of reasons, namely, for the fans and experience for the teams.

“I’m happy for our fans,” Izzo said. “I do think our fans deserve to see some of the better teams come in here.”

“I think it's going to be a privilege for us, for them, for our fans. This is kind of what you hope to get in the preseason, great home games. A little early? Maybe, but early for them, too.” 

Interestingly, the game against Arkansas is the highest-ranked matchup at the Breslin Center in the first month of the season since 2018, when No. 3 Michigan State hosted then No. 5 Notre Dame in East Lansing. However, with the recent additions to the Big Ten, the Spartans have a difficult schedule throughout the entire year, including in both non-conference and conference play.

“Twenty (conference) games is (a challenge) — you know at one time it was 16 back when we were playing those teams,” he said concerning the Big Ten schedule. “So 16, you could play four or five really big games. Then it goes to 20, and you’re playing four really, really good games, plus that. Then when you move the two Big Ten games into December, I mean if you look at our next month, it’s (a murderers') row.” 

Despite the grueling and demanding schedule, Izzo comes at it as more opportunities to improve. 

“That’s a lot of games against really good teams and we just got make sure that we just keep trying to get better, and that will be the name of the game for us,” Izzo said.