2024-2025 College Basketball Preview: Michigan State Spartans

Check out our entire college basketball season preview!

The college basketball season is less than three weeks away, and here at FTN Fantasy we have you covered for what promises to be another thrilling year of upsets and incredible finishes. I will be taking you around the country with a betting preview of the major conferences. I recap the betting trends from last season, list projected starters, preview the season, identify a key player, and reveal how I’m backing or fading each team.

Let’s continue with the largest conference in college basketball, the Big Ten. This conference underwent massive changes, adding four new teams from the Pac-12 in Washington, USC, Oregon and UCLA. The expansion has not diluted the competitive level of the Big Ten, ranking third (same as last year) in KenPom preseason rankings.

Let’s check out our betting preview for the Michigan State Spartans. I give a huge shout-out to our newest contributor, Gus Kearns, for his extensive research on the Big Ten.

2024-2025 College Basketball Season Preview: Michigan State Spartans

Conference: Big Ten
Head Coach: Tom Izzo (29th season)
2023-2024 Record: 20-15 (10-10)
ATS: 19-15-1
O/U: 15-20
Projected Starters: G Jeremy Fears Jr.; G Jaden Akins; F Frankie Fidler; F Xavier Booker; C Carson Cooper

The whispers are getting louder: Is it time for Tom Izzo to retire? It’s been 24 years since the Spartans won the 2000 National Championship. That was also the last time any Big Ten team won the National Championship, which continues to support the criticism of the conference, even with Purdue reaching the final games just last season.

Michigan State’s veteran backcourt helped the Spartans find continuous victories after stumbling against James Madison in the home opener, including an impressive win over Baylor. Freshmen still have a tough time finding the floor (even if they dunk from the foul line) for Izzo, which directly contributes to Michigan State’s constant bubble location the last few seasons. The Spartans dropped four of their last five regular season games, but defeated Mississippi State before falling to North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament.

This year should be a change in East Lansing, with impact freshmen needed to contribute right away. Expect to see Jesse McCulloch, Jase Richardson and Kur Teng on the floor this season complimenting tough, gritty returning players in Jaden Akins, Tre Holloman and Carson Cooper. Coen Carr and Xavier Booker need to fill the wing spot and take a big step forward. Izzo rarely dips into the transfer portal, so there is huge belief that 6-foot-7 Frankie Fidler’s 20 PPG will translate from Omaha.

Key Player: Frankie Fidler/Xavier Booker

Michigan State lost Tyson Walker, Malik Hall, A.J. Hoggard and Mady Sissoko. That’s 43 PPG and 16 RPG. Izzo is desperate for Fidler and Booker to fill that massive void. Fiddler needs to hover around 15 PPG and Booker is a former five-star prospect that needs to match his production with his athleticism. Tell me the per-game average of this duo, and I’ll tell you how successful this season is for the Spartans.

Projection