The Spartans, led by 20th year head coach Tom Izzo, played their home games at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan as members of the Big Ten Conference.

They defeated Ohio State and Maryland to advance to the Big Ten tournament championship where they lost to Wisconsin.

They won the Big Ten tournament by defeating Michigan and received the conference's automatic bid as a No.

They advanced to the Elite Eight, their eighth trip under Tom Izzo, before losing to eventual National Champion, UConn.

Michigan State made offers to Cliff Alexander, Tyus Jones, Jahlil Okafor, and Tyler Ulis, but all went to other schools.

[1] As a result, MSU signed only one top 100 player, Lourawls Nairn, Jr. Analysts have argued that it is Izzo's unwillingness to cheat that has cost him some of these recruits.

[3] MSU began the season with a trip to play Navy in Annapolis, Maryland at the Naval Academy.

[4] The Spartans then traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana to participate in the Champions Classic, but were unable to outlast Duke (whom they would later meet in the Final Four), losing 81–71.

[5] MSU won their next four games, including wins over Santa Clara, Rider, and Marquette in the Orlando Classic.

[7] Wins followed against smaller schools including Oakland and Eastern Michigan before MSU was shocked by Texas Southern at home in overtime.

In the Big Ten season, the Spartans were swept by Maryland[9] and suffered bad losses to Nebraska,[10] Illinois,[11] and Minnesota in overtime.

The Spartans were pushed to overtime, but again came up with the victory, earning a trip to their seventh Final Four under Tom Izzo.