LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State’s men’s basketball team will enter the 2019-20 season ranked as the No. 1 team in the country in the preseason poll released by the Associated Press on Monday.
This is the first time in program history that MSU has opened the season as the preseason No. 1 team in the country in the AP poll.
MSU received 60 of 65 first-place votes and 1,619 points to land the No. 1 ranking in the preseason. Kentucky, with two first-place votes, was ranked No. 2, while Kansas, with three first-place votes, is No. 3. Duke and Louisville round out the top-five teams, respectively.
MSU opens the regular season up on Tuesday, Nov. 5 against Kentucky in the Champions Classic. The game will be played at Madison Square Garden in New York City. This will be the second time in three years that the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country have squared off to start the season, as then-No. 2 Michigan State played then-No. 1 Duke in the Champions Classic in 2017.
This is the eighth-straight year MSU has been ranked among the preseason top-25, the 20th time in the last 22 years under Head Coach Tom Izzo, the 14th time among the top-10 teams and the 10th time among the top-five teams.
Michigan State finished the 2018-19 season with a 32-7 overall record and advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament for a nation's-best eighth time in the last 21 years. The Spartans won a share of the Big Ten Regular Season title, captured the Big Ten Tournament title, beat rival Michigan three times and won the NCAA Tournament East Regional with a thrilling victory over No. 1 seed Duke.
MSU will host its annual Midnight Madness on Friday, Oct. 25 at the Breslin Center. Doors to the arena open at 8:30 p.m.
The Spartans open the 2019-20 season on Tuesday, Oct. 29, hosting Albion College in an exhibition game at the Breslin Center.
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