Michigan State men’s basketball’s second opponent in this year’s Fort Myers Tip-Off has been revealed.
The program announced on Thursday that the Spartans will play East Carolina on Tuesday, Nov. 25. This will precede their meeting with North Carolina on Thanksgiving (Thursday, Nov. 27).
The Tarheels will face St. Bonaventure that Tuesday, and East Carolina will take on the Bonnies on Thanksgiving.
The Pirates turned in their best season since their 2012-13 campaign this past season, securing 19 wins. Their meeting with Michigan State in November will be their first ever.
Michigan State’s matchup with North Carolina, set to be the two programs’ 18th meeting ever, is one of the Spartans’ three non-conference meetings with traditional college basketball blue bloods. They will also face Kentucky in the Champions Classic on Nov. 18 and will host Duke at the Breslin Center in December.
Frankly, Michigan State’s meeting with East Carolina should be a nice break in what is otherwise set to be a tough non-conference schedule, though no opponent should be taken lightly.
The Spartans’ showdown with North Carolina on Thanksgiving will be the game to watch in this invitational, as the two storied college basketball programs will go toe to toe in what should be an epic matchup. It will also be a rematch of the two teams’ meeting in last year’s Maui Invitational when the Spartans prevailed over the Tar Heels in overtime, capturing a third-place finish in the tournament.
The Fort-Myers Tip-Off is a two-day event that started in 2018. This year will be Michigan State’s first time participating in the invitational. The games will be played at Suncoast Credit Union Arena.
Travel packages for this year’s event will be available to purchase starting June 12. More information can be found HERE.
Michigan State’s conference home and away matchups were recently revealed. They are as follows:
Home: Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Northwestern, Ohio State, UCLA, USC, Indiana, Rutgers
Away: Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Washington, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Rutgers
The Spartans won the Big Ten regular season title last season and went as far as the Elite Eight, where they fell to the No. 1 overall seed, Auburn.
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