Michigan State basketball: Date announced for annual Oakland matchup

The date for the annual Oakland vs. Michigan State basketball game was announced on Thursday afternoon. When is it?

While it may be the middle of the summer, some Michigan State basketball news popped up on Thursday.

No, it’s not about the transfer portal or any of the guys on the roster (which is finalized, by the way), but rather the date of an annual matchup with an in-state foe.

According to Jon Rothstein, the Spartans and Golden Grizzlies will host their annual showdown in Detroit on Dec. 17 at Little Caesars Arena.

Source: Next season's game between Michigan State and Oakland will be played on December 17th at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 20, 2024

Fortunately for the Spartans, they won’t have to face the likes of Trey Townsend (transferred to Arizona) or Jack Gohlke (NBA draft process). They won’t, however, have Tyson Walker, AJ Hoggard, Mady Sissoko, or Malik Hall to help out. Jaden Akins will be the veteran of the squad along with Frankie Fidler and they’ll need guys like Tre Holloman, Xavier Booker, Jeremy Fears, Jaxon Kohler, and Coen Carr to step up in a big way.

The Spartans’ roster will be one of the best in the Big Ten, on paper, but there’s still a major question mark at center. That’s probably the lone reason fans aren’t as excited ahead of the 2024-25 season as they were ahead of 2023-24.

While this game is never a cakewalk for Michigan State basketball, it does hold a 22-0 all-time advantage over the Golden Grizzlies and just won the most recent battle in East Lansing, 79-62. The closest game in recent memory was in 2015-16 when the Golden Grizzlies took Michigan State to overtime at the Palace of Auburn Hills before losing 99-93. These matchups have always been fun.

There have also been some cool storylines over the years with Izzo and Greg Kampe being such good friends. We’ve seen closely-contested matchups, ugly Christmas sweaters, and even a former Spartan (Rocket Watts) playing for Oakland.

Here’s to another fun matchup in 2024-25.