Jon Rothstein continues to help us piece together the 2020-21 Michigan State basketball schedule, and he reported on Wednesday what we had originally thought to be the case last week — no Gavitt Games this year.
Last week, we tried reading the tea leaves of numerous reports and it seemed apparent Michigan State would not participate in this year’s Gavitt Tipoff Games. There simply appeared to be no room in the Spartans’ schedule based on previous reports and there were thoughts that only geographically close matchups (i.e. Northwestern-DePaul or Nebraska-Creighton) would take place in the event so it should come as no shock that Rothstein is reporting the event won’t occur this year.
Source: The Gavitt Games is unlikely to take place during the 20-21 college basketball season. The Big Ten and Big East both aim to resume this series in 21-22.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) October 7, 2020
Rothstein added that the plan is to move forward with the Gavitt Games returning next year — which Michigan State should certainly be part of based on contract obligations.
With the Gavitt Games officially off the table, Michigan State still has two spots to fill on their non-conference portion of the 2020-21 schedule. We can expect those two slots to be filled by traditional “buy games” with two mid-major opponents visiting the Breslin Center.
Here is how the non-conference schedule is appearing to shape up based on reports from college basketball insiders:
- Nov. 25 – 27: Orlando Invitational (three games; tournament field includes Gonzaga, Auburn, Xavier, Belmont, St. Louis, Boise State and eighth TBD team)
- Dec. 1: Champions Classic vs. Duke
- Dec. 8 or 9: ACC-Big Ten Challenge vs. TBD team
- December: Two more non-conference games
Read more on how the Spartan basketball schedule is looking based on reports
