Michigan State Spartans Basketball

One of the greatest basketball players of all time, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, once wore a Michigan State Spartans basketball jersey, in which he led the Spartans to their first ever national basketball championship (defeated a certain Larry Bird in the Final). Ever since, basketball fans have been captivated by the Michigan State Spartans basketball team, showing up in huge numbers to roar on their team as they fight to qualify for March Madness. Every Spartans home basketball game is a big event, with plenty of buildup including parties, rallies, and tailgating, and an electrifying atmosphere inside Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Go get your tickets for Michigan State Spartans basketball games from TicketX today!

How can I get cheap tickets to Michigan State Spartans basketball games?

The Jack Breslin Student Events Center in the small Michigan college town of East Lansing pulls in big crowds to watch Michigan State Spartans basketball games. The Spartans’ remarkable successes over the past few decades have made the team a point of local pride and their national profile means fans come from far and wide to see them play. Tickets can thus be tricky to get your hands on, particularly for postseason tournament games, key conference deciders, or rivalry matchups (see below), which tend to sell out quickly. For your best shot at the cheapest Michigan State Spartans basketball tickets, trust TicketX! TicketX lists all tickets as soon as they hit the market and our handy seating chart is ideal for comparing prices and seat locations. Unlike other resale sites like StubHub, SeatGeek, and TicketMaster that vary fees by venue, ticket type, or ticket price, TicketX sticks with a fixed fee of 20%. Purchase your Michigan State Spartans basketball tickets with just one click, all with the lowest commission fees around! 

How much do tickets to Michigan State Spartans basketball games cost?

Tickets to Michigan State Spartans basketball games starting from $255.08 at State Farm Arena on Nov 12 are available from TicketX. Prices are subject to change due to demand and other factors, so get the jump on the crowd and buy your tickets today!

Michigan State Spartans Basketball History

Unlike most American NCAA Division 1 colleges where either football or basketball tends to take the lead as the more prominent sport, Michigan State has experienced plenty of success on both the gridiron and the hardwood over the years. While it took the Michigan State Spartans basketball team a few decades to hit their stride, everything came together for the team in the late 1970s when they recruited one of the greatest basketball players of all time, Earvin “Magic” Johnson. In 1978, Magic’s freshman year, the Spartans surged all the way to the Elite 8, where they were knocked out by the Kentucky Wildcats. Magic would fully live up to his nickname in 1979, taking the Spartans all the way through the NCAA postseason March Madness tournament to the championship final, where Magic came up against fellow future NBA great Larry Bird’s Indiana State Sycamores, who were heading into the final off the back of an undefeated season. In front of the largest television audience ever to watch a college basketball game, the Spartans upset the favored Sycamores 75–64 to bring home their first-ever NCAA title, with Magic receiving player of the tournament honors (he left university later that year to turn pro with the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he immediately won an NBA title!). The 1999-2000 Spartans team would repeat the feat of their predecessors when they downed the Florida Gators 89-76 to earn Michigan State its second NCAA title. As well as the legendary Magic Johnson, other top Spartans players have also gone on to star in the NBA, including Zach Randolph, Jason Richardson, Steve Smith, and Draymond Green. Since 1998, the Spartans have been perennial contenders in the March Madness tournament, qualifying for an incredible 25 straight tournaments (no tournament was held in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic), during which they made it as far as the Elite 8 on 10 occasions and Final Four on 8, winning their 2000 title and finishing as runners-up in 2009 (with an 89-72 loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels in the final) in the meantime. After a Sweet 16 exit at the hands of the Kansas State Wildcats in 2023, Spartans fans will be hoping to see their team go much further in 2024 and bring home that second title that they believe they deserve.

Michigan State Spartans Basketball Rivalries

No matter the sport involved, there is only one rival at the top of every Michigan State Spartans’ hit list: their state rivals, the Michigan Wolverines. While Michigan technically leads the all-time series 97-90, the Spartans faithful will tell you until they are blue in the face that their team has led the series since joining the Big Ten in 1950. As well as many dramatic (and at times controversial) games between the two Michigan teams, the two programs have at times battled over their shared recruiting grounds as they try to sign the most promising high school prospects. Some of their off-the-court battles have even ended up in a different kind of, er, court, during the Michigan basketball scandal of the 1990s and early 2000s. Needless to say, when Michigan are in town, they are in for a noisy evening at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center!

Are Michigan State Spartans basketball games exciting?

Game nights at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center are always big events. Students, alumni, and local hoops fans pack the stands of the arena in their thousands, roaring their team on to victory. The student cheering zone, known as the Izzone after charismatic coach Tom Izzo, comes to every home game decked out in the school colors of green and white, pumping up the Spartans and razzing the opposition, especially if it hails from Ann Arbor.