Ranking Michigan State's best 10-game starts to a season under Tom Izzo
Where the 2025-2026 season ranks among Izzo's best starts throughout his career.
Fans aren't always used to the Michigan State men's basketball teams putting everything together before the new year each season, as sometimes it takes the Spartans time to hit their stride, which makes campaigns with strong early starts especially worth savoring.
MSU has started the 2025-2026 season with a 9–1 opening recording through 10 games, including a mark of 2-0 in Big Ten play. The Spartans play with a noticeable spark, and the strong beginning to the campaign prompted a look back at some of the most dominant 10-game starts throughout head coach Tom Izzo's career.
What stands out in hindsight is just how many impressive early runs Izzo has engineered, despite the long-held narrative that his teams peak later in the season. Whether or not this exercise ends up foreshadowing postseason success for the 2025–2026 Spartans remains to be seen, but their start firmly places them among Izzo’s best.
1. 2000–01
Record: 10–0
Notable Wins: No. 6 North Carolina, No. 8 Florida, No. 8 Seton Hall
Ranking in December: No. 1
Credit: Eric Seals / USA TODAY NETWORK
Izzo’s first — and only — national title defense began in dominant fashion. Led by a dynamic backcourt of Charlie Bell and Jason Richardson, along with freshman center Zach Randolph, the Spartans tore through their early schedule. They defeated three top-10 opponents, all by double-digits, and claimed the No. 1 ranking for two weeks while never falling outside the top-five.
Despite finishing second in the Big Ten, MSU reached its third consecutive Final Four before falling to a loaded Arizona team. That loss marked the end of Izzo’s first true era of dominance, but the opening stretch remains unmatched.
2. 2015–16
Record: 10–0
Notable Wins: No. 4 Kansas, No. 24 Louisville
Ranking in December: No. 1
Powered by All-American Denzel Valentine, Michigan State spent four-straight weeks atop the polls in December. While the non-conference slate lacked the depth of other elite starts, wins over Kansas and Louisville highlighted a flawless opening.
The Spartans also overwhelmed lesser opponents, outscoring Binghamton and Maryland Eastern Shore by a combined score of 154–68 in back-to-back games. Unfortunately, the season ended in Round of 64 heartbreak, as Middle Tennessee State authored one of the greatest upsets in NCAA Tournament history.
3. 2017–18
Record: 9–1
Notable Wins: No. 9 North Carolina, No. 5 Notre Dame
Ranking in December: No. 2
Credit: Nick King/Lansing State Journal
Aside from an early Champions Classic loss to Duke, Michigan State cruised through its first 10 games. Sophomores Miles Bridges and Cassius Winston led the charge, while freshman big man Jaren Jackson Jr. anchored a dominant defense.
The Spartans dismantled North Carolina and Notre Dame by a combined 37 points and ascended to No. 1 nationally by the new year, looking every bit like a national title contender. However, MSU lost to Syracuse, 55-53, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament that season.
4. 2025–26
Record: 9–1
Notable Wins: No. 14 Arkansas, No. 12 Kentucky, No. 16 North Carolina
Ranking in December (as of Dec. 15, 2025): No. 9, (highest this season was at No. 7)
Credit: Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
While this year's team that currently ranks No. 9 hasn’t climbed as high in the polls as some of Izzo’s past groups as of yet — reaching No. 7 as its highest-ranking thus far — it may be the most surprising of all. Few preseason projections placed Michigan State near the top of the Big Ten, let alone among the nation’s elite.
Instead, the Spartans have come together quickly, with expanded roles and new faces across the roster producing immediate results, including three wins against opponents ranked in the top-16 so far. How these ranked wins age remains to be seen, but Michigan State’s poise and performance in big moments have been the defining traits of its early success. MSU's only loss on the 2025-2026 season through 10 games came against a Duke team that currently ranks No. 3 in the country.
5. 1999–2000
Record: 8–2
Notable Wins: No. 5 Kansas, No. 2 North Carolina
Ranking in December: No. 5
The foundation of Michigan State’s national championship season was laid early against a brutal schedule. Victories over two top-five opponents in Kansas and North Carolina — including a statement win against the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill — set the tone for a dominant Big Ten run.
The season culminated in the program’s second national title, Izzo's first and only national championship, cementing this team as Izzo’s masterpiece and one of the most celebrated groups in school history.
Honorable Mentions
2013–14
Record: 9–1
Notable Win: No. 1 Kentucky
Ranking: No. 5
2007–08
Record: 9–1
Notable Wins: No. 24 North Carolina State, No. 20 BYU
Ranking: No. 9
