Tom Izzo hints at potential non-conference showdown for Spartans

College basketball is coming up quickly and that means we could have more clarity on a finalized schedule.

For Michigan State, that may mean a matchup with Oakland University as Tom Izzo was hinting at earlier this evening:

Tom Izzo on if he'll talk to Oakland's Greg Kampe, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 last week: “Maybe we can talk about what we're going to do against each other, because we got a lot of time. He's sitting there, I'm sitting here.”

Seems like MSU-Oakland is happening this season.

— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) November 9, 2020

After Kampe was diagnosed with COVID-19 last week, Izzo confirmed today that he also tested positive for the virus.

If this matchup were to be officially announced, it would only be their third confirmed non-conference game for this season so far.

The ACC-Big Ten challenge is still happening and in that game, the Spartans will play Virginia.

The Champions Classic is also still on as of right now and in that game, MSU would be playing Duke. It’s unclear if that’s going to stay though since the location of the event keeps shifting. The latest report has the Spartans traveling to play at Duke inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Michigan State last played Oakland in December of 2019 and that matchup wasn’t particularly close. The Spartans won that game by a score of 72-49.