Michigan State vs Arizona basketball game set for Thanksgiving Day at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif.
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo revealed in March that the Spartans would be playing against the University of Arizona on Thanksgiving Day early in the 2023-24 season. The particulars of that game were announced on Monday.
According to Shad Powers, a columnist for the Palm Springs Desert Sun and a former contributor to SpartanMag in the late 1990s, the game will be played in the 10,000-seat Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif.
Michigan State will play Arizona at 4:30 p.m. (ET), with FOX handling a nationally televised broadcast which will have strong doubleheader appeal for Michiganders. The game will follow the Detroit Lions’ annual Thanksgiving Day game, which will be played this year against the Green Bay Packers – ironically Izzo’s boyhood favorite.
The Michigan State vs Arizona game will be the finals of the Acrisure Classic, with Michigan State and Arizona each participating in a play-in game at their home arenas against yet-to-be-named opponents. Win or lose in the first round, the Spartans and Wildcats will meet in Palm Desert, Calif., on Thanksgiving Day.
The play-in games will provide extra branding for the Acrisure Arena and Acrisure Classic.
Acrisure CEO Greg Williams, a Lansing native, is a major donor to Michigan State sports and has a strong relationship with Izzo. Williams and his wife, Dawn, have committed a $10 million donation to help fund the Tom Izzo Football Building, which is under construction.
Acrisure is an insurance company based in Grand Rapids. Williams co-founded Acrisure in 2005.
The Acrisure Arena, which opened in December of 2022, is home of the Coachella Valley Firebirds hockey team in the American Hockey League.
Palm Desert is located 122 miles east of Los Angeles, just outside of Palm Springs.
The Acrisure Classic will mark the first college basketball game played at Acrisure Arena.
Joe Lunardi’s early projections for the 2024 NCAA Tournament has Michigan State as No. 1 seed in the Midwest, and Arizona as a No. 5 seed in the West.
Arizona went 28-7 last year, won the Pac-12 Tournament but was upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Princeton.
The Wildcats are projected to lose at least four players who averaged eight or more points per game from last year’s team but are expected to return 7-foot center Oumar Ballo. Ballo, a Gonzaga transfer from Mali in West Africa, averaged 14.2 points and 8.6 rebounds last season and was named first-team All-Pac 12.
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He is expected to match up against fellow Mali native, Mady Sissoko of the Spartans. Sissoko averaged 5.1 points and 6.1 rebounds while starting 33 games for Michigan State last season.
Michigan State will return most of its firepower from last year’s team which went 21-13, upset Marquette in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 15th time in Izzo’s career.
ESPN’s Jeff Borzello has the Spartans ranked No. 4 in the nation in his “Way Too Early Top 25” for the 2023-24 season.
The Spartans are expecting to have Jaden Akins and AJ Hoggard back on the roster next season. Both have entered their names in the NBA Draft but neither was invited to the NBA Draft Combine or the G League Elite Camp.
Hoggard and/or Akins can still have skill workouts with NBA teams during the month of May, but most indications point toward them returning to the Spartans next season, along with leading scorer Tyson Walker, senior Malik Hall, Sissoko and rising sophomores Jaxon Kohler, Carson Cooper and Tre Holloman.
Michigan State will welcome in the No. 6 recruiting class in the country according to the On3 Industry Rankings, led by No. 13 Xavier Booker, No. 30 Coen Carr, No. 38 Jeremy Fears and No. 80 Gehrig Normand.
