Michigan State Ready to Take on Duke in Champions Classic

November 9, 2026: Michigan State travels to Chicago for their annual early season contest in the Champions Classic. This year’s opponent is one they have had the least success against (1-4) - the Duke Blue Devils. John Scheyer is in his fifth year and looks to have another dominant team loaded with 5 stars and potential NBA players. Their emerging star is 17 year old Juaquim Boumtje Boumtje who plays the four at 7’2” 250 pounds. He is a matchup nightmare for everyone who faces Duke this year. Both teams enter the game at 2-0 with impressive blowout wins over easier competition. Duke brings a lot of offensive firepower and with their size, a real potential to cause all sorts of problems to MSU’s interior scoring attack. The biggest question heading into this game is if MSU keeps their starting lineup, can Coen Carr hang with a guy at the 4 who has 8 inches on him? Or maybe he can cause some mismatch problems for the big man? It will be interesting to see what Izzo and the staff do and perhaps that becomes a recipe throughout the season depending on its success or failure. OUR AWESOME SPONSORS Every great podcast needs great sponsors. And we’re fortunate to have three that not only support the show, but also make it more fun for you guys. First up: Nudge Printing. If you’re looking for Michigan State gear, there are approximately 47,000 places on the internet willing to sell you a green T-shirt. But we recommend going with the Spartans who actually know what they’re doing. Nudge Printing is owned and operated by MSU alums Gabe and Brittany, right here in Michigan. They make some seriously good Spartan apparel, along with gear for a bunch of other schools. And, perhaps most importantly to you, Nudge supplies the apparel and gift cards for our listener contests. So when you win something on the show, there’s a pretty good chance Nudge is the reason you have something to put on your body or spend at the mall. Check them out, support a couple of fellow Spartans, and get yourself some new gear. Then there are The Brothers that just do Gutters. You know what gutters do? They keep water out of places where water shouldn't be. You know what we want Michigan State to do? Keep opposing players out of places where opposing players shouldn't be. That's why The Brothers are the official sponsor of our “player MSU needs to keep in the gutter” segment. It’s a match made in heaven. If your gutters are overflowing, clogged, damaged, or generally behaving like a Big Ten defense that has forgotten its assignments, call Kurt Stauffer and the Grand Rapids crew. The Brothers that just do Gutters — Grand Rapids They handle installation, repair, cleaning, maintenance and gutter guards throughout the Grand Rapids area. They also have you covered in Metro Detroit. The Brothers that just do Gutters — Metro Detroit Mention “Final Four” to get 10% off your gutter work. That's a much better discount than the one you'll get if you tell your contractor you finished second in your office pool. And finally, our friends at Squeegee Squad of Grand Rapids. We’ve decided that if two people are going to spend an entire basketball season arguing about who is better at cleaning the glass, we might as well have a professional window-cleaning company sponsor it. Thus, Squeegee Squad sponsors our “who cleans the glass best?” competition. They specialize in residential and commercial window cleaning, along with pressure and soft washing, gutter cleaning and other exterior cleaning services. Basically, if it's dirty and attached to your house or business, they probably have a way to make it look better. <a