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In a Rematch of the Elite 8 Earlier this Year Rick Pitino and the Louisville Cardinals Coming to Breslin This Season!

The Spartans have struggled to get good teams to come to Breslin to play them. This is some very good news for the Spartans home schedule next year. Here is the entire press release sent out moments ago from MSU men's basketball SID Matt Larson.

Michigan State Will Host Louisville In Big Ten/ACC Challenge

Spartans and Cardinals last met in 2015 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight

Michigan State’s game in the 2015 Big Ten/ACC Challenge will be a rematch of its 2015 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight game against Louisville. The Spartans will host the Cardinals on Wednesday, Dec. 2 at Breslin Center. This will be the first regular-season meeting between MSU and Louisville since 1999, with the last three games having come in the NCAA Tournament.

The last time the two schools met on a college campus, Michigan State defeated Louisville, 69-57, in the Breslin Center on Jan. 22, 1999. Since then, the Spartans claimed victory in the 2009 and 2015 Elite Eights, while the Cardinals won in the 2012 Sweet 16. Louisville leads the all-time series with Michigan State, 5-4. Tom Izzo is 3-2 against the Cardinals, including 2-1 against Rick Pitino.

In the most recent meeting, MSU advanced to the 2015 Final Four with a 76-70 overtime victory in the East Regional Final in Syracuse. The Spartans return three starters and seven total players that appeared in the contest, while the Cardinals bring back two starters and six players from that game. Denzel Valentine (15 points) and Bryn Forbes (14 points) are the only returners from either team to have scored in double figures in the last meeting.

Both Michigan State and Louisville can be found in many different preseason Top 25s.

Overall, MSU is 6-9 in Big Ten/ACC Challenge history. Last year, the Big Ten won the challenge, 8-6. In each of the previous two seasons, the Big Ten and ACC split the challenge with six wins each. Before that, the Big Ten won three straight challenges (2009-11), following the ACC winning the challenge in each of the first 10 seasons. (1999-2008).