MSU basketball lands near top of latest CBS Sports preseason rankings

A national college basketball analyst has the Spartans sitting just outside the top five in his most recent preseason rankings for next season.

Gary Parrish of CBS Sports released an updated batch of his 2026-27 preseason rankings, with the Spartans to no surprise listed in the top 10. Parrish has Michigan State sitting at No. 6 in his latest poll, which is right on par for most of the preseason polls I’ve came across in recent weeks.

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Here’s what Parrish had to say about Michigan State:

“This ranking is based on the Spartans returning five of the top eight scorers — specifically Jeremy Fears Jr., Coen Carr, Kur Teng, Jordan Scott and Cam Ward — from a team that finished 27-8 and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2026 NCAA Tournament. That core will be joined by a recruiting class highlighted by Charlotte transfer Anton Bonke and four-star prospects Ethan Taylor, Carlos Medlock Jr., Julius Avent and Jasiah Jervis.”

Among Big Ten teams, Michigan State was third in Parrish’s poll. The Spartans were behind only rival Michigan (No. 3) and Illinois (No. 4). Other Big Ten teams included in the rankings were USC (No. 16), Purdue (No. 19), Indiana (No. 21) and Nebraska (No. 26).

Click on the post below to see the complete updated rankings from Parrish: