The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and white. The university participates in the NCAA's Division I and the Football Bowl Subdivision for football. The Spartans participate as members of the Big Ten Conference in all varsity sports. Michigan State offers 11 varsity sports for men and 12 for women.
MSU's football team was recognized as national champions in 1952, named the (UPI) Coaches' national champion in 1965, and acknowledged as national champions by different ratings groups in 1951, 1955, 1957, and 1966. They have also won the Rose Bowl in 1954, 1956, 1988, and 2014. The men's basketball team won the NCAA National Championship in 1979 and 2000. The MSU men's ice hockey team won national titles in 1966, 1986, and 2007.
Alan Haller, who played football for the Spartans, was named the athletic director on September 1, 2021. Haller was removed from the position on May 1, 2025.
History
In 1925, the school changed its name to Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science. As an agricultural school, its teams were called the Aggies. To move beyond its focus on agriculture, Michigan State held a contest to choose a new nickname. The school had decided to call the teams the "Michigan Staters." George S. Alderton, a local sports writer for the Lansing State Journal, thought the name was too long and searched through the contest entries to find a better and more heroic name. He chose the name "Spartans."
The name "Spartans" became popular quickly as the new nickname for the teams. Later, the school changed the lyrics of its Fight Song to match the name change of the college and its sports teams.
As the college grew, it wanted to join a major college conference. When the University of Chicago ended its football program in 1939 and left the Western Conference (now the Big Ten) in 1946, Michigan State president John A. Hannah worked to convince the conference to let the school join. Even though the University of Michigan opposed the move, the Big Ten accepted Michigan State College on May 20, 1949. After joining the conference, head coach Clarence L. "Biggie" Munn led the 1953 Spartan football team to the Rose Bowl, where they beat UCLA 28–20. Two years later, the next coach, Hugh "Duffy" Daugherty, led the 1955 team to another Rose Bowl and again defeated UCLA, 17–14.
Sports sponsored
Michigan State University has 21 NCAA Division I-A varsity teams: 10 men's sports and 11 women's sports. Most teams compete in the Big Ten Conference, except fencing, which was a varsity sport from the university's founding until 1997. During that time, Charles Schmitter, the first American recognized as a master of fencing, coached the team for 45 years, from 1939 to 1984. After Schmitter retired, his student, Fred Freiheit, coached until fencing was no longer a varsity sport in 1997. The Michigan State University Fencing Club is part of the Midwest Fencing Conference, which includes 16 schools with varsity or club fencing programs.
The Spartans baseball team began playing in 1884. They have reached the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship five times, including one appearance in the College World Series in 1954, where they finished third. The team has won four Big Ten conference championships and five Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association titles. Notable players include Hall of Famer Robin Roberts, Tom Yewcic (Most Outstanding Player of the 1954 College World Series), and athletes who later played in the major leagues, such as Kirk Gibson, Dick Radatz, Ron Perranoski, Steve Garvey, Rick Miller, and Mark Mulder. Six Spartans have been named First Team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association, including Tom Yewcic (1954), Rob Ellis (1971), Ron Pruitt (1972), Al Weston (1977), Kirk Gibson (1978), and Bob Malek (2002).
Michigan State's men's basketball team has won two NCAA Championships: in 1979 and 2000. In 1979, Earvin "Magic" Johnson and teammates defeated Indiana State 75–64 in the championship game. In 2000, players from Flint, Michigan—Morris Peterson, Charlie Bell, and Mateen Cleaves—led the team to victory against Florida 89–76. The team reached the NCAA Championship game again in 2008–09 but lost to North Carolina 89–72. Since 1995, Tom Izzo has coached the team, with a record of 606 wins and 231 losses through April 5, 2019. Under Izzo, the team made six of twelve NCAA Final Fours from 1999 to 2010, won the 2000 championship, and earned 22 consecutive NCAA tournament bids. The Spartans have won one NCAA Championship, nine Big Ten Regular Season Championships, and six Big Ten tournament championships under Izzo.
Overall, Michigan State has won two NCAA Championships, 15 Big Ten Regular Season Championships, and six Big Ten tournament championships. The Spartans have appeared in three NCAA Championship games, 10 Final Fours, 14 Elite Eights, 20 Sweet Sixteens, and made 30 NCAA Tournament appearances.
Spartans who have played in the NBA include Adreian Payne, Deyonta Davis, Bryn Forbes, Denzel Valentine, Maurice Ager, Alan Anderson, Charlie Bell, Shannon Brown, Mateen Cleaves, Paul Davis, Terry Furlow, Jamie Feick, Draymond Green, Johnny Green, Gary Harris, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Greg Kelser, Mike Peplowski, Morris Peterson, Zach Randolph, Shawn Respert, Jason Richardson, Scott Skiles, Steve Smith, Eric Snow, Sam Vincent, Jay Vincent, and Kevin Willis.
The women's basketball team has reached the NCAA Championship game once, finishing as national runners-up to Baylor in 2005. The team began in 1972–73 under coach Mikki Baile and has had five coaches in its history. The current coach is Robyn Fralick. The Spartans have made one National Championship game, one Final Four, one Elite Eight, three Sweet Sixteens, and appeared in 15 NCAA/AIAW Tournaments.
Football has been a major part of Michigan State's history. It started as a club sport in 1884 and became a varsity sport in 1896. The Spartans had many notable players, including Lynn Chandnois, Dorne Dibble, Meredith Assaly, and Don McAulliffe. In 1951 and 1952, the team went undefeated and had the longest winning streak of 24 games. The team was named "undisputed national champions" by every official poll. The Spartans joined the Big Ten Conference in 1953 and won the league championship that season, defeating UCLA in the Rose Bowl. Legendary coach Biggie Munn passed the team to Duffy Daugherty, who later won the 1956 Rose Bowl. George Perles coached the team when they defeated USC in the 1988 Rose Bowl. The current coach is Pat Fitzgerald, who was hired on December 1, 2025. His predecessor, Jonathan Smith, had a 4–15 record before being fired in 2025. Under Mark Dantonio, the Spartans won three Big Ten Championships (2010, 2013, 2015) and reached the College Football Playoff in 2015 as the No. 3 seed, though they lost to Alabama in the Cotton Bowl. The Spartans also won the 2014 Rose Bowl, the 100th edition of the event.
In total, Michigan State has won six national championships and nine Big Ten championships. The football team now plays at Spartan Stadium, a 75,050-person stadium on campus.
Michigan State's main rival is the University of Michigan, with whom they compete for the Paul Bunyan Trophy. The Spartans have a 29–41–2 record in the annual game. They have lost the trophy five of the past eight years as of the 2024 season. The Spartans also competed against Notre Dame for the Megaphone Trophy until 2013, with a 27–33 record in those games.
The men
Notable non-varsity sports
The Michigan State University Rugby Football Club was started in 1964. Over the years, the team has improved in college rugby. During the 2010–11 season, the Spartans played in Division 2, won 10 games and lost 3, and qualified for the playoffs. Their success helped them move to Division 1–AA for the 2011–12 season. In the 2012–13 season, the Spartans moved to the Big Ten Universities D1–A conference, where they played teams like the University of Michigan and Ohio State University. The team’s success is due to former head coach Dave Poquette, who coached at Michigan State from 1992 until 2013.
The Michigan State University Water Polo Club was founded and officially recognized on November 17, 1967. When it started, the team played in the Midwest Collegiate Water Polo Association with schools like Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State, Loyola, Drake, and Western Michigan. Today, the team competes in the Big Ten division of the Collegiate Water Polo Association with schools such as Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Purdue, and Illinois. Ohio State now plays in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. After winning two Big Ten championships in 1993 and 1994, the Spartans did not win another Big Ten Championship for five years. They won a conference championship and their first national collegiate club championship in 2000. In the 2000s, the team won the Big Ten Championship in 2002 and from 2005 to 2010. This included a four-year period with two national championships in 2006 and 2008, and runner-up finishes in 2005 and 2007, as well as a third-place finish in 2010. In 2014, the Spartans won the Big Ten title game against Michigan in the final two minutes of regulation, earning their eleventh Big Ten Championship and their seventh in ten years.
MSU Athletics Hall of Fame
In 1992, thirty former Spartan athletes, coaches, and administrators were added to the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame as the first group. On October 1, 1999, the University opened a new Hall of Fame for sports in the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center.
Championships
Michigan State has won 20 NCAA national team titles.
- Men's (19)
- Basketball (2): 1979, 2000
- Boxing (2): 1951, 1955
- Cross Country (8): 1939, 1948, 1949, 1952, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959
- Gymnastics (1): 1958 (co-champions)
- Ice Hockey (3): 1966, 1986, 2007
- Soccer (2): 1967 (co-champions), 1968 (co-champions)
- Wrestling (1): 1967
- Women's (1)
- Cross Country (1): 2014
- See also: List of NCAA schools with the most NCAA Division I championships Big Ten Conference NCAA national team championships
Here are 10 national team titles that were not given by the NCAA.
- Men's (4)
- Rifle (3): 1914, 1916, 1917
- Women's (1)
- Softball (1): 1976
- See also: List of Big Ten Conference National Championships List of NCAA schools with the most Division I national championships