The Michigan State women’s basketball program unveiled its schedule for the season on Thursday, Sept. 18.

And when it comes to seeing big time matchups at the Breslin Center, fans will have to wait until Big Ten play.

The Spartans will get to face several of the top Big Ten teams at Breslin Center this season. Each of the teams that finished tied for fifth or better in the Big Ten last season will visit East Lansing. The only road game MSU has against a team that finished in the top five in the Big Ten last season is when it travels to face Michigan in mid-February.

Here are the home games of note for MSU, which opens the regular season against Mercyhurst on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Jan. 22: vs. USC

This is one of the biggest home games on the schedule with one of the nation’s top players in JuJu Watkins, the reigning Naismith Trophy winner, headlining the USC roster. Watkins is coming off a torn ACL and USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said on Sept. 18 there is no timetable for her return. USC is also the defending Big Ten champion and was the runner-up in the Big Ten tournament and made the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament while ended the season ranked No. 5 in the USA Today Coaches poll.

Feb. 1: vs. Michigan

This is the first matchup of two with a two-week span the Spartans will have against rival Michigan, which finished in a three-way tie for fifth in the Big Ten with Illinois and MSU. The Wolverines have several key pieces back from a young core last season that was headlined by 2025 All-Big Ten freshman team selections Olivia Olson and Syla Swords. MSU split its meetings against Michigan last season.

Feb. 4: vs. Maryland

Maryland has consistently been one of the top programs in the Big Ten since becoming a member of the conference and ended last season tied for third with Ohio State. The Terps reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament and ended the season ranked No. 14 in the coaches poll. Two All-Big Ten players are back for Maryland in Bri McDaniel and Kaylene Smikel and they also have Indiana transfer Yarden Garzon on the roster.

Feb. 11: vs. UCLA

UCLA was the Big Ten runner-up last season before finishing as the conference tournament champion and has several notable players returning from a squad that went 31-4, reached the Final Four and finished ranked No. 3 in the final coaches poll. The most notable of those is center Lauren Betts, who was the national defensive player of the year and also earned the same award from the Big Ten last season. Betts did not play against the Spartans when they played at UCLA in February.

March 1: vs. Ohio State

The Buckeyes have been among the Big Ten’s top teams in recent seasons and that included finishing tied for third with Maryland last season. Ohio State has one of the top young talents in the conference in reigning Big Ten freshman of the year Jaloni Cambridge.

Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway and on BlueSky @briancalloway.