It's a new rankings release week at Rivals, and one Michigan State commit has moved up from a three-star to a four-star prospect.

Class of 2025 defensive tackle Derrick Simmons has been bumped up from a rating 5.7 to a rating of 5.8 to earn his fourth star.

"I’m very grateful for the bump on Rivals," Simmons told Spartans Illustrated. "I think my years of hard work have paid off, and it’s being represented by this bump. All my hours of lifting, practicing, studying film, etc. are very much worth it."

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For the 2nd day in a row the Michigan State Spartans hockey team has picked up a commitment. Today it is Brooks Cullen (2006) forward of Moorhead, Minnesota who announced his pledge to the Spartans. Cullen was the captain of Moorhead High last season and will be back with the Spuds this season. Last year Cullen had 15 goals and 6 assists in 27 games played, and was a 16th round selection of the Fargo Force in the USHL.

I would expect Cullen to play his senior season with Moorhead this year, and then finish the season with some games in Fargo. He will need for sure a USHL season in 2025-26, and maybe 2026-27 before arriving at MSU. Cullen is the oldest brother of a talented trio with his younger brothers Wyatt (2008-NTDP forward) and Joey Cullen (2010-Moorhead) on the way up as well. They all are the son of Matt Cullen who played in the NHL for 21 seasons.

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Michigan State (3-1) has its final game before the Maui Invitational tonight. The Spartans will host the Samford Bulldogs (4-1) out of the Southern Conference.

Tip off from the Breslin Center will be at approximately 8 p.m. The game will be streamed exclusively on Peacock.

Stay tuned here for live updates and game discussion from East Lansing.

Saturday's clash against Bowling Green was a hard game to coach for Tom Izzo. Sure, he was frustrated with the officials throughout the first half and the Falcons kept it tight with Michigan State for a majority of the basketball game, but it was hard for a different reason.

One of Izzo’s former players was sitting on the bench on the other side of the court. Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr. played under Izzo for four years from 2014 until 2018. He began his coaching career in 2021 and has worked his way up to being the associate head coach for BGSU.

“It’s hard enough to coach against your former assistants, but it’s really hard to coach against your former players,” Tom Izzo said after the game.

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DISCLAIMER: We were planning on publishing this on Sunday, but we ran into some technical difficulties that we didn't get figured out until today. So, yes, I know this is somewhat old news because the MSU vs. Bowling Green game was on Saturday.

Baris and Thanos have earned their spot to compete in the NCAA Individual Championship on Nov. 19-24.​

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Two Michigan State men's tennis players are heading to Waco, Texas to compete in the NCAA Individual Championships. Two Spartans, junior Ozan Baris and redshirt sophomore Aristotelis Thanos, punched their ticket.

The singles and doubles competition will be conducted Tuesday-Sunday, Nov. 19-24 at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas. Baylor University serves as host. The NCAA Individual Championships are making their debut as the tournament has moved from the spring to the fall for the first time.

Two Spartans, junior Ozan Baris and redshirt sophomore Aristotelis Thanos, punched their ticket.

Baris earned his spot at ITA Midwest Regionals in East Lansing, where he became the Midwest Single Champion while becoming the first Spartan to claim that title. The Spartan junior is making his third NCAA Championships appearance, reaching the national semifinals a year ago, losing to eventual national champion Filip Planinsek of Alabama. Baris is currently ranked No. 1 in the ITA Individual Rankings, and posted an 8-3 record this fall.

Thanos punched his ticket to the tournament competing at ITA Sectionals on Nov. 10 after making it to the quarterfinals. This is the Spartan redshirt sophomore's first NCAA Championships appearance. Thanks is currently ranked No. 72 in the ITA Individual Rankings, and registered a 7-4 record this fall.

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Match play starts on Tuesday, Nov. 19 and continues until they crown singles and doubles champions on Nov. 24.

Both Baris and Thanos will compete in the singles tournament. All matches shall be the best-of-three sets. No-ad scoring and a seven-point tiebreaker at six-games-all will be used for all matches.

Baris will take on Samir Banjeree from Stanford at 2:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. CT. Thanos takes on Alex Kotzen from Tennessee at 5:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. CT.

Keep up with the Spartans progress in the NCAA Individual Championships here: Tournament Central.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

After getting back in the win column versus Bowling Green on Saturday — in a game that was much more competitive than the 14-point final score margin showed — the Spartans (3-1) welcome in the Samford Bulldogs (4-1) on Tuesday night.

Samford is not your average mid-major squad — the Bulldogs are dangerous.

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