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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OC Lindgren:
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DC Rossi:
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DL Thompson:
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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.

More below.

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.

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.

More here:

Florida Atlantic fired coach Tom Herman on Monday, the school announced, just two years into his tenure.

FAU was 6-16 during Herman's two seasons and had gone 0-6 in the AAC this year. FAU is on a five-game losing streak.


Herman took the job as FAU was transitioning from Conference USA to the AAC and after the firing of coach Willie Taggart, who was there three seasons. Chad Lunsford will be the FAU interim coach. He's the former head coach at Georgia Southern.

Sources said that the decision was results-based, as the record didn't match Herman's track record from his previous stops at Texas and Houston.

"I extend my appreciation to Tom Herman for his dedication to our university and our student-athletes," athletic director Brian White said Monday. "I informed Tom of my decision this morning and then met with the staff and team. We firmly believe in our ability to win championships and compete for bowl games, and that remains our standard."

He's the fourth AAC coach to get fired this year, as East Carolina, Temple and Rice have all fired their coaches. A majority of the six transitioning Conference USA teams have struggled with the adjustment to the AAC, as five of the seven schools at the bottom of the AAC are transitioning schools.

The FAU firing looms as the biggest surprise, as Herman had yet to complete his second season. He has three years remaining on his five-year deal.

Herman, 49, came to FAU after a stint as head coach at Texas, where he went 32-18 with four bowl wins in four seasons. Prior to that, he went 22-4 in two seasons at Houston, dominating the AAC and beating Florida State in the Peach Bowl following the 2015 season.

Following that run at Texas, Herman worked for the Chicago Bears for a year and then another year in the media. Herman should end up involved in the offensive coordinator mix somewhere, as this looms as a busy year for coordinator openings and he came up as a coordinator at Rice, Iowa State and called plays for Ohio State's 2014 national title team.

FAU has won three conference championships in school history, including Conference USA in 2017 and 2019 under Lane Kiffin. Since then, FAU has just one winning season and has endured four consecutive losing seasons.

Florida Atlantic is also rehiring defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni, who was fired by Herman on Nov. 10. Lunsford wanted Bellantoni back in his role, sources told ESPN's Adam Rittenberg. The sources added that the move isn't a poor reflection on interim defensive coordinator Brandon Harris, who prepared the defense well for Saturday's game against Temple. Harris serves as the team's cornerbacks coach.

He is hard to figure out. He was a 5 star recruit who plays like a 3 star. He did not get meaningful play time last year because he was deemed to be too skinny. He put on 20 llbs and was expected to be a more physical player. This is a small sample so far this season but he does not appear to be the dominant player he was touted to be. He appears to be a perimeter player but with his size he should be driving to the basket, getting boards and being aggressive in the paint. Are the rating services that inaccurate in his case?

Update: Many MSU fans will want to discuss the Lions because of expectations. Let's create one ongoing thread so we can keep it in one place.
















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Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs suffered a hamstring injury at practice Monday night, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Gibbs was being evaluated for a leg injury after departing the practice session early, though it was unclear on which play he was injured.

Gibbs, 22, is coming off a Pro Bowl rookie season in which he rushed for 945 yards and 10 touchdowns to go along with 316 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown.

East Lansing, Mich. -- Michigan State and North Dakota will play in the 2026 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game on Saturday, October 31, 2026 in Austin, Texas. North Dakota will serve as the host institution for the game, which will be played at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park in Austin, Texas – the home of the Texas Stars, the AHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's Dallas Stars.


"We look forward to welcoming two of the top collegiate hockey programs and some of the best hockey fans in the country to Austin," said Drew Hays, Director of the Austin Sports Commission. "For hockey enthusiasts, the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game is a "can't miss" event and we look forward to showcasing why Austin is the perfect destination to host the event in 2026."


"We are looking forward to playing in the Hall of Fame Game and our trip to Austin," said MSU head coach Adam Nightingale . "It promises to be an outstanding matchup between two storied college hockey programs that combined have won 11 NCAA National Championships. We are honored to be a part of this fantastic event.


Tickets will go on sale to the public on Wednesday, November 12, 2025. Please visit the official event webpage at theralph.com/Austin or email austin@theralph.com for more information on this destination event.

Was absolutely right. What he didnt say was they were still 22 pts better than us. This has gotten to bw a real painful team to watch.

Important to note that PFF's grading scale is approximately the following;

PFF Grading Scale
90+ - Elite
80 to 89 - Great
70 to 79 - Good
60 to 69 - Average to Above Average
50 - 59 - Below Average
49 and below - Poor

OVERALL TEAM GRADES

Landed an offer from Alabama earlier this week and is now planning to visit Tuscaloosa for the Mercer game on Nov. 16.

MSU moves up two spots.

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Michigan State has lost six of seven, but still has a chance to salvage part of its season against Purdue and Rutgers. Jonathan Smith talked about that opportunity earlier today.

"We’ve got to get to five (wins) before we get to six.”

Read here:

Seriously, why and how do are they able to exist? I remember when I was a kid seeing dudes getting arrested outside Shea and Giants Stadium(s) when my dad took me to games. Dudes would be selling tickets for $20 over face and getting arrested. On Friday, I queued up for My Chemical Romance tickets and waited 30 mins to get in to purchase my tickets. Immediately, I went for the ground level seats and the Pit, and when I clicked on the available tickets they were verified resale at jacked up prices. I ended up buying 200-level seats for both the Chicago and East Rutherford shows and once I purchased my tickets I could immediately option to sell them for resale if I wanted. So basically we have a bunch of scalpers and bots that scam people within minutes of the tickets going on sale. This country is so wild. Gambling is legal now. Back in the day, you had to go to the mob bookie to bet on games. Now it's all legal. So is marijuana. LOL ... such a joke. No one cares at all about the consumer anymore. Ticketmaster needs to die.

Michigan State will play in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at 4 p.m. against Texas in Durham, N.C.

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Ozan Baris and Aristotelis Thanos will begin their journeys in the NCAA Singles Championship on Tuesday.

Baris will take on Samir Banerjee (Stanford) at 2:30 p.m. and Thanos will play Alex Kotzen of Tennessee at 5:30 p.m. in the round of 64.

Single elimination tournament with one round per day. Championship match on Sunday.

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Tuesday, Nov. 19​

Men's tennis: NCAA Individual Championships (Waco, Texas)
Discussion Thread

Men's basketball: vs. Samford
8 p.m. Peacock
Discussion Thread
W 83-75

Wednesday, Nov. 20​

Men's tennis: NCAA Individual Championships (Waco, Texas)
Discussion Thread

Women's basketball: vs. Detroit Mercy
6:30 p.m. B1G+
Discussion Thread
W 101-44

Thursday, Nov. 21​

Men's tennis: NCAA Individual Championships (Waco, Texas)
Discussion Thread

Volleyball: vs. Oregon
6 p.m.

Ice hockey: at US National Team Development Program
7 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 22​

Men's tennis: NCAA Individual Championships (Waco, Texas)
Discussion Thread

Women's soccer (NCAA Tournament): vs. Texas (Durham, N.C.)
4 p.m.

Football: vs. Purdue
8 p.m. FOX

Saturday, Nov. 23​

Men's tennis: NCAA Individual Championships (Waco, Texas)
Discussion Thread

Cross country: NCAA Championships (Madison, Wis.)

Volleyball: vs. Maryland
1 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 24​

Men's tennis: NCAA Individual Championships (Waco, Texas)
Discussion Thread

Wrestling: at Black Knight Invitational (West Point, N.Y.)



Bold = home games

Michigan State's (4-6, 2-5 in Big Ten play) season finale against Rutgers (6-4, 3-4 in Big Ten play) had its start time and television information announced Monday afternoon. The Week 14 game at Spartan Stadium is set to start at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time and will broadcast on FS1.

With the 3:30 p.m. start time, that means the Spartans will not play a single game noon during the 2024 regular season.

More here, via @Kevin Knight:

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CHICAGO – For the second time this season, and the third time in her career, fifth year libero Nalani Iosia has been named B1G Defensive Player of the Week. Iosia is the first player in program history to earn three B1G Defensive Player of the Week awards since it originated in 2005.

Iosia led the Spartans to a 2-0 week which included wins over archrival Michigan (3-1) and Iowa (3-0). Michigan State held its opponents to .073 hitting last week, a mark that topped the Big Ten conference. Against Iowa on Sunday, November 17, MSU held the Hawkeyes to -.020 hitting, the lowest mark against the Spartans in B1G action since 2014 (Indiana, -.075).

On a personal level, Iosia posted 5.00 digs/set on 35 total digs and tallied her 11th match of the season with 20 or more digs last Friday against Michigan when she had 23. On the season Iosia holds a commanding lead in digs/set among her B1G peers with 4.49 on 445 total digs. She has been even better in conference play averaging 4.54 digs/set.

Her 4.49 digs/set would be the sixth-best mark in program history if the season ended today. Iosia has amassed 1,395 digs in three seasons at MSU to rank fifth in program history for career digs.

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MSU returns to the Breslin Student Events Center for a pair of B1G conference matches this week hosting Oregon on Thursday, November 21 and Maryland on Saturday, November 23.

Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.

Mid court (Sect 210), upper bowl.

Call or text Joe at (313) 671-5953, if interested.

Mid court (Sect 210) upper bowl.

Please a call or text Joe at (313) 671-5953, if interested.

MSU HC Jonathan Smith is set to have his weekly press conference momentarily. This thread will provide live updates throughout his time speaking.