MSU football announces home-and-home series with Ohio school

Michigan State football has announced a new home-and-home series with a Big 12 team from a neighboring state.

The Spartansannounced on Thursday that they will begin a home-and-home series with Cincinnati, starting in 2030. Michigan State will first travel to Nippert Stadium for a matchup against Cincinnati on September 14, 2030, with the Bearcats then traveling to Spartan Stadium the following season on September 13, 2031.

This will mark the first time Michigan State and Cincinnati have ever played in football.

While Michigan State and Cincinnati have never played before, there is a connection between the two midwest programs through Spartans legendary coach Mark Dantonio. He was the coach at Cincinnati for three seasons from 2004 to 2006 before he took the Michigan State job and the rest was history from there.

Michigan State was also strongly pursuing Cincinnati legendary coach Luke Fickell after Dantonio retired, but Fickell ultimately turned the Spartans down. Mel Tucker would be hired after Fickell said no to the Spartans' offer.

Michigan State announced a few other future matchups on Thursday, including a home-and-home with Oklahoma State and a future home game against Duquesne of the FCS level. More details on those games can be seen in the social media post embedded below:

Save the date(s) 🗓️ pic.twitter.com/Hz0YYPxBuz— Michigan State Football (@MSU_Football) May 7, 2026

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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: MSU football announces home-and-home series with Ohio school