The good news is that Michigan State knows what its biggest issue is before the games officially start. The bad news is that there's a big issue already.

UConn head coach Dan Hurley spelled out in black and white what it was after his Huskies handled MSU at the Breslin Center last week. The Spartans had an issue at center, but if they can figure it out, they've really got something.

"If their team could figure out the center thing, you know, and they’ve got three viable guys there that all bring different things,” Hurley said. "I think that once they get this center thing together, I think they've got one of the best teams in the country."

Analyzing Center Problems

The five was and is the spot that would make or break whether the Spartans, ranked sixth in the preseason AP Poll, could truly become a national championship contender this season. Michigan State has proven players who can play any other position on the court at spots 1-4, including a superstar point guard in Jeremy Fears Jr.

Center was the first and only need that MSU had in the transfer portal during the spring with the losses of Carson Cooper and Jaxon Kohler. The Spartans searched for a few weeks and looked at several interesting names, and they eventually landed on Anton Bonke as their solution.

Fast forward through the offseason and past three exhibition games, and the early returns on Bonke haven't been promising. He struggled across 15 minutes against Incarnate Word, but that felt like it could be shrugged off. Things turned against UConn, though, when Bonke was benched during the entire second half. Then, Bonke was removed from the starting lineup at Marquette, played just three minutes, and was benched for the whole second half again.

Bonke was supposed to be Michigan State's starting center, though. That's the precise role he was plucked from the transfer portal to fill, and it's not the role he's playing.

The season hasn't officially tipped off, and MSU is operating in a way that a team does when an injury happens: it's trying out a lot of different things and throwing different things at the wall to see what sticks. A good portion of that could be that it is, after all, exhibition season, but the sheer lack of minutes for Bonke is still very striking.

Minutes that felt reserved for Bonke have had to go elsewhere. That's largely going to Jesse McCulloch and Ethan Taylor. McCulloch does really look improved this year, but being improved enough to truly be a starting center on a national contender or a top-10 team is another thing.

Taylor has also been interesting to observe. He seems to be the center with the highest ceiling for 2026-27 on the team, though Taylor is still raw in a lot of ways, especially on the offensive end. If Bonke ends up being a spot-minutes guy who comes off the bench, Michigan State is going to rely on Taylor a ton.

There's been a trend lately of freshmen growing a lot during their first season in college, with Jase Richardson two years ago and Jordan Scott last season. Taylor may need to have that kind of season for MSU to get where it wants to go.

Possible Fixes

The way to get around the frontcourt issues, at least for now, may be to rely more on the backcourt. MSU could have one of the best trios in the nation there this year with Fears, Jasiah Jervis, and Scott. They were starting at spots 1-3, respectively, at Marquette, and it seemed to be one of the only things that truly worked on Sunday.

That's why having a superstar like Fears running the show is so important. There were stretches last season when it felt like Fears was carrying Michigan State in a lot of ways, and he's a good enough player to keep the Spartans above water long enough to eventually figure things out.

What also helps is that MSU has an opportunity to get its swagger back a bit. Michigan State's first two games of the regular season are against Quinnipiac and Toledo. Izzo probably won't mess with the lineups quite as much, but the Spartans should have enough overwhelming talent to take care of both teams relatively easily. KenPom gives MSU a 99.7% and a 98% chance to win each of those games, respectively.

Nov. 10 is the deadline for some answers, though. That's the day Michigan State takes on second-ranked Duke, which has picked up impressive exhibition wins against No. 8 Tennessee and at No. 17 Kansas. The Blue Devils are more than good enough to knock down MSU if it's still on its heels.