The Spartans opened the Big Ten season with a win against No. 4 Purdue . Following a loss at No. 17 Michigan , the Spartans won their next eight conference games before losing at eventual Big Ten co-champion , Illinois . In January , MSU entered the AP and Coaches rankings for the first time since the end of the 1994 – 95 season . The Spartans finished in a tie for the conference championship , their first since 1990 , with a record of 13 – 3 in conference play . The Spartans earned the No. 1 seed in the inaugural Big Ten Tournament , but lost their first game in the quarterfinals to Minnesota
Big Ten Tournament
1998 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
1997–98 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team