Two of college basketball's iconic programs will square off next Thanksgiving Day as part of the 2025 Fort Myers Tip-Off.
Event organizers made the announcement in Thursday that Michigan State and North Carolina will duke it out at Suncoast Credit Union Arena on the campus of Florida SouthWestern State College.
The Spartans and Tar Heels will anchor the Fort Myers Tip-Off Beach Division, which will take place Thanksgiving week in 2025.
The remaining two teams in the Beach Division, as well as final game dates and matchups, will be announced in the coming weeks, event organizers said.
Over the years, North Carolina and Michigan State have met 17 times - including most recently in the NCAA March Madness Tournament. The last regular season meeting between the two programs was on Nov. 26, 2017, in which the Spartans came out on top 63-45.
Overall, the Tar Heels hold the advantage with 13 wins and just four losses.
North Carolina and Michigan State represent two of the most historically successful programs in college basketball.
All-time, North Carolina has won six NCAA Tournament championships which is the third most in NCAA history.
The Tar Heels boast 21 Final Four appearances, the most in NCAA history, and 53 all-time NCAA Tournament berths which is the second most.
Michigan State has 37 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 10 Final Four appearances and a pair of national championships.
The Spartans also won a combined 22 Big Ten Championships, 16 regular-season titles and six tournament crowns.
The only way to guarantee tickets for the 2025 Fort Myers Tip-Off is through official fan travel packages. Fan travel packages for next year’s event will be available in February, but fans can immediately register to express interest in a travel package and to receive priority access to next year’s event by logging on to the Fort Myers Tip-Off website .
DOWNLOAD the free NBC2 News app for your latest news and weather alerts.