Michigan State Spartans

The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and white. The university participates in the NCAA's Division I and the Football Bowl Subdivision for football. The Spartans participate as members of the Big Ten Conference in all varsity sports. Michigan State offers 11 varsity sports for men and 12 for women.

MSU's football team was consensus national champion in 1952, the (UPI) Coaches' national champion in 1965, and named national champion by different ratings groups in 1951, 1955, 1957, and 1966. They have also won the Rose Bowl in 1954, 1956, 1988 and 2014. Its men's basketball team won the NCAA National Championship in 1979 and 2000. The MSU men's ice hockey team won national titles in 1966, 1986 and 2007.

Alan Haller, who played football for the Spartans, was named the athletic director on September 1, 2021. Haller was fired on May 1, 2025.

In 1925, the institution changed its name to Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science, and, as an agricultural school, its teams were referred to as the Aggies. Looking to move beyond its agricultural roots, Michigan State held a contest to find a new nickname. They had decided to call the teams the "Michigan Staters". George S. Alderton, a local sports writer for the Lansing State Journal decided the name was too cumbersome and went through the entries to find a better and more heroic name. He decided on the "Spartans."

With a heroic name, the "Spartans" quickly caught on as the teams' new nickname. They later changed the lyrics of the Fight Song to reflect the name change of the College and its sports teams.

As the college grew, it looked to join a major collegiate conference. When the University of Chicago eliminated its football program after 1939, and withdrew from the Western Conference (now the Big Ten) in 1946, Michigan State president John A. Hannah lobbied to take its place. Despite opposition from the University of Michigan, the Big Ten admitted M.S.C. on May 20, 1949. After joining the conference, head coach Clarence L. "Biggie" Munn led the 1953 Spartan football team to the Rose Bowl, beating UCLA 28–20. Two years later, successor coach Hugh "Duffy" Daugherty carried the 1955 team to a second Rose Bowl and again defeated UCLA, 17–14.

Michigan State has 21 NCAA Division I-A varsity teams: 10 varsity sports for men and 11 for women. They participate in the Big Ten Conference except fencing, where until 1997, from the University founding, MSU featured fencing as a varsity sport.

During that time, MSU was coached by the first American recognized as a master of fencing, Charles Schmitter, for 45 years, from 1939 to 1984. Upon his retirement, his student, Fred Freiheit, coached from 1984 until fencing was demoted from varsity status in 1997. The Michigan State University Fencing Club is a competing member of the Midwest Fencing Conference, which consists of sixteen (16) schools with varsity or club programs.