The Michigan State Spartans enter the four-team football playoff as the agreed-upon longshot of the group. They're not being picked by anyone nationally to take down Nick Saban and his Alabama Crimson Tide.but it's never wise to count out a Mark Dantonio team.
Here are seven reasons why MSU could topple the power structure of college football and upset Alabama on New Year's Eve.
7. The Big Ten (besides Ohio State) is due when it comes to the national championship. Since the advent of the BCS in 1998, and now the current College Football Playoff, the Buckeyes are the only team from the conference to have played for the whole enchilada. The Spartans now become the second.
6. George Blaha is on the side of Sparty, and that's never a bad thing. Blaha is one of the rocks of the Detroit sports world. You can almost picture Blaha at home these last few weeks, bellowing things like, "Touchdown, MSU!!" and "The Spartans are the football champions of the world!!" Sure, his wife and neighbors have probably tired of the constant shouting, but you don't get to be a legend like Blaha without a little at-home broadcasting practice along the way.
5. Alabama has this year's Heisman Trophy winner in do-it-all running back Derrick Henry. Just one year ago, it was Heisman winner Marcus Mariota and Oregon floating into the playoff as heavy favorites when they were summarily dismissed handily by Ohio State. So having the top player in college football is no guarantee for post-season success. Of course, the five Heisman victors before that all came out on top in their bowl games, but we'll choose to ignore that fact for now.
4. Michigan State will have the all-important edge under center. Connor Cook is a senior with loads of big-game experience. He's been in this underdog spot before and seems to thrive in it. The Crimson Tide will trot out their own seasoned senior in 23-year-old Jake Coker, but he isn't the dangerous gunslinger that Cook is capable of being. Coker eclipsed 250 yards passing just once this season while Cook went over 300 four times. So while each team looks to keep the other's ground attack in check, it could come down to the alliterative Cook v. Coker matchup in deciding the final outcome.
3. There's been some good state of Michigan bowl karma going around. Western Michigan secured the first bowl win in their school's history with a victory in the prestigious Bahamas Bowl. The maize and blue are favored to take down Florida on New Year's Day, and the Central Michigan Chips are a trendy upset pick against Minnesota.
2. Michigan State has Tom Izzo, a college hoops icon and leader of the number one squad in the country. Alabama has Avery Johnson, a first-year college coach and owner of the most annoying speaking voice this side of Gilbert Gottfried. If for some bizarre reason the Cotton Bowl becomes a half football-half basketball contest, the Spartans will be in very good hands.
6. George Blaha is on the side of Sparty, and that's never a bad thing. Blaha is one of the rocks of the Detroit sports world. You can almost picture Blaha at home these last few weeks, bellowing things like, "Touchdown, MSU!!" and "The Spartans are the football champions of the world!!" Sure, his wife and neighbors have probably tired of the constant shouting, but you don't get to be a legend like Blaha without a little at-home broadcasting practice along the way.
5. Alabama has this year's Heisman Trophy winner in do-it-all running back Derrick Henry. Just one year ago, it was Heisman winner Marcus Mariota and Oregon floating into the playoff as heavy favorites when they were summarily dismissed handily by Ohio State. So having the top player in college football is no guarantee for post-season success. Of course, the five Heisman victors before that all came out on top in their bowl games, but we'll choose to ignore that fact for now.
4. Michigan State will have the all-important edge under center. Connor Cook is a senior with loads of big-game experience. He's been in this underdog spot before and seems to thrive in it. The Crimson Tide will trot out their own seasoned senior in 23-year-old Jake Coker, but he isn't the dangerous gunslinger that Cook is capable of being. Coker eclipsed 250 yards passing just once this season while Cook went over 300 four times. So while each team looks to keep the other's ground attack in check, it could come down to the alliterative Cook v. Coker matchup in deciding the final outcome.
3. There's been some good state of Michigan bowl karma going around. Western Michigan secured the first bowl win in their school's history with a victory in the prestigious Bahamas Bowl. The maize and blue are favored to take down Florida on New Year's Day, and the Central Michigan Chips are a trendy upset pick against Minnesota.
2. Michigan State has Tom Izzo, a college hoops icon and leader of the number one squad in the country. Alabama has Avery Johnson, a first-year college coach and owner of the most annoying speaking voice this side of Gilbert Gottfried. If for some bizarre reason the Cotton Bowl becomes a half football-half basketball contest, the Spartans will be in very good hands.
1. When Mark Dantonio's crew is counted out before a game, when the great majority of the football pundits are backing the other team, the Spartans tend to rise up in said situation and come out at their very best. There was no better example of this perseverance than just last month when, being tasked with playing at the Horseshoe in Columbus minus their starting quarterback, MSU dug ocean-deep and found a way to remove Urban Meyer from the Big Ten throne. It was a signature moment of the Dantonio era and represented a minor shift in the hierarchy of the conference going forward. Michigan State finds themselves in this spot again here in the national semis, anywhere from a 9-10 point dog to perennial powerhouse Alabama. But such a thing has never bothered the Spartans before and it shouldn't Thursday, either. Sometimes heightened pressure can cause a team to get nervous and react poorly in the moment. Michigan State knows of no such fear and only gets sharper as the stakes increase. If recent history is any indication, you'd expect that same fighting spirit to emerge New Year's Eve night, with another shock-the-world moment coming as little surprise to those in our state that have witnessed such unexpected brilliance so many times before.
