MSU #5 in the BCS Standings
Wisconsin is the only other Big Ten team in the top 10 -- at #10. Ohio State is #11. Ahead of MSU: #4 TCU, #3 Boise State, #2 Oregon, and #1 Auburn.
| POLL | MSU RANKING |
| Harris Interactive | 5 |
| Coaches Poll | 5 |
| Wolfe Rankings | 2 |
| Colley Matrix | 3 |
| Sagarin Ratings | 2 |
| Anderson & Hester | 3 |
| Billingsley Report | 8 |
| Massey Ratings | 3 |
So, Billingsley and one of Wolfe/Sagarin is dropped. Here are the remaining schedules for the four teams ahead of MSU:
- #1 Auburn: @Ole Miss, vs. Chattanooga, vs. Georgia, @Alabama, possible SEC Championship Game.
- #2 Oregon: @USC, Washington, @Cal, Arizona, @Oregon State.
- #3 Boise State: Louisiana Tech, Hawaii, @Idaho, Fresno State, @Nevada, Utah State.
- #4 TCU: @UNLV, @Utah, San Diego State, @New Mexico.
Three of the four teams have very difficult tests ahead, and the fourth (Boise) still has to go to Nevada. If MSU wins on Saturday, we'll be favored in each of the three remaining games (Minnesota, Purdue, @Penn State, although @PSU is a scary, scary game, particularly if we're undefeated). Thus: Saturday's game against Iowa is the biggest game for MSU in at least 20 years.
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MSU
about .05 behind TCU, which is a bit larger than I thought. If we beat Iowa, I think we move ahead of Boise State and TCU.
Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude
you forgot the part about
“and freak out running down the street scaring the neighbors while shouting “GO GREEN!”*
*the scaring neighbors part may not apply in the Lansing area
by Kurt Mensching on Oct 24, 2010 7:46 PM CDT up reply actions
MSU Big 10 Champs ??
justice will be served when the party ends in Iowa City next week. Can you imagine declaring yourself the American League East Champs without having to play the Yankees ? That’s exactly what MSU is attempting to do by backing into a Big 10 Championship without having to play Ohio State…..and I don’t care what you loyal, irrational spartan fans WANT TO BELIEVE – they would kick the crap out MSU and feed it to you for lunch. Iowa will do the Big 10 and the BCS folks a huge favor next week.
Oh crap, they're on to us!
That’s exactly what MSU is attempting to do by backing into a Big 10 Championship without having to play Ohio State.
We never should have devised this plan!
Tonight's going to be a good night.
by Spartalytical on Oct 25, 2010 11:47 AM CDT up reply actions 3 recs
Dear Big Ten Schedulers,
Thank you for honoring my request not to play Ohio State this year.
Enclosed please find the hundred bucks I promised you for ‘taking it under consideration’ (wink wink).
Sincerely,
Mark Dantonio
I have to admit, I LOVE being in this position....
…that MSU is attracting sorry-a** trolls and haters.

But thanks for playing, “B[ig] K[nob] 0159”.

by CPT Hoolie on Oct 25, 2010 11:50 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
that's beautiful
you crack me up, CPT Hoolie
my thoughts on Spartan basketball
http://isportsweb.com/college-basketball/big-ten/michigan-state-basketball/
I heard a UM fan
…call into 97.1FM the Ticket (in Detroit) making this same stupid argument. You just can play every B10 team every year – the setup has been this way for a while. You have some protected rivalries, but otherwise rotate through the rest.
Do you mean the same OSU that Wisconsin man-handled?… who we just previously beat soundly?
my thoughts on Spartan basketball
http://isportsweb.com/college-basketball/big-ten/michigan-state-basketball/
Might have been the same dude!
He brings his detnews.com / ESPN Anonymous Commenter take WITH AUTHORITY!
It's interesting
that he talks about “backing in” by not playing OSU as if MSU had any determination or control over the Big Ten scheduling.
I assume that these same people also love teams like TCU and BSU, who ironically do the same think times 10 by destroying pitiful Mtn West and WAC schedules
"It's a trap!"
by AdmiralAkbar on Oct 25, 2010 1:22 PM CDT up reply actions
Pete, KJ, LVS -- PLEASE DO NOT DELETE this comment!
I hereby nominate it as a TOC National Treasure, for the category of Pathetic Trolling Attempts.
We would still be champs and play in the rose bowl or better while osu cries about the schedule.
So talk to the BCS Gods before you come to us Spartan loyalists.
Ya hear that, AMERISTANZI?
BK0159 demands JUSTICE! JUSTICE BE SERVED! FREEDOM! AND THE AMERICAN WAY! IN IOWA CITY! SCENE OF AMERICANZI JUSTICE SERVICE! OR SOMETHING!
[And no, BK0159, I’m not laughing with you, I’m laughing at you.]
MSU's Football Team as American League East Champs?
That’s a good goal — for next year. Cousins needs to work on adding a change-up to his pitches in the off-season, though; he’s a good power pitcher but needs a strikeout pitch.
I used to agree
But now I think Ohio State is lucky they don’t have MSU on THEIR schedule! Go Green!
BK=Burger King?
Have the computers with the pictures of food on them become advanced enough to connect to the internet? Is BK0159 his employee number?
I'm not locked in here with you, you're locked in here with me
We don’t get to avoid Ohio State. Ohio State gets to avoid us.
Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude
It's set up that way.
That is what I thought when I looked at the standings. Beating Iowa is a very BIG if though.
Beating Iowa in Iowa City is less of an "if" than it was two weeks ago...
I still think it likely that MSU loses, but I give MSU less of a non-chance now that Iowa has proven to be not unbeatable at home.
I'm not sure
The problem is that we can’t gain much in the computers (remember, WTF Billingsley’s computer isn’t counted against us), and the polls are reluctant to jump teams that don’t lose (although Boise and TCU are more likely to be exceptions than anyone else). OTOH, TCU and Boise could drop behind some one-loss teams in the computers as their SOS continues to tank (especially Boise).
Oregon's upcoming schedule is nothing short of stifling
And I don’t think Auburn is going to be able to escape their season unscathed, what with the fact they don’t have a real trademark SEC defense. Or a real trademark auto-qualifying BCS conference-level defense, for that matter.
So all we need next is a convincing win at Iowa
coupled with a USC win over Oregon and we’re number 2 in the BCS.
Please happen.
#5 with a whole month to play
I’ll take it! Let’s hope we can go out to Iowa and give them some Tears of Unfathomable Sadness. You know, as payback for last year. If we come out of that game with a win, I think we run the table and have a good chance for the… (OMG, can’t believe I’m saying this) National Championship Game.
I agree, we need to go for the neck this week against Iowa.
Not that they are a better team, but they are high quality on both sides of the ball and dangerous, we need a convincing win in which we play strong and dominate much of the game on both sides of the ball with minimal mistakes, with I will say at least a 9 point win, at Iowa to put a lot of doubt to rest about this team, and drive us over TCU & BSU. But I think just winning out our schedule by the end of the season will place us over TCU and BSU in the BCS poll.
If Oregon or Auburn both win out with their schedules here on out, they will truly deserve a #1 ranking at the end of the season, as much as I would hate to see it.
Yeah, if we win out I don't think we would have to worry about being undefeated and on the outside looking in.
Of course, we have to, you know … win the rest of our games. (don’t mind me, I’ll be frantically knocking on all wood in the house for the rest of the night)
luttez pour les seuls couleurs, vert et blanc
The most comical thing about all this
Which team would you rather face?
Auburn, Oregon, TCU, or Boise?
It’s not even close to me. Auburn is the runaway choice in that scenario.
Really?
I live out west and thus have seen plenty of TCU and Boise St, and plenty of WAC and Mtn West football. Let me put it to you this way: if either of these teams had to play in any of the major conferences (Big East included), there is no way that they are anywhere close to undefeated.
The thing that most do not understand is the way that these teams can “get up” for their one or two “big” games a year, and literally sleepwalk through the remainder of their seasons. Injuries? Ha! Tough prep? No way! Right now, Boise St can start planning for a BCS bowl game. They can start putting in new schemes and plays. They can start resting guys. They can literally do whatever they want for the next two months. The power is unbelievable; imagine if we played Wisc, UofM, and then Northern Colorado 10 times. We could spend the entire offseason preparing for Wisc, the next 3 weeks preparing for UofM, and then spend the next 2.5 months preparing for the bowl game.
People don’t understand this nationally, and this is why these teams are able to play so well on the few big stages that they get. I watched TCU absolutely destroy Colorado State earlier this year, for example. The game was over almost before it started, even though TCU had a “bad game”, and only won by 4 TDs. Imagine if we didn’t even have to worry about games like Illinois, Northwestern or Purdue.. these are teams that hopefully won’t beat you, but can easily do so if you don’t bring a solid effort and focus.
Honestly, its a tough call because a team like Auburn or Oregon has to “show their hand” so to speak in the remainder of the season, while TCU and Boise St do not. Honestly, I would rather play TCU if I had my choice.
"It's a trap!"
by AdmiralAkbar on Oct 24, 2010 9:21 PM CDT up reply actions 5 recs
Auburn?
With a bigger, stronger, faster, more talented D. Robinson or Persa? Who’s bigger than Greg Jones? Man, I’ll have to think that one over, even with the War Eagles’ near terminal case of Defensive Deficit Disorder. The scenario I’m pulling for is an LSU win over ‘Bama, then a ’Bama win over Auburn so that LSU plays a three loss Georgia team in the SEC championship. The next step is for Les to have one of his clock management meltdowns handing the game to UGA, taking the SEC out of play for the BCS championship game. I figure Oregon is going down somewhere along the line leaving us with either Utah or Boise St for all the marbles. (By the way, by great great grandfather was the Freep’s original Iffy the Dopester.)
Rose Bowl Scenarios
Here’s how the top 4 of the Big Ten get the Rose Bowl (wins are assumed against everyone else unless otherwise noted) unless I’ve missed something.
MSU gets it if:
They beat Iowa
OR
They lose to Iowa AND Iowa beats OSU
OSU gets it if:
They beat Iowa AND Iowa beats MSU*
Wisconsin gets it if:
Iowa beats OSU AND Iowa beats MSU, AND MSU loses another game
Iowa gets it if:
They beat MSU AND OSU AND Wisconsin loses one more game
*Technically, whoever has the highest BCS ranking out of MSU, OSU and UW gets it, but since OSU would have the most recent big win (Iowa), they could jump and get it, though UW or MSU could have it in this scenario as well
Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude
I think there are several "ands" in there
Like, MSU beats Iowa AND Minn AND….
After our performance this weekend, I like the resilience but I don’t like the focus. If we win this coming weekend, we better be really focused on these remaining games, because they could be easily lost.
"It's a trap!"
by AdmiralAkbar on Oct 24, 2010 9:23 PM CDT up reply actions
Wisconsin doesn't need Iowa over OSU
But they do need two losses from us, assuming we stay ahead in the BCS rankings (uncertain). If we drop two, Wisconsin has wins over both of the other two and the Iowa-OSU result is immaterial.
Sleep walking
We need to come out firing next week. None of this waiting til the second half to make are move. I would like to see us pass more on first down.
by Prime Time on Oct 24, 2010 9:18 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
Sorry, that's what's at stake here.
Win, and we have what appears to be (knock on wood) a relatively clear path to at minimum the Rose Bowl and a very legitimate chance at the Big One. Lose, and we need a little help from Iowa to even get the Rose Bowl. No discussion of this game is complete without that.
I'm just trying not to get ahead of myself here
I’ll believe that we’re a national championship caliber team when we beat Iowa this week!
Unfortunately, if the opposite happens, our standing in national polls will fall fast and hard, and any analysis of what we needed to get to the championship will look silly. Guess I’m just protecting myself..
Anyways I agree with LVS:
Thus: Saturday’s game against Iowa is the biggest game for MSU in at least 20 years.
I hesitate to use transitive properties to predict future wins.
But I just can’t figure out how to take the win over Wisconsin. Wisconsin demolished Ohio State at home, and beat Iowa on the road, looking like world-beaters in both games. Yet MSU handled Wisconsin relatively easily.
Did Wisconsin have an off-day against MSU? Or is MSU really that much better than Wisconsin and transitively better than Iowa and OSU?
So GameDay is going to be in Los Angeles
for the Oregon-USC game.
Not sure if that helps MSU, hurts MSU, or “is what it is”.
I personally always prefer to have GameDay not go to an away game of the team I'd like to see win
The ‘getting-carried-up-in-hype’ business is there, but those fans go nuts. Also, a lot of times the games turn into night games. Yeah. Definitely didn’t want that.
Change 20 years
to 40 years and your dead on. In 87 MSU opened up 1-2 they never had a real shot at a NC. This is the biggest games since 66.
"You think our war drill is something now. Next year is going to be fist fighting."- Tom Izzo
Go Spartans
MSU is a 6 and a half point dog
I think they can cover that
There can be no second-guessers unless there is first-guesser.

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