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First Things First: Malik McDowell is a freak of nature.
Michigan State has won four Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week awards this season, with Shilique Calhoun winning two and Riley Bullough grabbing the other.
McDowell, the sophomore interior defensive lineman, has now dropped his name into the conversation after recording eight tackles, 4.5 for-a-loss and forcing a fumble in Michigan State's 24-7 win over Maryland last weekend.
"Malik was aggressive at the point of attack, which allowed him to be disruptive in the backfield," MSU defensive line coach Ron Burton said in a school release. "His physicality really was the difference."
Second Thing: No love from FiveThirtyEight.
Despite currently ranked ninth in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, Michigan State has the fourth best chance in winning the Big Ten championship, behind Ohio State, Iowa and Michigan respectively.
The Buckeyes come in at 46%, Hawkeyes at 28%, Wolverines at 14% and Spartans at 11%.
Third Thing: Magic called Valentine.
Denzel Valentine accomplished a feat this past Tuesday that only three other Michigan State basketball players have achieved in their collegiate careers.
Valentine joins Magic Johnson, Draymond Green and Charlie Bell as the fourth Spartan to record a triple-double, the 13th total in MSU history after dropping 29 points, 12 assists and 12 rebounds in a win over No. 4 ranked Kansas.
Welcome to the Triple Dub club lil bro @denzelval45 wit a BIG triple double... My bet is he will finish with more than me!!! #EAT
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) November 18, 2015
Spartan Nation: Good win for @MSU_Basketball last night over Kansas 79-73 led by @denzelval45 triple double 29pts, 12ast and 12reb!
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) November 18, 2015
Valentine's performance was enough for Johnson himself to call MSU athletic director, Mark Hollis, asking to talk to the senior.
Fourth Thing: Michigan State receives a quarterback commit (satire).
I've never seen the show Friday Night Lights, but apparently Apollo Creed's son, Michigan B. Jordan, played a character named Vince Howard, who was the starting quarterback for East Dillon High.
Appearing on the Dan Patrick Show, Jordan reenacted his television role and created a signing day event with workers portrayed as media members.
Michigan, MSU and Texas made the final cut, but it was the Spartans who landed the "five-star" dual threat recruit.
Fifth Thing: Another episode of Mark Dantonio vs. Reporter.
While I have yet to follow Lynn Henning's work at the Detroit News, he's a name that far from unknown in the city of Detroit.
A prime example can be seen on Tuesday when David Harns of iSportsMSU videotaped a section of Dantonio's weekly press conference, featuring the MSU head coach's comical response to a statement from Henning, regarding the degree of popularity of Michigan State vs. Ohio State and Michigan vs. Ohio State.
Here's the interaction between @Lynn_Henning and Coach Dantonio at today's presser: pic.twitter.com/ijf7zmDhFV
— David Harns (@isportsDave) November 17, 2015
Henning's laugh is the best part of the video of course.
Final Thing: LeBron James and his Ohio State fandom.
Linking Loquaciously ranks its favorite NBA players of all time:
4. Shawn Kemp
6. R. Kelly
LeBron resides somewhere between Delonte West and Steve Francis, so it's an eye roller when Channel 7 News in Detroit tries to bait the two-time NBA champion in talking about Ohio State football.
When asked about the upcoming matchup between the Buckeyes and Michigan State this weekend, James said there isn't any nervousness about a potential upset, stating that Urban Meyer will have his team ready to go.
The funny thing is, James never attended Ohio State, let alone attend college in general.