Let’s talk ourselves into the Pinstripe Bowl

I’m guilty as charged.

When this season was screaming toward a 6-6 finish not only did I come to terms with the Quick Lane Bowl, but I embraced it. Living in metro Detroit, I loved the idea of the local game where we can just go to our local bar, take an Uber down and watch our Spartans play in a 13-7 game against Pitt or something like that.

Well...not so fast. We’re in the Pinstripe Bowl on the 27th now.

It’s now time to come to terms with this game and embrace it like it’s the Rose Bowl. Here’s my best shot at this...

Watching this game from home is a no-stress situation. Right in the middle of the day to distract you from any household chores. Game is over by night so it doesn’t run into any Friday night plans. Really, it’s a great time for a mid-day nap—I MEAN BREAK. A mid-day break. You get stuff done before the game. Your night is open after. Football in between.

If you’re going to the game, congratulations, you’re the fan of the year. Willingly traveling to New York in December to see a team that scored one offensive touchdown or less in seven games this season is psychotic behavior great fandom.

If you’re not going to the game, at least we are saving some money by not going to the Quick Lane Bowl if that was a plan of yours. No bar tabs, no tickets and no overpriced whatevers at Ford Field. So that’s neat.

FUN FACT: The last three Big Ten teams to play in the Pinstripe Bowl won at least nine games its following season. I’M JUST SAYING.

We’re not sharing the day with any great bowl games, so no need to flip-flop between games. Your entire focus is on MSU all day. For sake of argument, we will act like this is a good thing. The Military Bowl will be ending as our game starts, and the Texas Bowl will be starting as those games end. I don’t even care to look up the matchups of those games. (Fine, it’s North Carolina vs. Temple and Oklahoma State vs. Texas A&M)

Wake Forest is maybe an exciting opponent? They went 8-4 on the season, has a top-15 offense in yards per game (461.3) and only lost to Clemson by 49 points. Just got away from them at the end.

A pretty decent offense against MSU’s defense in a middling bowl game. Wake Forest’s poor defense against MSU’s even poorer offense. Folks, if you liked the Redbox Bowl, this is going to be a great day for you.

This is a cool trip for the players to take. Beats taking an hour and a half long bus trip down to Detroit. I hope they all have a great time.

Football games on baseball fields are patently hilarious. So we’ve got to look forward too.