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MSU upset reverses course for two programs

By beating Michigan last week, the Spartans regained fan confidence in the program and sent Michigan spiraling.

By Kyle Thele

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Rutgers v Michigan State Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images

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Over the course of just a few hours one football game may have completely changed the future for two rival programs. Now with renewed fan confidence, Mel Tucker and his Michigan State team have a chance to build trust.

Heading into the Michigan game, it was fair to say there wasn’t a lot of confidence in the Spartans outside of their own locker room. However, according to the latest SB Nation Reacts survey, 98 percent of MSU fans now believe the program is headed in the right direction. That’s up from 38 percent after the Rutgers loss and even higher than the 93 percent before the first game.

But the win did more than convince a fanbase the team can put up a fight. It set the tone for what could be a new era in the rivalry against Michigan. Tucker handed Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh arguably the worst loss during his time in Ann Arbor.

With the loss, confidence among UM fans fell off a cliff, from 90 percent to just 25 this week. More than that, college football fans around the country took notice.

When asked who was the most overrated coach in NCAA football, Harbaugh took more than half the total vote. He blew away the next closest choice of Texas’ Tom Herman with only 19 percent.

Making things even sweeter for MSU fans, the loss likely knocked Michigan out of playoff contention for the season.

Across the country, two more teams could face a possible playoff elimination game with top ranked Clemson playing No. 4 Notre Dame and No. 8 Florida playing No. 5 Georgia. Fans around the country picked both Clemson and Georgia at a roughly two-thirds margin.

Michigan State finds itself in the opposite position this week as opposed to last. Coming off of the big win, the season is again trending upward as they face off against an Iowa team that is still winless. Iowa fan confidence came in at only 22 percent this week.

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