MSU Wins in 28-22 Happy Valley, Goes 11-1 and Big Ten Champs.

And just like that, the season is over. What a season it was!

• 11 wins, the most ever for MSU
• A Big Ten Championship, the first since 1990
• #8 BCS / #7 AP and USA Today ranking after the regular season
• Beat Michigan for the third year running which MSU hasn’t done since ’65-’66-’67
• Beat Penn State in Happy Valley for the first time since ’65
• Beat Notre Dame on an amazing OT fake field goal
• Beat Wisconsin handily, their only loss on the year
• Became a team that finishes strong with big come-from-behind wins against Northwestern and Purdue

Read Full Post »

Michigan State Rallies Past Purdue 35-31, Goes to 10-1.

It was Senior Day at Spartan Stadium, and the last home game of the season. A season where MSU has not lost at home, and has only lost one game  to their nine wins. The Spartans were the clear favorite against the 4-6 Boilermakers.

Read Full Post »

BCS Rankings put Spartans at #11.

The AP and USA Today put MSU at #10, but the sages at the BCS take them down a notch to #11. I guess beating a 1-9 Minnesota doesn’t impress the computers all that much.

Elsewhere in the Big Ten…

• Wisconsin moves up from #9 to #7, and is currently the highest ranked Big Ten team.
• Almost-Big Ten Nebraska slips from #7 to #8.
• Ohio State moves up from #11 to #9.
• Iowa moves up from #16 to #13.

Not too bad for the Big Ten with two teams in the Top Ten and four teams in the Top 25.

Read Full Post »

Spartans over the Gophers 31-8, move to 9-1 and #10.

Edwin Baker celebrates MSU’s win over Minnesota, and deservedly so.

Read Full Post »

Spartans slide to #14 after loss to Iowa.

In some ways, I expected worse.  Iowa is a good team so losing to them isn’t as bad as losing to Tulsa or Appalachian State. The BCS computers don’t factor in the score, so they do not distinguish a close game from the trainwreck that was MSU-Iowa. In the Big Ten…

• Michigan State drops from #5 to #14 after losing to Iowa
• Wisconsin moves up from #10 to #9
• Ohio State stays put at #11
• Iowa moves up from #18 to #16
• And finally, almost-Big Ten school Nebraska moves up from #14 to #7

Big Ten rankings got a little more interesting with State’s loss to Iowa.  There are now four one-loss teams duking it out for the conference.  MSU and OSU both have four wins, so they are up top.  Wisconsin and Iowa have three wins each, so they are right behind the leads.  There is a gaggle of two-loss clubs waiting for the whole thing to bust lose .  Michigan, Indiana and Minnesota are holding down the bottom of the list.

Oregon and Auburn flip-flop at the #1 and #2 two spots with the Ducks as the top team in the country.  They handled USC pretty well and looked good doing it. I agree with Oregon at #1. TCU and Boise State flip-flop at #3 and #4. These are obviously good teams, but I can’t tell how good becuase most weeks they are playing teams I have never heard of.

Lastly, give it up for NC State!  The Pack slip in at #25 this week.

Read Full Post »

Miserable game. Spartans lose to Iowa 47-6, go to 8-1.

Sometimes nothing works for nobody none of the times. That’s a triple-negative, and that’s still not enough negatives to describe how MSU played against Iowa. It was awful. It sucked. I am very glad it is over and done. Let the healing begin.

Read Full Post »

8-0 MSU Ranked #5 in AP and USA Today.

We’ll find out tonight was the BCS thinks, but Michigan State at #5 is awesome.

Elsewhere in the AP Top 25, the Big Ten:

• Wisconsin moves up from #10 to #9
• Ohio State moves from #11 to #10
• Iowa drops from #13 to #18
• Almost-Big Ten school Nebraska hangs at #14

One other note, Michigan re-appears in the USA Today Poll at #25 after a bye week

That is three Big Ten schools in the Top Ten!

Read Full Post »

Strong second half pushes Spartans over Northwestern 35-27, go to 8-0.

Got to give it up for Mark Dell and B.J. Cunningham. It was tough sledding, but these guys, and all of the Spartans, hung in there for the comeback victory against Northwestern.

Read Full Post »

Spartans 26, Illinois 6, go to 7-0 for first time in my lifetime.

They have every right to sing. They are 7-0 for the first time since 1966 (0ne year before I was born), they lead the Big Ten and they are ranked in the Top 10 schools in the country. Way to go Spartans!

Read Full Post »

MSU moves up to #13 in AP Top 25.

After a huge win yesterday versus the #18 Wolverines of Michigan, Michigan State moves up in the AP Poll from #17 to #13. In the USA Today Poll, the Spartans are ranked #11.  Michigan State’s play has been steady and balanced, and so has their systematic rise from un-ranked to #13.  Steady as she goes MSU!

Congrats to Ohio State for grabbing the #1 spot.

In the Big Ten, Iowa is #15, Wisconsin is #18 and Michigan drops out of the Top 25.  Soon-to-be-Big Ten team Nebraska is #5.

Read Full Post »

The Curse of Mike Hart: Michigan State humbles Michigan again 34-17, goes to 6-0.

MSU played like champions. Michigan didn’t. And the Paul Bunyan Trophy continues to be an East Lansing resident for the third year running.

Read Full Post »

Spartans spank Wolverines for the third year in a row!!!

More to come tomorrow, but how about those Spartans. Any time MSU beats Michigan, I’m happy. Add to it that it’s the third year in a row and now the Spartans are 6-0 and I’m super-duper happy. GO GREEN!

Read Full Post »

Spartans move up to #17.

Michigan state moves up the rankings after week five, from #24 to #17. I like the slow and steady way MSU is building this season. Way to go Spartans.

Also in the Big 10:

• Ohio State remains #2 as they have been since the pre-season
• Iowa moves up from #17 to #15
• Michigan moves up from #19 to #18 (just behind the Spartans!)
• Wisconsin drops from #11 to #20
• Penn State drops out of the top 25 after a #22 ranking last week
• Soon-to-be-Big 1o Nebraska moves down from #6 to #7

Read Full Post »

MSU ranked after week four.

The Spartans cracked the Top 25 last week, and made more progress this week:

#24 in AP Top 25

#21 in USA Today Poll

Next weeks game against #11 Wisconsin will determine whether MSU keeps moving on up.  Go Green!

Read Full Post »

MSU over FAU 30-17, the Spartans are 2-0. GO GREEN!

The running game continues to be a strength as the Michigan State Spartans roll past Florida Atlantic at Ford Field in Detroit.  Give it up for Edwin Baker!

Read Full Post »

Next weekend!

College football is back and I’m really fired up.

Go Spartans! Go BigTen!

I might even try the BigTen Network on-demand this year for MSU games not televised.

I wonder how Michigan will do this year, and will it be good enough to save RichRod? Or Notre Dame, will they show indications of a return to glory? Or Ohio State / Iowa / Wisconsin / Penn State; will they all live up to expectations? Do you think Nebraska will win the Big12 in their last year in the conference before joining the BigTen?

It’s going to be fun watching it all unfold.

I’m not very successful at predictions, but I do think MSU will be much improved over last year, and I think they will be more in the hunt for the BigTen then people think. I’m feeling cautiously optimistic.

Read Full Post »

Spartans win in a close one.

It was the Spartans of Michigan State over the Purdue Boilermakers 40-37 in West Lafayette this Saturday.  Go Green!

Read Full Post »

Back to Even. Again.

Man, what a heart-breaker.  There is nothing that knocks the wind out of you like losing on the very last play of the game.

Read Full Post »

Back To Even.

Well, the Michigan State Spartan football team is back to even.  The losses to Central Michigan and Notre Dame were awful.  Both could have been avoided, but that’s football.  And injuries are starting to become an issue with Winston out for the season and Nichol questionable.

There are some things to feel pretty good about though…

Read Full Post »

UNC ya later Spartans!

I was anticipating a UNC victory, but I was also expecting an actual basketball game.  What I got was a the opportunity to watch UNC humiliate my Michigan State Spartans at Ford Field.  I know, in D-town no less.  The Lions can’t win a game here, why should the Spartans fair any better?  In the end, it was UNC up 98 to 63 – that’s a 35 point lead for you math whizzes.

Read Full Post »

State Defeats Michigan – it’s been a long time coming!

I’m a Spartan, but I grew up in the Bo Schembechler era when the University of Michigan was going to Rose Bowls about every other year (not winning too many of them though), and everyone in the state seemed to be a Michigan fan.  I guess that always bugged me.  Why?  Because Michigan fans are so damn cocky.  Arrogant.  Entitled.  And there is just so many of them, it’s like the plague.  And did you ever notice that the really obnoxious Michigan fans didn’t actually go to the school? 

Read Full Post »

All-time Winningest College Football Programs. Is Your School On the List? 2009 UPDATED.

I live in Texas, and they love them some football down here.  But you know what? I grew up in Michigan, and we sure-as-shit love some football too! We’re the Big Ten, we don’t mess about when it comes to the gridiron.  So I ask you, which team has the best all-time winning record?  Basically, you could argue that the winningest program is the best college program of all time – the number one winner when it comes to football?

I asked some folks I work with, and the answers were pretty consistent:

· Texas

· Oklahoma

· USC

· Florida State

· Alabama

· UCLA

· Florida

· Miami (Florida, not Ohio)

These are all great football schools, no doubt.  Very funny to me, not a single Big Ten school listed.  Should I be upset?  No, I’m sure folks in the Midwest would have all 11 Big Ten schools on the list.  (Well, not Northwestern).

So, not to leaving you hanging, here is the definitive list.  Going back 140 years (through 2009), and using the NCAA as the source, here are the top 10 schools and the percentage of winning games:

1. Michigan  73.982%

2. Notre Dame  73.639%

3. Texas  71.785%

4. Oklahoma  71.648%

5. Ohio State  71.508%

6. Alabama  70.855%

7. Southern Cal  70.614%

8. Nebraska  70.101%

9. Tennessee  69.420%

10. Penn State  68.934%

Three of the top 10 are Big Ten schools.  I like that.

The University of Michigan is number one.  I hate that.

I’m a Michigan State University grad, and always hated Michigan football growing up.  For the record, my MSU Spartans came in 31 at 58.993%.

If you want to see the big list, click here.

Read Full Post »