Tag: michigan state bowl game

Now or never, MSU football has to step up to end 2024

MSU still has one imperative goal within reach in 2024, and the team needs to step up and make it happen

It is at the point of the season to have a tough conversation. Bowl eligibility is on the brink of collapsing for Michigan State football, which will be detrimental to Jonathan Smith’s build in East Lansing.

While making a bowl in today’s college football doesn’t feel like a big deal, for what Smith is selling, it is imperative for the Spartans in 2024.

For Smith, and selling his program to recruits in high school and the transfer portal, a bowl game appearance will favor the Spartans far more than a 5-7 or 4-8 campaign in year one.

The bright side for MSU, they get to play at home against Purdue and Rutgers, two beatable teams. While MSU has to get healthy, Smith has to get his team ready to reach the biggest goal of the 2024 fall.

It’s now or never, and it starts on Friday against Purdue.

MSU Football: Breaking down Spartans’ chances of reaching bowl game

Believe it or not, Michigan State football could still find its way into a bowl game this year. Here’s a breakdown of how that can happen.

With a win over Indiana last week, Michigan State football has put themselves in a position to earn a bowl bid this week. It’s very unlikely, but there’s a slim chance should things go the Spartans way this weekend.

At 4-7, Michigan State can not finish the season with a winning record and reach the minimum six wins necessary to earn a bowl bid. However, Brett McMurphy of Action Network is projecting there’s a chance there will be spots for teams at 5-7 to receive a bowl bid due to there not being enough six-win teams this year. At the moment, there are 14 open spots remaining for teams to fill all of the 82 bowl game slots, and 23 teams are still alive to reach bowl eligibility. James Madison and Jacksonville State would be the first two teams to get offered bids ahead of the 5-7 teams should there not be enough bowl-eligible teams — this is due to them being bowl eligible by number of wins but ineligible to go to a bowl game per NCAA transition rule.

When it comes to which 5-7 teams receive a bowl bid, that’s when the Academic Progress Report (APR) rankings come into place. According to College Football News, Michigan State ranks No. 28 nationally which is one of the higher spots when it comes to teams that could finish 5-7 and are in play for one of the open bowl bids.

So what you’re telling me is there’s a chance? Yes, there is! The odds aren’t particularly high (not at all actually) but still a chance nonetheless. Here’s what needs to happen for Michigan State to receive a bowl bid this year:

  1. Win their remaining game against Penn State. A loss to the Nittany Lions ends any postseason chances for the Spartans.
  2. Have enough things bounce the Spartans’ way where there are enough slots for 5-7 teams to receive a bowl bid and Michigan State is listed as one of the top 5-7 teams in the APR rankings to receive one of those bids.

Like I said, it’s not very likely at all but, hey, after this season I think we would all take any chance of reaching the postseason at this point, right?

So with all of this being said, I’ve outlined below a number of games this week that could impact the Spartans’ chances of going bowling. These are games that are specific to teams that would effectively move ahead of the Spartans for an open-bowl bid.

So without further ado, here is the Michigan State rooting guide for week 13 games:

While unlikely, here’s how MSU Football can still reach a bowl game this year

Believe it or not, Michigan State football could still find its way into a bowl game this year

Believe it or not, Michigan State football could still find its way into a bowl game this year.

At 3-7, Michigan State can not finish the season with a winning record and reach the minimum six wins necessary to earn a bowl bid. However, Brett McMurphy of Action Network is projecting there could be at least three spots for teams at 5-7 to receive a bowl bid due to there not being enough six-win teams this year.

Click on the tweet below to get a full breakdown from McMurphy on how this all works:

When it comes to which 5-7 teams receive a bowl bid, that’s when the Academic Progress Report (APR) rankings come into place. According to College Football News, Michigan State ranks No. 28 nationally which is one of the higher spots when it comes to teams that could finish 5-7 and are in play for one of the open bowl bids.

So what you’re telling me is there’s a chance? Yes, there is! The odds aren’t particularly high (not at all actually) but still a chance nonetheless. Here’s what needs to happen for Michigan State to receive a bowl bid this year:

  1. Win their remaining two games against Indiana and Penn State. A loss in either of those games ends any postseason chances for the Spartans.
  2. Have enough things bounce the Spartans’ way where there are enough slots for 5-7 teams to receive a bowl bid and Michigan State is listed as one of the top 5-7 teams in the APR rankings to receive one of those bids.

Like I said, it’s not very likely at all but, hey, after this season I think we would all take any chance of reaching the postseason at this point, right?

So with all of this being said, I’ve outlined below a number of games this week that could impact the Spartans’ chances of going bowling. These are games that are specific to teams that may reach bowl eligibility or could reach at least five wins and end up ahead of the Spartans in the APR bowl bid pecking order.

If Michigan State beats Indiana this week, then I’ll reassess and provide an update on where things stand heading into the season finale against Penn State. For now, check out the Michigan State rooting guide for week 12 games below:

How MSU Football can still end up in a bowl game at 5-7

While they don’t deserve to go bowling, there’s still a chance we could see Michigan State play in the postseason this year

While they don’t deserve to go bowling, there’s a slim chance we could see Michigan State football play in the postseason this year.

The Spartans dropped their final two games of the regular season to finish 5-7, one game short of gaining bowl eligibility. Losing this past Saturday at Penn State was an expected result after Michigan State let a 17-point lead slip away against lousy Indiana the week prior.

Despite not earning six wins, there is an outside chance Michigan State could find itself in a bowl game should it want to accept a bid if offered. At the moment, three unfilled spots (only 79 teams finished 6-6 or better and there are 82 bowl spots) will go to 5-7 teams as determined by the Academic Progress Report (APR) rankings. Michigan State is near the top of that list among the 5-7 teams.

Here’s the relatively unlikely path to a bowl game for Michigan State:

Will MSU reach a bowl game? Predicting final three games and where the Spartans could end up this bowl season

What are the chances Michigan State is going to make a bowl game? We take a look at the Spartans’ final three games and predict whether or not they’ll reach bowl eligibility

Michigan State got a massive upset victory on Saturday afternoon and it should go a long way in helping the Spartans reach a bowl game.

With the win over Illinois, Michigan State moved to 4-5 on the season and now is two wins shy of bowl eligibility with three games left on the schedule. Those games are against Rutgers, Indiana and Penn State — so do you think they will get the job done?

See what my thoughts are on the final three games and whether or not I have the Spartans finishing strong enough to reach a bowl game this holiday season:

 

MSU vs. Pitt in Peach Bowl listed as one of top bowl games in CBS Sports’ ranking

Michigan State’s upcoming Peach Bowl matchup against Pitt is ranked as one of the top games this bowl season

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Michigan State’s upcoming matchup with Pitt in the Peach Bowl is one of the top bowl games of the year, according to Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports.

Fornelli ranked all 42 bowl games in a fun article that was published on Monday, which broke down the best matchups this bowl season. The Peach Bowl that pits the Spartans against the Panthers was near the top of his list as the No. 4 bowl game. The only games ranked higher on his list were the Rose Bowl (Utah vs. Ohio State), Cotton Bowl (Alabama vs. Cincinnati), and Orange Bowl (Michigan vs. Georgia).

Here’s a little bit of what Fornelli had to say about the Peach Bowl matchup:

“Little did we know that there was more in the line in the ACC Championship Game than just a conference title. If Wake Forest had won the game, this would be the Kenneth Walker III Bowl between Walker’s old team and his current team. Instead, Pitt won, so now it’s the Pat Narduzzi Bowl, as the Pitt coach goes against the Michigan State team where he spent eight seasons as defensive coordinator before taking the Panthers job in 2015.”

Michigan State and Pitt will play in the Peach Bowl on Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. EST. The game will take place at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Click on the tweet below to read the rest of what Fornelli had to say about the Peach Bowl and to view his complete bowl rankings:

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Michigan State football heading to Peach Bowl vs. Pitt

Michigan State is heading to the Peach Bowl and will take on the Pitt Panthers

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Michigan State is officially heading to a New Year’s Six bowl game.

It was announced on Sunday afternoon that the Spartans will face Pitt in the Peach Bowl on Dec. 30. This will be the Spartans’ first New Year’s Six bowl appearance since the 2015 Cotton Bowl loss vs. Alabama. That game, of course, was part of the College Football Playoff.

Michigan State wrapped up the regular season last weekend with a victory over Penn State to improve to 10-2 on the season. The Spartans had big-time wins over Michigan, Miami and Penn State this year.

Pitt is the ACC champion, with a 11-2 record on the season. The Panthers — who are coached by former Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi — topped Wake Forest on Saturday in the ACC Championship Game to win the league.

This will be the eighth meeting between Michigan State and Pitt, with the Spartans holding a 6-0-1 advantage in the series. The last time these two teams met was in 2007, which the Spartans won, 17-13.

Stay with Spartans Wire for additional Michigan State bowl game coverage.

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Where’s MSU going bowling? Experts project Spartans’ bowl destination

Where’s Michigan State expected to go bowling this holiday season? Check out the experts’ projections here

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It’s officially bowl season for Michigan State football, with the Spartans set to go bowling again this year. And it should be a pretty big game for Michigan State too.

The official bowl game announcements will come out on Sunday, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start looking ahead to what the experts are projecting for Michigan State.

Here is where the major outlets have Michigan State heading for the postseason after they finished the year 10-2: