Tag: msu football bowl game

MSU Football hits new low among Big Ten peers with three year bowl drought

Congratulations Michigan State football… you are in a class of your own among your Big Ten peers

Congratulations Michigan State football… you are in a class of your own among your Big Ten peers.

With Saturday’s embarrassing blowout loss to Rutgers, Michigan State officially missed out on the bowl season for a third straight year. Michigan State needed a victory over Rutgers to become bowl-eligible in Jonathan Smith’s first year as the Spartans’ head coach.

It’s disappointing that Michigan State will not be playing in the postseason again this year, especially after a 3-0 start to the year, and quite honestly, a nearly 4-0 start before blowing a late lead against Boston College. But the three-year bowl drought is even worse when you look at all of the other Big Ten teams.

Michigan State is now the only team of all 18 in the Big Ten that will not play in a bowl game over the last three seasons. That means every other team has either already played in a bowl the past two seasons or will be bowling this year. That’s simply bad.

Michigan State still has the ability to get back to winning big if things come together in the right way. But the last three years (and really four of the last five with 2021 being the anomaly) have been rough. It’s an understatement to say Michigan State must get back to a bowl next year as a minimum for the program to get back on track.

It’s going to be a long offseason for the football program. Hopefully, we won’t be having this same bad taste in our mouths this time next year.

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.

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:

Bowl Projections from Sporting News: Analyzing where MSU, rest of Big Ten lands in early bowl predictions for 2023 season

Check out where the Spartans and every other Big Ten team lands in Sporting News’ early bowl projections for the 2023 season

Who doesn’t love college football bowl projections in the middle of the summer?

Bill Bender of Sporting News has released an updated batch of bowl projections, which has the Spartans reaching the postseason this year. But where does Bender have Michigan State heading?

Check out where the Spartans and every other Big Ten team lands in Bender’s early bowl projections:

Michigan State football’s season is officially over, will not play in bowl game this year

The Michigan State football 2022 season is officially over

The Michigan State football 2022 season is officially over.

For only the third time in the last 16 seasons, Michigan State will not play in a bowl game. This is the second time in the first three seasons under Mel Tucker that the Spartans aren’t bowling.

Michigan State finished the season 5-7 and failed to win one of their final two games to automatically lock up a bowl bid. However, there was still a slim chance entering this week that they’d be offered a bowl bid due Academic Progress Rate (APR) tiebreakers. The scenarios that needed to occur for that to happen didn’t, and Michigan State didn’t receive a bowl bid on Sunday.

The Spartans will now turn their focus to the offseason, with potential changes to the coaching staff coming in the next few weeks. Michigan State will next take the field in an official game against Central Michigan on Sept. 2, 2023 at Spartan Stadium.

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on Twitter @RobertBondy5.

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MSU football’s chances of receiving a bowl bid took a big hit on Thursday

If they haven’t already, Michigan State fans can now turn their focus to something other than football

Michigan State fans can now turn their focus to something other than football.

The Spartans finished the 2022 regular season 5-7 and one win short of automatically locking up a bowl bid. However, entering this week there was still an outside chance of the Spartans earning a bowl bid if a few things fell their way. You can read up on those conditions by clicking here.

Well, things haven’t landed in the Spartans’ favor and as of today it seems essentially impossible for Michigan State to receive a bowl bid. On Wednesday, Brett McMurphy of the Action Network reported that UNLV would accept a bowl bid if offered and with the Rebels ahead of the Spartans in the APR tie-breaker, that meant one less bowl bid available. Then, on Thursday, McMurphy reported that New Mexico State has received a bowl waiver at 5-6 and are officially bowl eligible over any 5-7 teams — such as the Spartans.

So what’s this mean for the Spartans? Well, there’s two bowl bids up for grabs and at least three teams ahead of the Spartans in the APR tiebreaker — Rice, UNLV and Auburn. The Rebels will reportedly accept the bowl bid offer so really there’s only one spot available.

Additionally, Buffalo will play Akron on Friday as a double-digit favorite. If the Bulls win, then they’ll be 6-6 on the season and also bowl eligible. So if that’s the case, then they’ll grab the final bowl bid and effectively end the Spartans’ year.

With all of that being said, here’s how Michigan State could still get a bowl bid offer:

  • Buffalo losses to Akron

AND

  • Rice and Auburn turn down their bowl bid offer

That seems very unlikely, and thus, it seems pretty clear the Spartans’ season is over. It won’t be official until bowl games are announced on Sunday, but I wouldn’t expect Michigan State to be getting an offer after the recent developments.

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on Twitter @RobertBondy5.

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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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