USA TODAY Bowl Projections: MSU in danger of missing bowl game after blowout loss

For the first time this season, Michigan State fell out of Erick Smith’s latest bowl projections that were published on Tuesday.

[jwplayer xwcRkXEd]

When you lose by 42 points to a team that some — including myself — thought you’d beat, odds are you’re going to get some blowback. That was the case in USA TODAY’s latest bowl projections.

For the first time this season, Michigan State fell out of Erick Smith’s latest bowl projections that were published on Tuesday. The Spartans had previously been pegged for the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against West Virginia for the past two weeks, but now it’s Purdue that Smith has playing the Mountaineers in Phoenix.

Here’s how the Big Ten teams are slated in Smith’s latest projections:

  • Rose Bowl (College Football Playoff game) – Ohio State vs. Clemson
  • Outback Bowl – Wisconsin vs. Arkansas
  • Citrus Bowl – Indiana vs. Auburn
  • Duke’s Mayo Bowl – Michigan vs. NC State
  • Music City Bowl – Northwestern vs. LSU
  • Pinstripe Bowl – Penn State vs. Virginia
  • Guaranteed Rate Bowl – Purdue vs. West Virginia

I said last week that MSU needed to win the toss-up games — Iowa, Indiana, Maryland and Northwestern — in order to get selected for a bowl game. The Spartans obviously didn’t achieve that in the first of those games, and now will need to make up for that in the next three weeks to get back into the bowl picture.

Another interesting element Spartan fans will need to monitor is whether or not the Big Ten lands a second team in a New Year’s Six game. Wisconsin was replaced by Oregon for one of the Fiesta Bowl at-large bids in this week’s projections, and that had a trickle-down effect. With Wisconsin no longer in a New Year’s Six bowl, they will take one of the Big Ten tie-ins — which results in one less bowl opportunity for the Spartans.

Certainly, MSU will need to win at least four games to beat out the likes of Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota and Nebraska for one of the lower-tier Big Ten bowls. But it would also be very helpful if Wisconsin — maybe even Indiana — move into one of the at-large spots of a New Year’s Six bowl.

Click here to check out the complete USA TODAY bowl projections.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1362]