Michigan State Football: Don’t overlook Spartans in Big Ten race

2018 Michigan State Schedule and Predictions

Michigan State eases into the new campaign with a home date against Utah State on the last Friday of August. Eight days later, they travel to Tempe to take on Arizona State in their second game under new head coach Herm Edwards. Then an early bye week comes in mid-September. Coming out of that break, Big Ten play begins on the road at Indiana. Then Central Michigan comes to East Lansing to close out both non-conference play and the month of September.

Things increase in difficulty overall in the next month. Michigan State will want to get some revenge against Northwestern when the Wildcats travel to East Lansing on the first Saturday of October. A trip to Penn State follows, before the rivalry game against Michigan at Spartan Stadium on October 20. Another home date, this one against Purdue, closes out October play.

A trip to Maryland offers some sort of respite early in November. Then Ohio State visits Michigan State in a game that could settle the division title in 2018. But get past the Buckeyes and the Spartans still face a trip to Nebraska before the Thanksgiving weekend finale at home versus Rutgers.

What’s next for Michigan State?

Utah State offers a good test run to see how solid Dantonio has his charges focused in 2018. The Aggies are a solid Group of Five squad that returns nine defensive starters. Michigan State has to avoid looking ahead to their road trip to Arizona State the following weekend, or else they won’t even make it to September with an undefeated record.

Prediction: 11-1 (8-1 Big Ten)

Michigan State won’t be quite as much of a surprise in the Big Ten East this season. While everyone is swooning on Ohio State, the Spartans return the most talent in the league. They are due to lose at least divisional contest, though, probably at Penn State.

Thus the November showdown with the Buckeyes will serve as a de facto divisional championship game once again. Whether or not Urban Meyer is still with Ohio State at that point probably won’t matter. With Ohio State coming to East Lansing, the Spartans have the edge in a game they’ll be fired up to win.

That means Michigan State will probably play Wisconsin in Indianapolis for the Big Ten title. They will be heavy underdogs in that game, but we’ve seen how the Badgers perform when they are favored in Indianapolis. Even with a likely defeat, though, a New Year’s Six berth still looks highly likely for one of Mark Dantonio’s most experienced squads ever.