Michigan State football: Can Spartans get back to contending under Mel Tucker?

How will Michigan State football fare in 2020?

The Big Ten recently unveiled an eight-game regular season schedule with a ninth crossover game in mid-December.

Playing in the Big Ten East means that you will have to play Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan. Michigan State will also draw one of the toughest opponents in West with a matchup against Iowa.

How will the Spartans fare?

• Game 1: vs. Rutgers (W) — Michigan State will get an easy win against the worst team in the conference and start the Mel Tucker era strong.
• Game 2: at Michigan (L) — The Wolverines have a lot of question marks on offense, but should field a tough defense and are just more talented than Michigan State.
• Game 3: at Iowa (L) — Iowa is in the news for the wrong reasons nowadays, but I think they will field a good team in 2020 and will beat Michigan State.
• Game 4: vs. Indiana (L) — I think the Hoosiers are sneaky good this year and return loads of experience on both sides of the ball.
• Game 5: at Maryland (W) — The Spartans pick up a big win in the middle of the year here, ending a three-game skid at Maryland.
• Game 6: vs. Northwestern (W) — This will likely be a defensive struggle, as Northwestern had a terrible offense last year and I think the Spartans have the better defense.
• Game 7: vs. Ohio State (L) — I think Ohio State is playoff bound and quite simply will probably blow out Michigan State.
• Game 8: at Penn State (L) — I think Penn State is also a playoff contender and the Nittany Lions’ defense will be too much for a questionable Spartans offense.

Final Record: 3-5

Michigan State is a team that will be hurt by not having any non-conference games, as I think they could have picked up wins against Toledo and potentially BYU or Miami — both would be tough — and that would have given the Spartans a shot at a bowl game. Michigan State could get another win when their other opponent is announced, as long as that team is not Wisconsin.

Expect a rough first season in East Lansing for Mel Tucker due to a lack of starpower on offense and having to replace so many defensive stars.