Michigan State Football: How will Spartans look in Mel Tucker’s 2nd season?

How will Michigan State football fare in 2021?

Michigan State has to play in one of the toughest divisions in all of college football in the Big Ten East, playing Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, and Indiana. The Spartans also have a tough non-conference test by going on the road to play Miami.

It will be tough to find many wins for the Spartans.

• Game 1: at Northwestern (W) — Northwestern is reloading after a great 2020, but the Spartans catch them at the right time at the beginning of the year.
• Game 2: Youngstown State (W) — Should be an easy win for MSU at home.
• Game 3: at Miami (L) — Michigan State has pulled some upsets before but I think Miami is far too explosive.
• Game 4: Nebraska (L) — The Cornhuskers should be further along than MSU in their rebuild and they get the win on the road.
• Game 5: Western Kentucky (W) — The final non-conference game should be a double-digit win for the Spartans.
• Game 6: at Rutgers (W) — Rutgers is improving, but the Spartans have a lot more talent right now.
• Game 7: at Indiana (L) — Some think that Indiana is a contender in the East and even if they are not, they’ll beat the Spartans at home.
• Game 8: Michigan (L) — MSU usually plays their rival tough no matter what, but the Wolverines will get this one.
• Game 9: at Purdue (L) — The Boilermakers will have a tough offense even without Rondale Moore and will outscore the Spartans.
• Game 10: Maryland (L) — This is a winnable game for MSU, but I think Maryland is going to have a very good offense this season and the Terps win.
• Game 11: at Ohio State (L) — This is liable to get very ugly in Columbus for Mel Tucker’s team.
• Game 12: Penn State (L) — This is another team that the Spartans play tough, but I think the Nittany Lions are in for a big bounce-back year.

Final Record: 4-8, 2-7 Big Ten

This is a tough schedule for MSU. Games against the top four teams in the division and the road trip to Miami are going to be very tough to win. That leaves them with seven other games to get to bowl eligibility and I can’t see this Michigan State team getting it done with such uncertainty on offense.