By all accounts, this MSU team over-achieved this year. By that I mean they took the talent from last year, minus the seniors that left and the players that were told to leave, added a few freshmen and redshirt freshmen, and performed well beyond where they were expected to. In my pre-season predictions, I leaned on the high side and picked them at 9-3, while most preseason prognosticators were in the 8-4 and 7-5 range. With the win on Saturday, Michigan State claimed its 7th Big Ten title in school history (1953, 1965, 1966, 1978, 1987, 1990, 2010). It also became the all-time winningest team in program history with 11 wins. I couldn’t be more happier being wrong.
As MSU junior quarterback Kirk Cousins told the Lansing State Journal on Saturday:
“Championships are built on a thousand invisible mornings, and we built this championship when no one was watching.”
I’ll edit that quote a little bit: “when not many people were watching.” And here’s why:
After the game at Penn State, Cousins was talking to the Spartan Sports Radio Network guys and mentioned that this championship effort began back in January and February, while Mark Dell was still suspended from the team. Even though they couldn’t access the MSU football facilities due to Dell’s suspension, they spent time at local church gyms, working on their routes, their footwork and their chemistry. My church just so happened to be one of those places and my sons and I were there to witness some of the work. I documented that (with pictures) in this season preview article and said:
“I know that players work during the offseason. And I know they work hard. But what I witnessed that night (a random Saturday in the middle of winter 2010, about 7 weeks after the Spartans’ football season had ended) gave me tremendous hope for this year’s Spartan offense. Kirk Cousins and Mark Dell spent a sweat-filled hour-and-a-half dropping back, scrambling, dodging, moving, running routes, passing and catching in a non-descript gymnasium in Holt, Michigan.”
Cousins
Dell
*** MANY more pictures are available at this link. ***
This championship was indeed earned during the off-season as all of the players made themselves better than they were last year. And it’s a good thing that the players and the coaches see the value of the championship as more important than the bowl destination that is supposed to come along with it. To be sure, we are in rare air here: it isn’t often that a team from a BCS conference finishes 11-1 and misses out entirely on the BCS. A couple things to note: last year, Dantonio was the only no vote when the coaches decided to change the way the Big Ten breaks it’s ties. Dantonio said that he didn’t think it was a good idea to ask someone outside the Big Ten “family” to determine who its representative to the Rose Bowl should be. It’s a little ironic that the one no vote in a 10-1 approval of the current tie-breaking scenario is the one that suffered the most from its implementation. Had Dantonio gotten his way, the 11 Big Ten coaches would be casting votes this week to determine which of the 3 teams should represent the conference in the Rose Bowl. He wanted to keep that decision “in-house” instead of outsourcing it to computers and voters. Seems logical to me… but that could be my green and white goggles again.
At least this scenario won’t be repeated next season, when the Big Ten expands to 12 teams with the addition of Nebraska and plays a conference championship game. Dantonio joked: “hopefully we’d be allowed in (the championship game).” Of course, this whole bowl debacle stems from the Spartans’ only loss of the season – a 37-6 loss at Iowa. The ugly defeat my family and I witnessed in Iowa City the day before Halloween cost the Spartans not only a chance to play for the BCS national championship – it also dropped us behind the Badgers and Buckeyes in the Big Ten stacking order. Had we made a game of it (and had Iowa not given up on its season ever since), we’d be in a lot stronger position – possibly even ahead of OSU. But, since BCS selection rules allow only two teams from one conference to play in BCS bowl games, the Spartans are now relying on Athletic Director Mark Hollis to somehow convince a bowl to take us over the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Dantonio
Mark Dantonio has refused to engage in the BCS discussions – and rightfully so – until the Spartans had taken care of all of the business that they could control. But after the game on Saturday, he entered the fray: “I know only two teams can come from the Big Ten, but you certainly have to throw our hat in the ring. We’re the only football team that’s beaten Wisconsin, and I might add that we did it convincingly. I’ll say it twice, we did it convincingly.” At the Breslin Center that evening, Dantonio was even more fired up, talking about how Wisconsin can walk around with roses in their mouths but the votes aren’t tallied until December 4th.
It set the stage for a week-long sales process that goes like this:
- MSU is 7-1 against bowl-eligible teams. Wisconsin is 4-1 and Ohio State is 6-1.
- The Spartans gave the Badgers their only loss of the season. And our coach was in the hospital at the time!
- MSU has ranked among the top 25 in attendance in each of the last 55 seasons and has over 420,000 living alumni. They will be willing to drop everything and buy your bowl tickets. We have a history of doing so.
- The Spartans hit the most households in the Big Ten on ABC/ESPN mirror broadcasts (5.748 million per game) and on ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 (4.37 million per game).
- Michigan State has the 39th-most difficult schedule (per the NCAA): 59-50 (.541) vs Bowl Subdivision teams – the most difficult of all 3 Big Ten Championship teams.
- The scores of the 3 games involving the Big Ten Champions: MSU 34, Wisconsin 24 and Wisconsin 31, OSU 18. MSU > Wisconsin > Ohio State.
- State is the only of the 3 co-champions that did not lose to the other 2.
- MSU was picked 7th in the preseason Big Ten rankings and was unranked to begin the season. It was a more difficult journey than starting out at #2 like Ohio State did or at #12 like Wisconsin did.
- MSU has a great story – we came from the furthest and overcame the most – and everybody loves great stories!
- Judging by the BCS standings, the Spartans have the best win among the Big Ten co-champs, a 34-24 triumph against Wisconsin.
- Based on cumulative opposition, the Spartans have played the nation’s 38th toughest schedule whereas Ohio State’s schedule ranks 54th and Wisconsin’s ranks 66th.
- The Spartans have eight wins against bowl-eligible teams, more than both Ohio State (6) and Wisconsin (4).
- MSU played all 5 of the mid-tier bowl eligible teams, four of them on the road (Michigan, Iowa, Northwestern, Penn State) while the Buckeyes faced only 2 of them on the road and didn’t play one of them at all.
- Although MSU had a couple close calls this year, none were as close as Wisconsin’s pair of one-point wins thanks to blocked extra points.
It’s been a great season and no matter where we end up, one thing is for sure: we had a great season. And Kirk Cousins summed up the team’s attitude after the game:
“We’re Big Ten Champions and no one can ever take that away from the walls of our stadium. We always talk about being champions, and we did it. It’s a special moment, and you don’t even know how much being a champion is stressed in our building, what championship teams do and what we need to do to be a championship team, and here we are with a championship on our resume, which no one can ever take away from us. When people pick you to finish 7th in the Big Ten and you win the thing, it’s pretty special. ”
As did senior linebacker Greg Jones, who came back for his senior year to win a championship and was just named as a repeat All-American:
“All of our games so far this season have lead up to this and it is a truly amazing feeling right now. It’s something we can enjoy forever. People have to realize that this is a different Michigan State. Coach D motivates us and makes us want to win. Every day in practice, he stresses why we practice and our endurance in tough times. We run even when doing well, we run extra and he explains that it is so we can win. He puts it in our minds, what we need to do to win. When we stay focused and determined, there isn’t anything we can’t do.”
Can’t say it much better. I’m proud to be a Spartan. Here’s more Spartan coverage at isportsweb.com:
My (then) 7-year old son and I interview Kirk Cousins. Click here.
More pictures of Cousins and Dell working out at St Matthew Lutheran Church. Click here.
Game coverage and thoughts on the Penn State championship-clinching victory. Click here.