10 Power 5 National Championship dark horse contenders
By John Buhler
Under head coach Mark Dantonio, the Michigan State Spartans have been a top-10 program for a good grip of the past decade. Sparty won the Big 10 in 2015, defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Conference Championship Game in Indianapolis, but were obliterated 38-0 by eventual champ Alabama in the National Semifinal on New Year’s Eve.
Would it be all that shocking to see MSU take home back-to-back conference chips? Not really. But the Spartans did lose a ton of talent to the NFL — including the school’s all-time winning-est quarterback, Connor Cook — and have the severe misfortune of playing in the same Big 10 East sandbox as Michigan and Ohio State.
Not that Michigan State will fall off a cliff in 2016, but Michigan and Ohio State have essentially reloaded, and already feel like the two front-runners to represent the Big 10 in the third annual College Football Playoff this January.
Michigan State’s 2016 season schedule includes many tough tilts, including trips to South Bend to face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, as well as a home date with the BYU Cougars to headline the non-conference slate. Though the Spartans’ nine-game Big 10 schedule won’t be easy to navigate, it might prove a picnic compared to their 2015 gauntlet.
The Spartans are fortunate in that they get both Michigan and Ohio State at home this year. Big 10 East road games at Indiana and Penn State could be interesting, but the Spartans are still better than the Hoosiers and the Nittany Lions entering 2016.
Another way the Spartans can get a big boost from their tough schedule is by playing presumed bowl teams Northwestern and Wisconsin out of the Big 10 West. Even Illinois might be better under former NFL head coach Lovie Smith this fall, giving Sparty another shot at pumping up their resume.
Michigan State is one of the few teams in the Power 5 that can finish the season in third place in its division with a 10-2 record and still be ranked in the top 10 nationally. Still, the Spartans essentially have to steal a game against either Michigan or Ohio State — as well as beat Notre Dame on the road — to have a chance to represent the Big 10 in the College Football Playoff this year.
If Michigan State can get to 11 regular season wins again this season, then knock of whomever comes out of the Big 10 West in the conference championship game in Indianapolis, don’t be surprised if Dantonio’s Spartans are able to build on last year’s brutal trip to the College Football Playoff and make some serious noise.
Next: 6. Miami Hurricanes.