MSU voted 3rd in Big Ten by Big Ten Media Day voters

DANTONIO DOMINATES IN-STATE COACHING.

IIRC Michigan was voted third last season (behind OSU and Wisconsin) so there is no reason to give these rankings any more credence than any other preseason rankings.

It's clear that OSU and PSU are the preseason teams to beat in the B10 and Iowa, Wisco, Illinois, M, and MSU are consistantley reordered in the middle.

As soon as Sparty loses a close one to ND, Wisco, or M (all in the first 5 weeks of their season) people will be jumping off the bandwagon faster than Elno Lewis can say "Potato Salad"

and keep them competitive. I think the general feeling beyond PSU and OSU is that it's a free for all for those next 4-5 spots. Seemed like even Dantonio isn't quite sure of being slotted #3.

As for "they [sic] fact that they're, like, not good have anything to do with it," why not let them play to indeed see if they're not good?

MSU has some talented players coming back and some talented freshman. Picking between Iowa, Wisconsin and MSU is splitting hairs. Time will tell how they fare.

The media won't put a team that went 3-9 last year and now with a true freshman QB as high as 3rd.

I agree that MSU finishing the season at #3 in the Big Ten sounds a little far fetched right now. The problem is that there are so many unknowns at this point that no one has any idea how things will play out.

It's a new season. Losing Ringer may or may not set MSU back significantly. Michigan may or may not be better than MSU this year. Just because people voted MSU third doesn't mean they're complete idiots... it means they're making different assumptions than most of us are.

Iowa also lost its running back-that-made-up-their-entire-offense in Shonn Greene. It's wide open for third. I'd say Illinois probably should have been voted third, but everyone but Indiana and Purdue have somewhat of a shot.

Dantonio is created the new monster program in the country, and there's no way that Rodriguez can compete. When we go up to EL they'll be 4-0 and ranked in the top 15 and we'll probably be 1-3 and struggling to put our cleats on correctly. The Spartans should feel supremely confident, and Dantonio can probably play his second and third stringers for much of the game, since they're so deep with talent due to his fantastic recruiting. There's no doubt that by then 30 more guys will have left our team and half of the remaining will be out on bail or on academic probation. If we somehow manage to beat them up there it will be one of the new century's biggest upsets.

I love how Sparty fans say they will be just fine without Ringer. On RCMB all last year they loved him. Now they are saying that they had the 9th best rushing team in the B10 and will somehow be better without him.

The important thing to recognize is just how little we all care about Sparty.

Oh wait....

1) I suspect that MSU barely beat out Iowa/etc. in the voting. The fact they don't release the voting details (and only go 3 teams deep) makes the result see more dramatic.

2) The fact we don't have to play OSU was probably the tie-breaker for a lot of voters.

MSU didn't win last year because of Ringer (and his <5 YPC). They won because their defense was alright, they got a few lucky breaks, and kept their heads on. I think that the Iowa/Wisconsin analogies are apt. They're just the latest steady Big Ten power running team that will finish every year with 6-9 wins.

I think that MSU is being a little overhyped this year. They crack down on Michigan's incoming qbs saying that they will be bad again because of inexperience, but they have the same issue. Yes, Wisconsin should've beaten MSU in EL last year. Wisconsin decided to call a timeout as time was running out, for what reason idk, as MSU was rushing on the field to try to attempt a field goal to win. The TO gave MSU time to do it and make the field goal. Personally, I think that Iowa will be better than MSU based on things I have heard and I might even put wisky right there with them. Our season could go a couple different ways, though.

I cant disagree with the poll here.

Nobody looks ready to break into the top two held by OSU and PSU.

I think you can make a case for any one of 4-5 teams in the 3 spot. Sounds like enough of them made the case for MSU, so, there it is.

It will all get played out on the field. And with the difference between 3rd and 8th place seemingly thin, there will be a lot of dramatic football as the big 10 determines who its sending to the Cap One and OUtback Bowls.

My sleeper is Northwestern. 3rd place sleeeper? Sure, why not. No OSU or Mich on the slate. They could easily go 5-3 and finish in third. No Sugarcoat.

The conference is two good teams and a big pile of mediocrity and dreck. Who cares who wins the Dreck Division of the conference? All I care about is Michigan's record this year and our games, we're not contenders for the title and neither is anyone else other than PSU or OSU (barring both PSU and OSU somehow screwing up and losing 2 or 3 conference games). No one else is going through the conference slate with only one loss.

I would have taken Iowa third because unlike MSU, they are returning their starting QB, and one who was playing pretty well in the latter parts of the season. That's a pretty significant difference, even if State doesn't play OSU this year. But in the end it doesn't matter given the chasm between the top 2 and the rest of the league. The difference is what warm weather bowl you get to go to, and frankly, Tampa and San Antonio are way more fun than Orlando presuming you aren't married with kids.

that Brian pointed out a few days ago. Remember, Michigan State got outgained by their opponents, despite going five games over. You have to wonder if this means they just caught a lot of breaks or were the proverbial "smoke and mirrors" team last year. We shall see soon!

Even as a Spartan fan, I'm not sure I can back that. I was at the Green & White game, and the running game on both sides was a complete disaster. Unless you like 1.5 yards and a cloud of dust, that is. Who knows, maybe the freshmen RBs (Capers and some dude I can't remember) can move the ball better. The O-lines were strangely better in pass-blocking than run-blocking. The passing offenses were pretty awesome.

But dudes, for real, don't kid yourself about Michigan. A true freshman QB and a defense that hasn't gotten any better personnel-wise? Could I suggest the Wildcat for oh, 70 plays per game?