Is MSU football overrated?

Yes

Why are we talking about[REDACTED]? No more.

you the opportunity to share your thoughts in a productive manner. I think this year will be telling for Sparty.

What the hell, why is my MgoBlog bookmark taking me to Spartan's Tailgate?

Maybe yes, maybe no. We'll find out soon enough.

I could've answered that in one word.

"Yes"

edit: As did techyooper....nvm.

Maybe

who cares about mississippi state?

Who helped you come up with those nicknames?

Kirk "Kissin" Cousins and Keith "Can you spare a brotha a" Nichol?

Generally you want your nickname to be under 6 words.

yes.

Most likely.

To the OP I recently wrote in a MGOBOARD entry that basically said the same thing with the exception of the fact that I used pure speculation and a few "what ifs". I did not use things like facts or statistics and I must say that you did a much better job. My main point was that Sparty beat the historically worst team that we ever produced and that if we had been a typical UM team they would not have beaten us. If that were the case they would not have played on Jan 1. All in all I think your article was good and I am glad I read it. And to answer your queston Yes the other posters beat me to death about being tired of hearing about MD and Sparty.

This was a legit MSU post.
Obsessing about "them" anytime there is the tiniest story about Sparty... bad.
A good, legit, post that would be taken seriously if it was exactly the same info on Illinois, Iowa, or Wisconsin... good. that should be the standard regarding MSU posts

Stop fearing Sparty and the attention they are getting... the ship will right itself soon enough

Certainly the local press is hyping Moo U as serious contenders for the big ten title, and those expectations are unrealistic. Michigan State had a nice little year, mostly because of the horrid state of the big ten. Both they and Northwestern went 9-4 if that tells you anything. 9-4 against a big ten that(correct me if I am wrong) did not have a single top 25 win(is that the first time that has happened?). Both MSU and NW lost their quarterbacks and talented halfbacks, so aside from not having an automatic loss to Ohio State the two programs should have similar expectations. If you want to compare with UM head to head(assuming MSU's players could gain admission and stay elegible) Cousins, Cironi and Greg Jones would probably start for Michigan. That is 3 out of 22 players. With that said if Cironi is healthy after his shoulder surgery he is a significant advantage at left tackle.
Nationally though, I think most people have them just outside the top 25, which in truth seems like a reasonable expectation. We'll know a lot more when CMU comes to town Sept 12. Lefevour is no joke and their entire defense is back.

fucking OF COURSE!

Not if you use it as a mat, and put it in front of your door, and wipe your feet on it. It suits this purpose quite well, in fact, and I rate such things highly.

It is, however, if you try to use it as a reflective mirror to judge yourself. You hold it up, stare at it and see nothing but a dirty mat, even if you comb your hair differently and grow a mustache for Michigan.

That it does seem really dumb to talk aout your biggest rival outside of Ohio State so much. Wow, how weird that UM fans would discuss Michigan State? In state rival, big time compeition for in state recruits, they are the new media darlings of the SE Michigan media, they are apparently in much better shape to compete with Michigan on and off the field, hmmmm

Yup, absolutley NO reason to discuss MSU at all! Especially during the down time of the off season!

on whether you mean overrated by the 10-2 prognosticators (probably) or the 7-5 prognosticators (not likely). I for one think they are rated just about right at 4th in the Big Ten due to a cake schedule and not facing two of the teams that racked up almost 800 combined yards (Cal and Ohio State), replacing them with Montana State and Illinois.

FIRE UP CHIPS!

Calling the upset now.

93% of their offense has graduated,
ND will have broken their back 2 weeks previously if Wisconsin hasn't breathed life into them in between games, and even if they have, UM will be in good position to deliver a KO

As Rittenberg pointed out, they didn't finish higher than fifth (maybe fourth) in any category. They just won close games.

This is a great example of statistics not really telling the story.

"In terms of total yardage, the Spartans were actually OUTGAINED by their opponents,355.8 to 343.5. This accomplished in one of the weakest years in Big Ten history and the likes of EMU, Florida Atlantic, and a Charlie Weis coached Notre Dame team."
MSU outgained (and most importantly, beat) all three of the teams you list here. They are irrelevant to your argument.

http://www.msuspartans.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/msu-nu.html
MSU-NU game stats:
NU outgains MSU 459-297 and loses by 17. Why is that? Oh yeah... because total yardage completely ignores things like "field position" and MSU's excellent defensive plan that forced NU to throw 61(!) short passes and resulted in two picks.

The two blowout losses skew the stats even further. Your superficial analysis of total yardage reveals very little real information. Remember, there are three types of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

As far as Dantonio's record, he took Cinci from the C-USA to the Big East. Again, superficial "analysis" of his overall record ignores the transition year when they first joined the Big East. And you should know about coaches getting a free pass in a transition year (zing!).

..erodes my favorite argument against trolls. I always point out that they are trolling a UM site because UM is more relevant than their favorite school. I would hate to contribute to giving [expletive deleted] relevance.

So, I am going to allow the posters here at mgoblog to evolve my opinion to one where I now agree that UM fans should not help contribute to the would-be renaissance of [expletive deleted].

Thank you for helping me change my opinion.

to insult and defile Sparty....but, I have to say ever since Kirk Gibson ran thru the goalposts I do have soft spot in my heart for them. I mean, how can that be anything but awesome?

caw caw!

Now go ahead and flame me, peckerwoods!

Yes.

Won't diss or neg the op. Won't make an inflammatory statement about "obsessions" of some UM fans with MSU.

But I do think that those of you who live in-state read and care a lot more about MSU than those of us not in Michigan do. Sometimes I wonder if local journalists write stories about MSU and their "success" just to pull UM fans' chain.

I understand the MSU fan wanting to see their school improve. The answer is that obviously, it is too soon to tell.

However, at this point, I am a Michigan fan. I just don't care that much about State, at least as regards football. I'm not afraid of them, but I don't feel the need to put them down or keep them down. Other than a review the game before, I really don't need to read about them. Other than who wins the battle for the likes of Gholston, I don't care who they are recruiting. They will do what they will do. If and when it happens that they improve and are a legit national power, we will know.

Now, if State could lure a major coach (someone like Carroll or Meyer,) if they had a recruiting budget twice what Michigan spends, if they had several years of being ranked in the top three of Big Ten teams in recruiting, with significant numbers of four and five star recruits, if they had demonstrably better facilities, if the had a span of several years of being clearly competitive with OSU, PSU, ND, & UM, as well as in bowl games I would begin to pay attention.

I don't see any of these things happening quickly, although it isn't impossible. If enough State alumni want to spend enough money, it could happen. But that's a big if. iirc, someone at Oklahoma State is pumping huge sums of money into their program. Hasn't bought success yet. Football success is not something easy to establish.

I remember the days prior to MSU having basketball success. They certainly had some success with Heathcoate (sp?) and Magic Johnson. But since then, State has had sustained success under Izzo, and now, to the best of my knowledge, have a pipeline of recruits, good national cred, great facilities, along with a good coach. This could certainly happen in football. My guess, however, is that in terms of funding, recruiting enough good players, etc., etc., it is much more challenging to get established in football than in basketball.

To sum up and respond to OP: they're prob. overrated. This season will show us a lot, but we don't know yet.

Why is this man not murdered with his thread deleted. It's obviously an obsession that must be dealt with because it's too much. I'm forced to read it and I'm sick of reading about MSU.

If you can't read things for what they're worth, please know this was sarcasm.