Is anyone rooting for MSU to win the Rose Bowl?

Submitted by Erik_in_Dayton on

Is anyone rooting for MSU in the Rose Bowl?  I suppose you could make a case that we ought to.  The Big Ten's national perception is really bad, of course (thanks in part to ESPN's intentional submarining of the conference, IMO, but that's perhaps another post).  A victory by MSU might have a positive ripple effect for the rest of the conference next year, especially when it's time to select the four teams for the Kodiak Smokeless Tobacco College Football Playoff Presented by Lloyd's of London and Kia Motors.

I know that I simply can't bring myself to root for MSU, though I have to respect what they've done with their program.  I remember being a kid and seeing MSU go to the 1988 Rose Bowl and thinking that something just wasn't right about the situation, and I feel pretty much the same way now.  Sure, they've earned the right to be there, but just a surely, the football gods must be offended by this current state of affairs.  It is not right, in some fundamental way, like a household in which two dogs watch TV and use kitchen appliances while humans scamper around on the floor begging for scraps.

But anyway, is anyone rooting for MSU?  I don't blame you if you are.  As I said, it makes some sense.     

maize-blue

December 31st, 2013 at 1:33 PM ^

I will not be rooting for MSU..

I get wanting to see the conference do well and improve the BIG national perception but MSU along with Ohio are our two biggest rivals so I will not be pulling for them. Maybe lose a close game, that's the best I could do.

bluewave720

December 31st, 2013 at 5:32 PM ^

Resources are finite.  Everytime a regional rival does well, it potentially deprives us of the resources we want.  This isn't sour grapes.  Right now, and for as long as that staff is in EL, MSU is for real.  IMO, pulling for MSU is loosing sight of the war.  They aren't to be taken lightly.  They aren't li'l bro.  They are a team that has beat us 5 out of 6, are in our backyard, and won't ever give up against us.  A win tomorrow helps them in recruiting.  Right now, that is the only place we have been beating them.

Go Cardinal.  Go Blue. 

TallyWolverine

December 31st, 2013 at 6:21 PM ^

I'm sort of with you,but i think it's a lose/lose situation. If they both play well and win, we have to watch and listen to them bask in glory and brag about how great they are. If they lose, the B1G remains a joke, and yet they will still brag about their recent domination over UM.

In the end I will choose the lesser of two evils. I will pull for MSU, but I hope Clemson puts up 80 on the Bucks.

ShadowStorm33

December 31st, 2013 at 1:51 PM ^

I find I can't watch a game (football, basketball, anything) without taking a side. I just can't do it. I instinctively pick a side and cheer for them. It's actually kind of frustrating, since even for games that should be purely neutral entertainment, I'll be frustrated if the team I pick loses. That being said, I'm absolutely not cheering for sparty. Hope they get pounded into the ground. The only two B1G teams I was really cheering for lost (Michigan and Minnesota), so at this point, I'll probably root for the B1G to just shoot the moon ala the 2008 Lions...

Bill Bafferty

December 31st, 2013 at 1:33 PM ^

No. Cannot root for them due to their ridiculous fan base. Minn lost, Michigan got worked. It's too late to change the perception of the B1G. If State wins, I don't want to hear about the genius of Dantonio for the rest of my life.

MGoBlue95

December 31st, 2013 at 4:17 PM ^

Speaking for myself, I dislike Dantonio for a few reasons.  Firstly, and viscerally, he has acted like a Galactically Huge Ass Hat for the past few years.  From his "where's the threat" comments to his actions at the HS Football event when he was a D-bag to Coach Heck, his words and deeds have been, at best, disrespectful towards the University, its players, and the coaches. 

I think more rationally, my dislike stems from a little bit of jealousy, as he has done much more, with a lot less, over the past few years.  He has shown to be a defensive mastermind as well as a highly accomplished recruiter, eschewing star rankings and focusing more on developing players.

With that said, he has seemed to soften a bit over the past year or so.  When MSU players were tweeting nonsense during the Alabama fiasco last year, he came down on them publicly.  After we (finally) beat them, he was relatively gracious and joked that he was glad that he wouldn't have to face Denard again.  And this year, after the beatdown, he even voiced a bit of support for Hoke in the wake of the "fire Hoke" firestorm that was to come.  I think he secretly loves every minute of our struggles, but he has tapered his comments a little, at leat publicly.

So, in short, he's a great coach and a douche nozzle all rolled into one grumpy looking package.

BluByYou

December 31st, 2013 at 1:57 PM ^

My son (an alum) had the unfortunate experience of flying back to his home in the L.A. area from Metro on the evening of the 28th.  He said the plane was loaded with "trashy Sparties" (are there any other kind?) who, as luck would have it on timing, were hooting over our performance at the BWW.   Fortunately, he has earphones that deaden outside sound.  I'm sure to root for the Sparties, as they would for us.

GoBLUinTX

December 31st, 2013 at 1:34 PM ^

For me, the 2013 season is over.  I'll watch some of the remaining games for the enjoyment of watching football, but I really don't care who wins or loses any of the games.  These games are about the past, I'm looking to the future.  To a certain extent the AU Bowl and the Army AA Bowl, signing day, and spring practice, that's the future that interests me.

ST3

December 31st, 2013 at 1:35 PM ^

If it weren't for the late TD against K-State, the Copper Bowl would have been our worst loss of the season. As it was, it was the 2nd worst, trailing only the loss to MSU, but that was at MSU and the Copper Bowl was at a neutral site game. That's a roundabout way of saying that I think MSU is equivalent to a mid-level Big 12 team. Other than the B1G championship game, MSU's best win was at Iowa. (And I'm not sure how good OSU is, given their ridiculously easy schedule.) I hope Stanford blows them out and exposes them for the schedule-assisted fraud that they were this year. Wow, am I bitter.

pdxwolve

December 31st, 2013 at 1:36 PM ^

I'd like to see a few BIG teams win so I don't have to hear comparisons with the MAC and Big East for another year. And the kids from Stanford will win for the rest of their lives.

pdxwolve

December 31st, 2013 at 1:51 PM ^

Also, There are only a half-dozen or so schools that compete with UM for the top scholar athletes. Stanford gives those type of student athletes an extremely attractive alternative, especially the ones we try to lure from west of the Rockies. Sparty is better than us at football right now, and it will help with their recruiting, but we will continue having better cache with the top athletes provided we don't keep going 7-6.

MGoKereton

December 31st, 2013 at 1:39 PM ^

I feel like I should, but since #B1GQuest is already 2/2 the sadistic sports fan in mean would rather cheer for that. I'd say maybe the B1G would reevaluate itself afterwards but we know that probably won't happen

ChalmersE

December 31st, 2013 at 1:41 PM ^

But for recruiting, I might be tempted to root for them -- stares at mirror, shakes head in dismay.  Fortunately recruiting issues trump that thought. Go Cardinal!

jtmc33

December 31st, 2013 at 1:42 PM ^

I have 4 good friends in Pasadena watching the game; I'd like them to have fun.

The Big 10 needs a Rose Bowl win.

But I hate Sparty and don't want to hear the media and their fans for the next 14 months (and longer if UM loses in EL next year).

So, I don't know.... I'm confused   (and sad)

falco_alba15

December 31st, 2013 at 1:44 PM ^

I have a friend who is a Tennessee fan. Naturally, he proclaims all the time that the SEC is the best conference ever and the B1G is irrelevant. When Michigan State upset Ohio State, it wasn't a well-fought victory with him, it was an average team beating an overrated OSU team.



I hate the SEC. I hate the fact that they think they're the most awesome thing ever, even though in their whole conference, it's been 4 teams that have made them relevant. Yet the fans of the crappy teams that go 5-7 every year still seem to hold onto that pride of "being in the SEC."



I want Michigan State to win because we need B1G wins to have any shot of making the top 4 slots that will bracket for the NC. If you can't root for your conference, then what's the point? What's the point of being the best team in a miserable schedule that gets no recognition? I hate MSU. I hate the SEC more. I don't care what happens with Stanford.