Michigan State fell out of the Amway Coaches Poll and the AP Poll Top-25, not undeservedly so, but ESPN and Bill Connelly’s ranking system, the SP+ college football rankings, actually has Michigan State moving up the list despite a tough loss to Ohio State on the road.
Now, this isn’t a ranking system that accounts for wins and losses, it is designed to try and look objectively at how good teams are, taking into account the strength of opponents. Also, Michigan State is being heavily buoyed by their number 6 ranked defense. The Offense and Special Teams unit are ranked 56th and 75th, respectively.
My key takeaway here is that Michigan State is better than their record, but they keep making small mistakes, errors, and missing opportunities, which has led to them losing a sloppy game against Arizona State and get beaten down by Ohio State.
Michigan State will have the opportunity to correct the course of this season this Saturday against Wisconsin.
