Debatable Ranking for Michigan State Football Fair Prediction?

Michigan State has many unknowns heading into the upcoming season. It has led to yet another disappointing preseason ranking for the Spartans.

Michigan State's head coach Jonathan Smith looks on during camp on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, at the indoor practice facility in East Lansing. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

It’s that time of year. Michigan State and the rest of college football is another week closer to the start of the season, which means another preseason ranking has been released.

Michigan State is set to kick off its season at home against Florida Atlantic in Coach Jonathan Smith’s first game in East Lansing. As the Spartans march closer to the season opener, they have been bombarded with predictions of all kinds, primarily predictions that are far from optimistic for the Green and White.

Rankings filled with pessimistic outlooks have been the norm for Michigan State this offseason. The Spartans will roll out a new coach and many additions to a team that has undergone massive changes this offseason. Another one of those predictions was recently released, as USA TODAY released its rankings of all 134 college football teams entering this season. 

Like many other rankings this offseason, Paul Myerberg of USA TODAY’s rankings has Michigan State ranked in the bottom half of the country. Myerberg ranked Michigan State as the 79th-best team in the nation entering the 2024 season, which is on par with other rankings Michigan State has received this summer. 

While ranking Michigan State as the 79th-best team, it is worth noting that Myerberg has Florida Atlantic ranked as the 77th-best team in the country, a few spots ahead of Michigan State. Myerberg's ranking of Florida Atlantic over Michigan State to start the season ignores that Michigan State is favored to beat Florida Atlantic by nearly two touchdowns when the two teams face off in East Lansing in a few weeks. 

While Myerberg’s overall ranking of Michigan State is debatable, he does rank it as the 13th-best team in the Big Ten, ahead of Illinois, Indiana, Northwestern, Purdue and UCLA. This proves that Michigan State is not nearly as bad of a team as some have predicted this offseason. The Spartans undoubtedly have work to do, but with so many new pieces to the team, it will take time to see how good of a football team Michigan State has this season. Smith and Michigan State look forward to proving many offseason predictions wrong this season.

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