Michigan State Football's 2021 Strength of Schedule
East Lansing, Mich. – In college football, your strength of schedule and performance on the field against those opponents always matters.
And this season is no different.
Last year, Tom Fornelli, a CBS Sports Writer, said Michigan State had the toughest slate in the Big Ten due to its non-conference schedule, which ended up being canceled, alongside contests against Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa, and Indiana.
Though, his projections came out prior to the league recreating and producing its conference-only schedule. Even so, the Spartans still traveled to Ann Arbor for a Halloween showdown vs. the Wolverines before facing the Hoosiers, Buckeyes, and Northwestern at home, resulting in a 2-5 record.
However, this year, Fornelli thinks MSU drew considerably more favorable matchups heading into Mel Tucker's second season leading the program, ranking them 7th, ahead of Maryland and behind Rutgers.
"Michigan State's non-conference schedule includes a road game against Miami (the one in Florida) as well as home dates with Youngstown State and Western Kentucky (did you read that, Indiana? A home game!)," Fornelli wrote. "Sparty gets a somewhat forgiving draw from the West, as it'll open the season with Northwestern on the road, but I'd rather play Nebraska and Purdue than Wisconsin and Iowa. In the division, there's a tough home stretch as the Spartans will face Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State all in the final five weeks."
CBS Sports 2021 Big Ten Strength of Schedule Rankings
- Nebraska
- Michigan
- Wisconsin
- Purdue
- Indiana
- Rutgers
- Michigan State
- Maryland
- Penn State
- Minnesota
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Ohio State
- Northwestern
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