Spartans' Bowl Chances Still Look Good at the Moment

Michigan State lost its first game of the season, a narrow loss to Boston College on the road. How much did the loss impact the Spartans' bowl game chances?

Sep 21, 2024; Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Aidan Chiles (2) scores a touchdown against the Boston College Eagles during the first half at Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images / Eric Canha-Imagn Images

Michigan State is 3-1 after losing its first game of the season on the road against Boston College.

The Spartans were missing multiple key players from the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, but they still gave Boston College all it could handle. While the close loss was likely difficult for Smith and the Spartans to accept, they are still doing better than most expected this early in the season.

When the season began, most did not believe Michigan State had a realistic chance of making it to a bowl game. However, it is only three wins away from being bowl-eligible after its hot start. It has a challenging stretch of games coming up, in which it will likely struggle, but after that, the Spartans have multiple winnable games to end the season. 

The Spartans may have lost to a talented Boston College team this weekend, but according to Brett McMurphy of the Action Network, they are still in an excellent position to make it to a bowl game. McMurphy releases his bowl projections weekly and recently released this week’s updated projections. 

McMurphy still believes the Spartans will play in the Birmingham Bowl against Virginia even after the loss. This is the same bowl game that McMurphy has projected the Spartans to play in for the last two weeks. The only difference is he has projected multiple other teams as Michigan State’s opponent in the game over the previous few weeks. 

The Spartans are 3-1 on the season and will now face two of the best teams in the country in consecutive weeks. This will undoubtedly be Smith’s most challenging set of games during his first season in East Lansing. 

Michigan State will have a difficult time against Ohio State and Oregon over the next two weeks, but a bowl bid is far from out of the question, regardless of what happens over the next couple of weeks. The Spartans' next handful of games will allow Smith to guide his team through its first bit of real adversity on the field this season, which will arguably be just as valuable as a win over the next set of games.

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