Thoughts on 2015/16 football schedules

The Big Ten released the 2015/16 schedules today, and my first reaction was that the MSU schedules are very similar to 2011/12.

Here's the 2015 Big Ten schedule for MSU:

Oct. 3 Michigan
Oct. 10 at Iowa
Oct. 17 at Ohio State
Oct. 24 Indiana
Oct. 31 at Nebraska
Nov. 7 Bye
Nov. 14 Penn State
Nov. 21 at Northwestern
Nov. 28 Minnesota

Here is 2016:

Oct. 1 at Michigan
Oct. 8 Iowa
Oct. 15 Ohio State
Oct. 22 at Indiana
Oct. 29 Nebraska
Nov. 5 Bye
Nov. 12 at Penn State
Nov. 19 Northwestern
Nov. 26 at Minnesota
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(Here are the 2012/13/14 schedules)

MSU will play the same teams these two seasons as they did/will in 2011/12, with Penn State (remember them?) replacing Wisconsin. Compared to 2013/14, MSU will replace Purdue/Illinois with Ohio State and Penn State. The Land Grant trophy will (presumably) be on the line for the first time in five years when MSU and PSU meet in East Lansing on Nov. 14, 2015. After this coming season, the #borderbattle with Wisconsin will go on hiatus for five years. I'm sure MSU is happy about that, but it will stop what was becoming a great rivalry.

A reminder: Indiana is MSU's permanent division-crossover game. You can just feel the rivalry hatred oozing out of the Old Brass Spittoon.

The other major point is that MSU will open up the Big Ten seasons with rival Michigan, which has to be considered a disappointment. In these two years, the game's meaning in the standings won't really be known until later in the season. Given how early it is in the season, could it possibly be a night game? I wouldn't plan on it.

Considering MSU will have nonconference games against Alabama, Oregon and Notre Dame over the two years, the first seven games of the season are going to be a real challenge. Games against Indiana and the MAC schools should help, but who knows how teams will look five years down the road.

As for the home/road difference, it is pretty balanced when you include the nonconference games.

Overall, the schedule looks quite difficult (if you go by current program standing), but it appears this is how the scheduling is going to be. For MSU, the 2011/12 schedules are really difficult, but the 2013/14 schedules are much easier. (Seriously, MSU could be a national championship contender in 2013).

Then again, if the ACC implodes and we get to four superconferences, none of this will matter. Tradition!

Random MSU Photo of the Day: 4/27

(A reminder: Photo of the Day will now be a M/W/F thing)

The MAC bleachers at the 1915 football game between MAC and Michigan in Ann Arbor. MAC won the game 24-0.

via MSU Archives

Random MSU Photo of the Day: 4/20

Michigan State College playing Michigan at dedication of College Field in 1924 (not to be confused with Old College Field, where baseball, softball and soccer now play). The stadium opened in the fall of 1923, but the official dedication was the following year, where MSC almost upset U-M, but fell 7-0. It was renamed Macklin Field in 1935 and Spartan Stadium in 1957.

via MSU Archives

Big Ten announces men's hockey tournament sites

The Big Ten announces Thursday that St. Paul, Minn. and Detroit will rotate as hosts for the first four conference men's ice hockey tournaments. 

The 2014 and 2016 tournaments will be at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul and the 2015 and 2017 tournaments will be at Joe Louis Arena.

The locations make sense, as Minnesota and Michigan are two of the top college hockey states and hockey in general. Michigan has "Hockeytown," while Minnesota declared itself as the "State of Hockey." With Penn State adding ice hockey as a Division I sport in 2013-14, the sport had enough sponsors to become part of the Big Ten. MSU, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio State are set to leave their current conferences and join the Big Ten, which has created tectonic shifts in the college hockey landscape. 

Here is the release from the Big Ten:

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Random MSU Photo of the Day: 4/16

From 1913: "Fans at a M.A.C. vs. University of Michigan football game. On the front: "M.A.C. --- 12" "U. of M. --- 7." On the back: "Property: MSC Historian" "The stands at Ferry Field going wild with first victory of M.A.C. over Michigan."

via MSU Archives

Random MSU Photo of the Day: 4/11

"Action shot from a M.A.C. vs. University of Michigan football game, October 15, 1910. On the front: 'Hill kicking field goal,' M.A.C. vs U of M. Oct. 15th '10, 'M.A.C. 3 U. of M. 6.'"

via MSU Archives

Baseball takes final game against U-M

After losing the first two games in the weekend series, MSU won the third game against Michigan in Ann Arbor on Sunday by a 10-8 score in 13 innings.

U-M won 4-0 in Ann Arbor on Friday, the Wolverines' first win against MSU since 2009. U-M also won 4-3 in East Lansing on Saturday.

Here are the BTN highlights of Sunday's game.

Random MSU Photo of the Day: 3/28

"Crowd greeting Governor Ferris who attended the U. of M. VS M.A.C. foot-ball game." and "Gov. Ferris at U. of M. game with M.A.C. State won 12-7," "Oct 20 - 1913."

via MSU Archives

Random MSU Photo of the Day: 3/26

"Drawing of a football player, with the head of an actual player. Written on a sign next to him is 'Michigan's Goal,' and at the bottom "We're Going To Do It Again." The artist's initials are E.M.H. The date on the back is 1914."

MAC won its first football game against Michigan in 1913, so it would appear this postcard is about winning the 1914 game. U-M won the game 3-0.

via MSU Archives

Cornell band plays MSU fight song against Michigan

The MSU hockey team had already been eliminated earlier in the day, but the MSU fight song was still proudly being played in one hockey rink — one where MSU wasn't even playing.

Late in regulation with their team leading Michigan 2-1, the Cornell pep band played the MSU fight song, bringing in a new level of how to troll an opponent. This had to be planned. The band would have had to bring sheet music for the MSU fight song or something, because I assume it's not part of their normal playlist. (Update: This appears to be something Cornell has done before, playing an opponent's rival's fight song).

If you look at Shawn Hunwick's face in this video, I wonder if he recognized the tune. U-M actually tied the game up a few minutes after the song was played, but Cornell won in overtime.

(via Guyism)

Previewing the Big Ten tournament — Does MSU care?

(My preview originally appeared on Just Cover Blog) 

I am against the idea of conference tournaments. 

I think they devalue the role of the regular season, especially for mid-majors, where, in many cases, a team can win its regular season crown (by any margin), but has to win its conference tournament or else an NCAA tournament berth won't happen. For bigger conferences, the top teams have no incentive to play well, plus it always brings the chance of injury (Edit: I know it's about money, which is important for mid-major conferences).

That being said, I'm extremely excited for the Big Ten tournament to get underway on Thursday (bracket here). As a fan of basketball, and specifically Big Ten basketball, it's an incredibly fun event to attend. I recommend it for any Big Ten fan. (I'll be heading down Thursday night and covering MSU and Michigan for The Oakland Press)

This year, the conference was as good as ever. It was expected to be Ohio State head and shoulders above everyone else, but ended up with a three-way tie at the top with solid teams behind them. There really were four tiers of teams: The first being the three champions (Ohio State, Michigan State Michigan), the teams solidly in the tournament (Wisconsin, Indiana, Purdue), the teams that are or were close to the bubble at one point (Northwestern, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa) and the bottom-feeders (Nebraska, Penn State). But everyone was vulnerable. Penn State beat Purdue, Nebraska beat Indiana and Iowa beat Michigan and Indiana, to name a few upsets.

This has shaped up to be perhaps the best Big Ten tournament since it began in 1998. Ohio State has the most titles (4), including the last two. Interestingly, only three seeds have an all-time record above .500: 1, 2 and 6. The No. 6 seed is 25-12 all-time in this tournament and go through some picks.

Thoughts on MSU's 72-70 loss to Ohio State

(Box score here)

What a difference expectations make.

Before the season, if you told MSU fans they'd win a Big Ten championship they'd be ecstatic. If you said Ohio State would have to win its final game to get a share of a Big Ten title, they'd be shocked. Yet when MSU lost Sunday, there was disappointment.

We entered the day with both teams in surprising positions. After Michigan took care of Penn State, there was a shot at a three-way tie if MSU couldn't win the title outright. The Spartans jumped out to a big lead early behind a rocking Breslin Center, but Branden Dawson went down with a left knee injury midway through the first half. When Dawson went down, the player he was guarding, William Burford, went off, eventually hitting a game-winning jumper with one second left as the Buckeyes defeated MSU. The end result was a three-way tie, with only two of those teams being happy.

(UPDATE: Dawson tore his ACL, ending his season.)

Not sure why there is no "s." The other banners
have them. (via @diamond83)

It was MSU's first loss on Senior Night since 2006, an especially tough one for Draymond Green, who moved into third place in rebounding in MSU history, but battled foul trouble late and missed two shots in the final minute.

Spartans win Big Ten championship

I have to admit I didn't give it much of a chance.

I didn't think Wisconsin could go into Columbus and defeat Ohio State. Alas, the Badgers did just that, clinching a share of one of the most unlikely Big Ten championships in MSU history. The Wisconsin win comes one day after Purdue won at Michigan, putting the Wolverines two games back of MSU.

The Spartans can win the title outright with a win in one of the final two games.

Coming into the season, it seemed like making the NCAA tournament would be considered a success for this MSU team. In the end, the Spartans could win an outright title and end up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. U-M's hopes actually got a boost, as they'll be rooting for MSU to lose its last two while the Wolverines try to win their last two games. There is a shot at a three-way tie. Only MSU controls its fate.

The championship is the seventh for Izzo, becoming the fifth Big Ten coach to accomplish that feat. It's also MSU's third Big Ten championship in four years. Draymond Green and Austin Thornton become the fourth MSU senior class to win three conference crowns. (2000, 01, 02).

Icers split weekend with rival Michigan

(Friday box score here, Saturday box score here)

With only three series left, the Spartan hockey team was running out of opportunities to pick up ground in the CCHA standings.

This weekend, the Spartans nearly came away with six points, and they nearly came away with no points. They finished the weekend with three points in a series split against Michigan, winning in East Lansing on Friday and losing in overtime in Detroit on Saturday.

On Friday, the Spartans fell behind 2-0 in the second period, but then Torey Krug took over. A one-time shot from the blue line got through a crowd and past Michigan goalie Shawn Hunwick to cut the deficit to 2-1. In the third period, Krug scored a powerplay goal on a delayed shot from the point to tie the game. On another powerplay a few minutes later, a backhanded shot by Krug in the slot deflected over to Matt Berry, who buried the puck to give MSU a 3-2 lead. The Spartans killed a penalty in the final minutes and held on for the win. Will Yanakeff made 28 saves for MSU.



Saturday's game at Joe Louis Arena was a high-energy back-and-forth affair. The Wolverines led 1-0 after the first period, but Greg Wolfe tied the game up 3:32 into the second. Brett Perlini scored a powerplay goal a few minutes later to give MSU the lead. But U-M evened things up heading into the third. The third period was full of scoring chances on both sides, but, Yanakeff and Hunwick kept coming up with big saves.

MSU hockey pregame videos: Michigan

As I've done for other big games, here are some MSU hockey highlight videos against Michigan in East Lansing. A big series starts tonight with the teams facing off in East Lansing at 7:30 p.m. on BTN. (Note: The national championship win against Boston College is on BTN at 5:30).
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With the Winter Classic announcement yesterday, here's the one that started it all:

It's official: GLI at Comerica Park

The 2013 NHL Winter Classic has been the worst kept secret in sports.

Finally on Thursday, it was announced that the Winter Classic game between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs would be played at Michigan Stadium, with all the other activities being played at Comerica Park. These other games include the Great Lakes Invitational, which will include MSU, U-M, Michigan Tech and Western Michigan.

I think the most exciting part of this is that the Wings are playing the Leafs. It's a shame that these teams barely ever play. It could easily be the best rivalry in the NHL.

As for the GLI, it's good to see that the tournament will include all Michigan teams. I've always thought that's how it should be. It definitely would help with attendance at Joe Louis Arena. Given all the games going on — and how I expect prices to be quite high — I'm curious to see how the GLI will fare in ticket sales. Also factor in the school's football teams, which could be playing in bowl games around the same time.

What do you think of the plan? Do you like it? Should they have chosen one location for everything? Vote in the poll on the right side of the page.

Thoughts on MSU's 64-54 win over Michigan

(Box score here)

Draymond Green was the story before the game for multiple reasons, including his poor performances against Michigan and his injured left knee.

As it turned out, Green was the story of the game for different reasons, tying the U-M team in rebounds and leading the Spartans to a 64-54 win over the Wolverines.

"Draymond didn't want to go out losing four in a row to them," Tom Izzo said. Hopefully we switched the trend and it will start going the other way again."

The day belonged to the senior, as Green backed up his guarantee with 14 points, 16 rebounds and four assists to move to 4-3 against U-M (17-7 overall, 7-4 Big Ten) in his career. Before the game, he said he hated the Wolverines, and only death would keep him out of Sunday's game. The grim reaper was nowhere in sight.




While the Izzone chanted "little sister" as the final seconds counted down, don't expect "order to be restored," as it were. As I said before the game, this U-M program is still on the upswing, as is MSU (18-5, 7-3). The rivalry won't be like the old days, but this was an old-time performance by MSU.

Some pregame videos

1995:


The game by which all MSU wins are compared:

The best college rivalry continues Sunday

We walked past the tailgates around Michigan Stadium.

It was 2008, and my friend and I were walking around the athletic facilities before the MSU-Michigan football game. When we neared Crisler Arena, we saw an elderly man standing by himself.

“Is that John Beilein?” I asked.

It was. So we walked over, and both shook his hand. He’s lot stronger than he looks, based on that handshake.

We talked some basketball. The Wolverines were coming off a rough 10-22 season, but were starting to make ground in recruiting. It was an uphill climb. He jokingly said that the facilities he pitched to recruits were like communist Russia compared to what MSU and Tom Izzo had.

That was a long time ago.

MSU hockey vs LSSU rewind and MICHIGANRIVALRYRAWR!!

From the CCHA's YouTube page, the 1990 CCHA Championship. MSU and Lake Superior State begin a big two-game series tonight at Munn. The game will be on FS Detroit Plus at 7 p.m.



Also, you've probably heard about the incident between Mark Dantonio and a Michigan assistant at a coaching clinic today.

My take: It's nothing. It means nothing. But fans from both sides will make too big of a deal out of it (U-M fans here and MSU fans here). Dantonio doesn't like Michigan. We knew that. All this does is add even more fuel to the fire for this rivalry among fans. Are we going to make it to Oct. 20 before this state breaks out in civil war?

That's all I gots to say about that.