#21 Michigan State

The Michigan State Spartans were a surprise to many last year as they made a run for the Big Ten Championship. After a rough loss to Notre Dame early in the season, Sparty went on to finish 9-2 with a heartbreaking loss in the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game. Michigan State scored the the lone Big Ten win over the SEC with their thrilling triple overtime victory over Georgia in the Outback Bowl. While the Spartans are going to break in a lot of new offensive players, their defense will be one of the best in the nation.

Michigan State loses quarterback Kirk Cousins, running back Edwin Baker and a host of wide receivers on offense. Junior Andrew Maxwell will step into the quarterback role and lean heavily on last year's leading rusher Le'Veon Bell. Le'Veon ran for 948 yards and 13 touchdowns and will run behind a very experienced offensive line. Four out of the five offensive linemen have returned from a solid unit last year and two more received significant playing time. There will be some growing pains early with the offense but everything should be in place for their conference run.

Michigan State's Defense ranked 6th last year in total defense and return nine starters. The defense was ranked 10th in scoring defense and 14th in tackles for loss. This unit would be right at home in the SEC. This fierce defense is led by first round defensive end prospect William Gholston and linebacker Denicos Allen. Gholston and Allen combined for 16 sacks last year and 34.5 tackles for loss. Sparty was strong in the red zone and gave up only 9 red zone rushing touchdowns. This unit will be leaned upon heavily during the first few games as the offense gels.

The traditional Big Ten scheduling of four non-conference opponents followed by 8 conference games stands pat with the Spartans. A Friday night opener against Boise State will be a nationally televised game where Sparty will be favored. A home game against Notre Dame will be key for the Spartans' season. If they can get by Notre Dame, they should be 7-0 heading into a brutal stretch of at Michigan, at Wisconsin and home for Nebraska. Michigan State will be going for 5 straight wins over their in-state rival and trying to avenge losses last year to Wisconsin and Nebraska. If the offense is clicking along by this stretch watch out for Sparty. But I don't see them being able to overcome that inexperience against all three of the brutal run. I see Michigan state going 1-2 during that stretch at best and finishing out 9-3.

Random Thoughts on Opening Day and Petrino

Opening Day in Baseball is one of my favorite days of the year. Sadly, Bud Selig has found a way to screw it up by having two Opening Days. One in America and the first one in Japan. Now the one in Japan was seen exclusively by fans of the Mariners and As in their markets and only available to everyone outside those markets as part of the MLB Extra Innings package. Way to go Bud! Then the second Opening Day was last night with the Cardinals and Marlins opening up Marlins Park. This is sad because the Cincinnati Reds used to have the market on Opening Day by having the first MLB game. Opening Day in Cincinnati involved all school children being out and a huge parade. The whole city got behind it. But due to Bud's infinite wisdom, the Reds don't get this privilege any more. Is this a result of Bud's ill will towards the late Marge Schott? Probably.

And now on to the fun story of the day: Bobby Petrino's wreck. Petrino wrecked his Harley last Sunday evening. Here is a recording of Petrino's account of the events. Well today, Max Brantley tells us that there was a rider on Petrino's Harley that escaped uninjured. The rider was Jessica Dorrell, who is an assistant to Bobby Petrino. I wonder what Petrino's assistant was doing with him on a Harley Sunday evening? Could Petrino be going down the path of another powerful man from the state of Arkansas?

This should be a fun few months for SEC fans after Spring Training finishes!

#22 Notre Dame

Notre Dame has always been a divisive team in the nation. Almost as many people enjoy seeing Notre Dame lose as seeing them win. Last year was a bit of a disappointment for the Notre Dame faithful with an 0-2 start and finishing on a two game losing streak to Stanford and FSU. The quarterback position was a constant struggle between Tommy Rees and Dayne Crist. Neither was able to put a stranglehold on the position and it led to a mediocre season. Brian Kelly has led the Fighting Irish to back to back 8-5 seasons making his seat a little warmer than he would like. Notre Dame has had a quick hook with their past two head coaches so Kelly will need to improve his record quickly.


Offensively, there will be a four man race for starting quarterback between Junior Tommy Rees, Junior Andrew Hendrix, Sophomore Everett Golson and true Freshman Gunner Kiel. Rees has the inside track due to his experience from last year but he never did wow Brian Kelly enough to secure the job. The quarterback competition will likely continue on through the summer and into fall camp. Notre Dame had the 35th best Total Offense in the NCAA and will likely finish in the top 35 again if they can improve their 55th ranked rushing offense. They will be breaking in two new offensive linemen which may complicate the ability of the winning quarterback to have time in the pocket. The departure of Michael Floyd will be a huge loss for the wide receiving corps. Senior John Goodman will be looked upon to fill that role. Former wide receiver Theo Riddick will be moved to running back to try and bolster that position. Riddick and Cierre Wood will split time at running back and try to replace departing Jonas Gray. With all of these changes, the offense will need some time to adjust and become a cohesive unit.


Notre Dame's defense finished tied for number 30 last year in Total Defense. Led by Senior Linebacker Manti Te'o, this unit should be the strength of the team for the first half of the season. The secondary is losing three key players in cornerback Robert Blanton, cornerback Gary Gray and safety Harrison Smith. Their replacements have experience but will need to get used to being the starter. The passing defense ranked 38th and the rushing defense ranked 47th. To become a dominant defense, they will need to improve greatly against the run. 


Notre Dame's schedule is a manageable one this year but they will several tough games away from Touchdown Jesus. The Irish have road trips to Michigan State, Oklahoma, and USC as well as neutral site games against Navy in Dublin, Ireland and The U in Chicago. Their home schedule isn't too bad with the toughest game being Michigan closely followed by a rebuilding Stanford team. I think the Fighting Irish will probably end up in an 8-4 to 9-3 range with losses to USC, Michigan and Oklahoma. Michigan State will be the swing game for the Irish this year. If they can win that, they will be off to a 3-0 start.