Writer: Michigan State football overrated, will fail to meet expectations
You would think by now that college football experts would know better than to bet against Mark Dantonio and Michigan State.
But it's a new year, and that means a new slew of predictions for the 2016 season -- and more writers, including Dieter Kurtenbach of Fox Sports, who say MSU is bound for a disappointing season.
Kurtenbach listed his "six overrated college football teams that will fail to meet expectations in 2016," and pegged the Spartans as the final team in his list. The others are Auburn, Houston, Ole Miss, USC and Notre Dame.
In all fairness, Kurtenbach knows he's gambling with this choice, realizing that Dantonio's Spartans have played beyond expectations before, including last season, when they won a Big Ten championship and reached the College Football Playoff despite everyone picking Ohio State to do so.
"The spot could easily belong to Michigan or Ohio State, as all three teams have the same problem — massive attrition — but Michigan State is the worst recruiter of the three elite teams, so Sparty is going to take the fall on this one," Kurtenbach wrote.
"Now, it’s foolish to underrate Michigan State — it’s a surefire way to get burned — but what if the market has overcorrected this season? Sparty starts the season at No. 12 in the AP poll, despite having a new quarterback, a new center and left tackle in front of him, and one of the toughest schedules in the nation. Michigan State gets both Michigan and Ohio State at home, off easy in-conference opponents, which is excellent, but it’s going to be really tough for the Spartans, who return only 38 percent of their yards from last year, to be in the national title conversation late for a fourth-straight year.
"Then again, it’s Sparty…."
Yep, it is Sparty. There are legitimate questions, of course, namely at quarterback. Though Tyler O'Connor will enter the season as the starter, he is following in the footsteps of Connor Cook, along with Kirk Cousins before him.
But, as Kurtenbach wrote, MSU does get rivals Michigan and Ohio State at home. Dantonio is still coaching this team. And though O'Connor is still unproven as a starting quarterback, he did win at Ohio State in Cook's absence last year, and there was a time Cook was an unproven commodity, too -- right before he led the team to a Rose Bowl victory in 2014.
Contact Brian Manzullo: bmanzullo@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianManzullo.
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