East Lansing, Mich. – After Michigan State finished 2-5 in Mel Tucker's first year leading the program, fans are eager to see what's ne
Where will the Spartans end up, and what are the odds of winning another Big Ten title?
According to Pro Football Focus, MSU has a 4% chance of making an appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game and a 2% chance of winning it.
"Michigan State is on track to get back to .500 in 2021 after a disappointing 2-5 season in the first year of the Mel Tucker era. There's some excitement at the quarterback position due to the battle between Payton Thorne and Temple transfer Anthony Russo," Senior College Analyst Anthony Treash and PFF Vice President of Research & Development Eric Eager wrote. "Thorne logged one start as a redshirt freshman in 2020 and was quite impressive, earning a 79.5 passing grade and making four big-time throws. And Russo has an 80.0-plus season grade under his belt from 2018 with the Owls.
"But it's still all speculation for now, as that was just one start from Thorne and Russo faces a new level of competition in the Big Ten. Because of the quarterback situation and inconsistency at wide receiver, this offense is set up to be a true boom-or-bust unit in 2021."
While it's unlikely for Michigan State to bring home the conference title, PFF also projects the Spartans win total to be 6.3, which is more than most places.
2021 Michigan State Football Schedule
- Sept. 3: at Northwestern (9 p.m., ESPN)
- Sept. 11: Youngstown State (12 p.m., Big Ten Network)
- Sept. 18: at Miami (12 p.m. ABC/ESPN)
- Sept. 25: Nebraska
- Oct. 2: Western Kentucky (Homecoming, 7:30 p.m.)
- Oct. 9: at Rutgers (12 p.m.)
- Oct. 16: at Indiana (12 p.m.)
- Oct. 23: Bye
- Oct. 30: Michigan
- Nov. 6: at Purdue
- Nov. 13: Maryland
- Nov. 20: at Ohio State
- Nov. 27: Penn State
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