Michigan State University football coach Jonathon Smith seen Tuesday, July 29, 2025, during the first day of football practice at the Skandalaris Football Center. Matthew Dae Smith/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Analyst Predicts MSU's First Loss

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Aidan Champion | Last updated Aug 1, 2025 5:50 PM ET

We're less than a month away from the start of Michigan State's football season.

The Spartans should improve this season, but their schedule will not be easy by any means. After their first three games, all of which are at home, things get tough, as Michigan State will be on the road for Week 4 and Week 6, with a valuable bye week in between.

I have said that brief stretch is going to determine the trajectory of the Spartans' season and that the best-case scenario will probably be splitting those two away games against USC and Nebraska.

CBS Sports' Brad Crawford predicts that USC game will be Michigan State's first loss of the season, which is a very fair and realistic assumption.

"The Spartans will go as far as Aidan Chiles can take them, as long as the defense holds up," Crawford wrote. "Barring an early stumble, a potential season-defining Week 4 clash in Los Angeles could turn the tide for Jonathan Smith's first season -- though winning at the Coliseum won't come easy."

Spartan fans should feel encouraged with this prediction. It means Michigan State would start out 3-0, which would put it halfway to a bowl game right off the bat (though the Spartans did start 3-0 last season and fell a win short of bowl eligibility). And there would be no shame in losing to USC on the road, as the Trojans are expected to take a leap this season.

This is where the first bye week will be very convenient. Michigan State will have been brought back down to earth after losing its first conference matchup and will need to collect itself before going back out on the road to a hostile Memorial Stadium, where it will face a likely improved Nebraska team.

If the Spartans can pull out a win in Lincoln, they will be right back in a fantastic position to come back home to host UCLA on Homecoming.

And there's always a possibility that the Spartans manage to defeat the Trojans, too. After all, we don't quite know yet what Michigan State team we'll be getting this year.

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