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Over the years, elite college football programs utilize their three non-conference games at the beginning of the season to feature a big-time matchup of two schools that do not normally play each other for a sort of one-off matchup, most of the time playing another top school.
Should the Spartans get back to playing a marquee matchup at the beginning of the year against another notable program? They have been fairly uninvolved in that trend over the past decade, and this year is no different.
Looking at the college football landscape, bitter rival Michigan took on Texas last year in Ann Arbor and will face Oklahoma this season. The Longhorns open up the season against the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes. It is a fun, exciting trend that is continuing to grow.
The last time I can really think of the Spartans doing something like this is when they battled the Oregon Ducks in a top-10 matchup at Spartan Stadium back in Week 2 of the 2015 season. Michigan State earned a 31-28 win with "College GameDay" on campus and was a major highlight of the year.
In the past 10 years, maybe the home-and-home series against Arizona State (2018-19) and Notre Dame (2016-17) are really the only two others that somewhat meet that criteria. It may hurt their overall record if they play a top-10 team and lose, but it will bring in a large some of money.
The Spartans' non conference schedule for this upcoming season is fairly bland, taking on Western Michigan, Boston College and Youngstown State in the first three weeks of the season. They have not played a preseason ranked team outside of the conference since No. 8 Washington in 2023.
To create more revenue for the program, playing big-time schools in those exclusive matchups helps in many ways, and it is something Michigan State needs to do again. Who knows, maybe it can pull off a major upset at home or in a ruckus road environment to help put this program back on the national map.
My top choices for an early-season non-conference matchup include LSU, BYU and Florida State. Three big market programs with an enormous fan base that many Spartan fans have never seen play more than a handful of times. It would be a fun wrinkle to how Michigan State is operating right now.
Make sure to follow the official Spartan Nation page on Facebook, Spartan Nation, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and join our community group, Go Green Go White, as well WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.
More must-reads:
- Lincoln Riley calls out NCAA amid lawsuit filed by USC player
- Report reveals if Commanders intend to trade WR Terry McLaurin
- The '250-strikeout MLB seasons' quiz
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Brewers Tried Bringing All-Star Slugger To Milwaukee: Report
The Milwaukee Brewers may not have added a big bat ahead of the 2025 Major League Baseball trade deadline, but it sounds like it wasn't from a lack of trying, at the very least. As the trade deadline approached, rumors swirled about various sluggers. The two that popped up the most when it came to the Brewers were Ryan O'Hearn, formerly of the Baltimore Orioles. Former Arizona Diamondbacks star Eugenio Suárez also was mentioned. Suárez was traded to the Seattle Mariners and O'Hearn was dealt to the San Diego Padres. Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on Friday that the Brewers at least showed interest in O'Hearn on Friday, although they were unable to get a deal done. "Brewers were involved on O’Hearn today, sources said. But that counts for little, leaving them still without any additions other than Danny Jansen with 90 minutes to go," Hogg reported on Friday. O'Hearn would've been a solid pickup because of the fact that he has launched 13 homers and has driven in 43 runs this season. While this is the case, Milwaukee missed out. Positionally, there would've been some question marks, but that doesn't matter any longer. Now, the deadline is behind us and there's no need to think about or worry about what could'be been. This is a contender as is. It would've been nice to land someone like O'Hearn, but Milwaukee still has a 64-44 despite the offensive questions.
'Most likely scenario' for Terry McLaurin revealed
A recent report indicated that teams potentially interested in acquiring Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin learned that the club is "not trading" him before the 2025 season begins. The 29-year-old, who is in the final year of his current contract, may have responded to this news by requesting a trade on Thursday. However, ESPN's Bill Barnwell shared Friday that he doesn't "think there's a strong chance McLaurin gets traded" before September. "There's been no suggestion from the Commanders' side that they're looking to deal him, even after his request," Barnwell wrote. "Trading him now would likely result in landing 2026 draft picks, which won't help the Commanders in a season in which they're hoping to compete. And there just aren't many teams with the cap space or cash budget at this point of the offseason to give him the sort of deal he appears to want." McLaurin allegedly does not want to accept less money than DK Metcalf, who received a five-year, $150M deal from the Pittsburgh Steelers in March. Whether or not McLaurin "deserves" such an extension is irrelevant as it pertains to his importance to Washington and the market for players at his position. McLaurin finished the 2024 campaign with team highs of 82 receptions and 1,096 receiving yards as quarterback Jayden Daniels guided Washington to the NFC Championship Game and earned Offensive Rookie of the Year Award honors. Additionally, McLaurin was second in the NFL with 13 touchdown catches. As of Friday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had Washington sixth among the betting favorites at +1800 odds to win Super Bowl LX in February 2026. That shows why Barnwell and others are convinced that acquiring future draft assets for McLaurin makes little sense for the win-now Commanders. "The logical thing is for McLaurin to stay with the Commanders, for the two sides to come to terms on a new deal or some sort of raise, and for Daniels to have his best pass catcher on the field in Week 1," Barnwell concluded. "It's still the most likely scenario." On Thursday, Nicki Jhabvala and Dianna Russini of The Athletic noted that "several teams that called Washington about [McLaurin] before his trade request on Thursday were told the team will not trade him." Commanders general manager Adam Peters seems to understand he still has plenty of time to work something out with McLaurin before Washington opens the regular season against the New York Giants on Sept. 7.
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