Michigan State vs Oregon: 5 reasons the Spartans will win

Sep 20, 2014; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans fans show team spirit during the second quarter against the Eastern Michigan Eagles at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

2. Home-field advantage

It may not seem like it, but home-field advantage is one of the biggest tipping points in college football games. There’s something about playing in front of 75,000-plus fans that gets these Spartan Dawgs all riled up on home game days.

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The Spartans have one of the best home-field advantages in the Big Ten, only losing a handful of games since Mark Dantonio has taken over as head coach in 2007. The last loss, however, was a season ago against Ohio State in which the Spartans saw their College Football Playoff hopes and Big Ten title hopes crushed on their own turf at the same time.

Coming out of the tunnel with thousands of fans cheering you on has to be a surreal feeling for these young student-athletes as they probably haven’t experienced something of this magnitude in their entire lives.

Don’t knock home-field advantage because it is real. That proved to be true a season ago in Eugene, Oregon, as the Spartans were dropped by the Ducks after taking a 27-18 lead into the third quarter.

Michigan State hasn’t forgotten that road loss against the Ducks and the Spartans will want to show GameDay’s national audience that they aren’t a team who will let a home win slip by once again like they did against the Buckeyes.

This a big opportunity for State to come out on top and show the country that Spartan Stadium is one of the hardest places to play in the country.

Next: 1. Revenge