Urban Meyer gushes with praise for Mark Dantonio, Michigan State football

Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer praised Michigan State football and head coach Mark Dantonio at 2018 Big Ten Media Days.

Big Ten Media Days are finally upon us, meaning Michigan State football is nearing 2018 season kickoff. The Spartans are heading into the campaign as a top-15 team but they also happen to be in the toughest conference in college football.

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The Big Ten East is loaded with teams like Michigan State, Penn State, Michigan and Ohio State as three of those teams have won the conference title since the championship game originated while the Wolverines have been one of the most talented teams in the nation over the past 2-3 years.

Ohio State has been the class of the conference ever since Urban Meyer has gotten there, though, and the rest of the league has been chasing the Buckeyes.

Mark Dantonio, however, has given his Buckeyes a run for their money, keeping them from a Big Ten title twice — in 2015 with a win in Columbus and in the 2013 Big Ten title game. Clearly that rivalry is one of the better ones in the conference.

Meyer spoke about his budding rivalry with the Spartans and had nothing but good things to say.

Sure, Meyer has beaten the Spartans four times out of six, but most of those games have been close, giving his usually-dominant Buckeyes a hard time.

The 2017 matchup was the lone exception as the Buckeyes beat Michigan State 48-3 in Columbus in one of the worst blowouts in Dantonio’s tenure, but the fact that Meyer still had good things to say about the Spartans shows the respect level there.

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You can bet his Buckeyes will never take the green and white lightly — especially after a 2016 game (against 3-9 MSU) that was decided by a single point.