Michigan State Football: Ranking the top 5 teams from the 2010s
3. 2015 (12-2)
Despite ranking it No. 3 on my list, this team represents the peak of Mark Dantonio’s career in East Lansing. Michigan State did it all. They beat Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State. They won a Big Ten title. And perhaps most notably, they joined a very small list of teams that have made the College Football Playoff.
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This team, lead by Connor Cook on offense and Riley Bullough on defense, looked unbeatable for a while. The only regular season loss was one of the most horrible calls I’ve witnessed live on TV, causing MSU to lose to a Nebraska team that would finish under .500.
If the Spartans don’t get hosed by this call, they’d probably still eventually lose to Alabama, who beat them in the CFP and would go on to win the national championship, but potentially pick up another win on their way.
This team ranks three for one simple reason: I think that the two teams ahead of them on this list would win in a one-on-one matchup. Yes, the 2015 team had all the accolades, but their success, to me at least, was very situational.
Regardless, it was one of the best teams Spartan fans of any age have seen and it great season to be a freshman on campus.