Michigan State Football: Ranking the top 5 teams from the 2010s

2. 2014 (11-2)

This was another team that was just flat-out different than any other Mark Dantonio-coached squad. In fact, in what seemed like some sort of weird dream, the offense was actually better than the defense.

As an MSU and Chicago Bears football fan, a great offense and average defense is almost completely foreign to me, so watching Connor Cook lead the 11th-ranked offensive attack in the country was the experience of a lifetime.

And that’s the exact reason that I loved this team so much: it was a breath of fresh air compared to the normal three-point wins against lowly Big Ten teams.

This team eventually reached the Cotton Bowl in a top-10 matchup against the Baylor Bears, where they found themselves in a 20 point hole late in the game, a deficit that would become famous after arguably the greatest comeback in Michigan State history.

Looking back, this could be my favorite team of all time. Everything about it was fun to watch: the offense was great and the defense was still pretty stingy. The only two losses on this season came against Ohio State and Oregon — the two teams that would eventually face off in that year’s national championship game.