It’s been a rough week to be a Michigan State football and basketball fan. The Spartans lost their first game last weekend at Purdue on the gridiron and then the basketball team opened the season with a 13-point loss against No. 3 Kansas in the Champions Classic.
Things are getting better, however, as the playoff rankings showed that Michigan State is still right there in the thick of the playoff race and then on Thursday, rumors surfaced of a potential Mel Tucker extension in the works.
Basically, Tucker is likely to be here for a while and that’s great news because there are some high-profile jobs opening up this offseason (USC, LSU).
The Purdue loss wasn’t the end of the world and there are still plenty of reasons for optimism following last week’s defeat.
Why should we be optimistic despite Michigan State’s loss at Purdue?
3. Kenneth Walker III still looks like a Heisman front-runner
Even if Michigan State’s worst game of the season, Kenneth Walker III looked like a Heisman frontrunner. In fact, he had 136 rushing yards and is now over 1,300 on the year. He is many experts’ leader for the coveted award after nine games and there are only three more opportunities to add to his resume.
Only three games stand between Walker and Michigan State’s first-ever Heisman Trophy. That’s exciting for Spartan fans who have waited their entire lives to see this take place.
All Walker needs to do in the final three games is not have any major duds and probably average somewhere in the 125-150 yards per game range and he should have the award locked up. Oh, and Michigan State probably needs to go 2-1.
Excitement and optimism all rolled into one here.