Michigan State football draws Pitt, Pat Narduzzi in 2021 Peach Bowl

Michigan State football learned its postseason fate on Sunday afternoon, drawing Pitt and Pat Narduzzi in the 2021 Peach Bowl.

The College Football Playoff field was selected on Sunday afternoon and the top four was exactly what we thought it would be with Alabama, Michigan, Georgia, and Cincinnati making it, in that order. Michigan State football, however, had to wait until 2:30 p.m. ET to learn its postseason fate.

The rest of the New Year’s Six was selected on Sunday afternoon and Michigan State earned a spot in the Dec. 30 Peach Bowl against a familiar face: Pat Narduzzi.

That’s right, the Spartans will be facing the ACC champion Pitt Panthers on Dec. 30 in Atlanta as they earned an at-large bid to face one of the Power Five conference champs. While this seems like a fun matchup, it was probably the least intriguing of the possible scenarios for the Spartans.

In fact, I had a Fiesta Bowl matchup with Notre Dame as the best-case scenario for the Spartans because it’s a rivalry game and it would draw some huge TV ratings. The second-best scenario would have been Fiesta vs. Oklahoma State and this was my worst-case scenario, but hey, a New Year’s Six bowl is still prestigious.

Michigan State and Pitt will kick off the New Year’s Six on Dec. 30 for a primetime matchup and it’ll likely be the most-watched game before New Year’s Day.

Pitt is an interesting matchup because it features Kenny Pickett who is a serious Heisman contender and it has the nation’s sixth-best run defense. However, this will be an epic quarterback duel as Michigan State has the worst pass defense in college football while Pitt is ranked 106th against the pass.

Expect a lot of points and yards on Dec. 30 in Atlanta.