Michigan State football wrapped up fall camp earlier this week, and Jonathan Smith and the Spartans are now entering game prep mode.
The Spartans are in their second season under Smith, and making a bowl game this year is the bare minimum expectation for the fanbase. They went 5-7 last year and missed their third straight bowl game, so you can imagine how restless the fanbase has gotten -- Smith needs to prove he can improve the program this year.
This week, as the Spartans were beginning prep for the Western Michigan game next weekend, the Big Ten Network stopped in East Lansing for its annual preseason tour, and studio host Dave Revsine usually gives his thoughts on the state of the team.
His words this year should have fans feeling much more optimistic as the season gets set to kick off.
This was a different type of practice - they are out of camp and into game prep
— Dave Revsine (@BTNDaveRevsine) August 21, 2025
General vibe was one of confidence - and you can see why. They are clearly better.
Challenging schedule, though - BC game looms large - then start conference play with 2 road games pic.twitter.com/GPVDZpUJtr
Resine said that the Spartans are "clearly better" than last year's team. He said that the team looks confident as they prepare for the season opener because they are clearly better. For an outsider to come in and say that he's noticed an obvious improvement, that's usually a good indicator that a team is going to exceed expectations.
Well, Vegas set the win total for the Spartans at 5.5 this season, so if they exceed expectations, that means that they'll be heading to their second bowl game since 2020.
Michigan State fans are craving good football, and after the last few years, they deserve it. Watching your rival win a national title while being down as a program hasn't been fun, but any sort of improvement is welcome.
Revsine sees it.