ESPN has done it again, folks. Just a week after Joe Lunardi fell asleep at the wheel and projected Michigan State as a 4-seed after beating Purdue at Mackey Arena, Bill Connelly decided to heap some extra disrespect onto the Spartans — and Alessio Milivojevic, in particular.
Michigan State football is likely going to be projected as one of the worst teams in the Big Ten yet again and that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given the fact that the Spartans haven’t made a bowl game since 2021. It’s been five years since Michigan State played in a postseason football game, but Pat Fitzgerald is ringing in a new era.
Despite the new sense of hope surrounding the program, ESPN hasn’t taken its foot off the “disrespect MSU” gas.
Connelly of ESPN just ranked all 68 Power Four starting quarterbacks ahead of spring ball, and where he has Michigan State’s Milivojevic is actually wildly disrespectful.
ESPN places Alessio at 64 out of 68 starting P4 quarterbacks…… pic.twitter.com/sifadFaBIt
— MSE (@MSE_in_EL) March 5, 2026
Yes, you’re reading that correctly. ESPN has Milivojevic ranked 64th out of 68 starting quarterbacks in the Power Four heading into spring ball. The description was almost as disrespectful as the ranking, insinuating that Milivojevic may not even have the starting job sewn up with Cam Fancher committing via the transfer portal.
Connelly also said that Milivojevic had a couple of “decent” games down the stretch when he was the reason the Spartans were in several games late in the season.
Milivojevic is also ranked lower than the quarterback he replaced in East Lansing.
Former Michigan State QBs getting far more respect
Maybe if Milivojevic transferred out this offseason he would have gotten more respect in these rankings. It seemed to be the case for Aidan Chiles who is almost 10 spots ahead of the quarterback who replaced him in 2025.
Chiles is the No. 57 quarterback in the rankings, and while it’s easy to pick on him and say he should be below Milivojevic, this isn’t a him problem, it’s a Bill Connelly issue.
Heck, Connelly has a backup quarterback from last season ranked ahead of Milivojevic because, um, reasons.
Sam Leavitt is the highest-ranked former Spartan on the list at No. 14. He transferred from Arizona State to LSU this offseason and you can bet that he won’t be welcomed back to Tempe with open arms any time soon.
Katin Houser came in at No. 33. He spent the past couple of years with East Carolina and now he’s playing for Bret Bielema and Illinois. I actually think 33 may be a little too low for him.
Still, no one is receiving the same type of disrespect as Milivojevic.