Michigan State football has fallen on some hard times in recent years, going three straight seasons without a bowl berth which hasn't happened since before Mark Dantonio took over in 2007.
That era feels like decades ago now but in reality, we're only six years removed from the legend who was recently ranked the No. 21 head coach in college football since 2000. He led Michigan State to heights it hadn't seen since the 1960s, winning multiple Big Ten titles, over 100 games, countless rivalry battles with Michigan, a Rose Bowl, and a Cotton Bowl.
Because of Dantonio's excellence from 2007-2019, the Spartans were one of the best teams in the country for the better part of a decade.
Was that stretch good enough to make Michigan State one of the best teams in college football over the past 25 years? Well, those pre-Dantonio days and the five seasons since his departure haven't exactly kept Michigan State on the college football map, but The Athletic still believes the Spartans are in an exclusive group since 2000.
Stuart Mandel of The Athletic ranked the top 25 college football programs since 2000 and Michigan State made the cut -- just barely.
I have a bit of a gripe with where Michigan State is listed here behind programs like Iowa, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, and Oklahoma State. I think you could make a legitimate case for the Spartans to be ahead each of these teams.
Michigan State hasn't had much success outside of that Dantonio era so it makes sense, but those six 10-plus-win seasons under Coach D easily have the Spartans in that top 25.
Hopefully Jonathan Smith can get Michigan State back on top.