Michigan State football listed as one of "most improved teams" for 2024

Jonathan Smith is set to lead his team onto the field for the first time as Michigan State football coach on Friday evening as the Spartans play host to an upset-hungry FAU team.

The Spartans are coming off back-to-back bowl-less seasons under Mel Tucker after he led the program to an 11-2 record in 2021. It feels like that 2021 season was an eternity ago but the vibes are on the way back up now that Smith is in town and he's brought with him his quarterback from Oregon State as well as a good chunk of his staff.

Smith has surrounded himself with winners and that's who is going to lead the Spartans back to relevance.

Michigan State fans are hopeful that Smith is the guy and from all accounts, he looks like he is. He speaks like a winner and has the right "low ego, high output" mindset that made Mark Dantonio so successful in the 2010s.

But fresh off aa 9-15 record over the past two years, Michigan State might be headed for a rebuilding year. It's tough to make something happen right away in terms of a turnaround, but Smith has the pieces in place that could make the Spartans one of the most improved teams in the nation after that 4-8 debacle a season ago.

And others agree. In fact, Blue Bloods Bias on Twitter revealed their most improved teams ahead of the 2024 season and Michigan State came in at No. 8.

Slotting in just behind the team that upset the No. 10 Florida State Seminoles in Week 0 is a good spot to be and the Spartans are also just ahead of Florida and Utah.

I can see Michigan State being one of the top five most improved teams in the country by the season's end as there are nine winnable games on its schedule. Can it take advantage of that and shock the Big Ten? Let's hope so.