What a “good” season would look like for Michigan State football

We expect Michigan State football to compete for and win championships, there’s no denying that. Whenever a season ends without MSU being crowned Big Ten champion there’s at least a small part of me that feels like the season was a failure.

But at the same time we need to be realistic. Will Michigan State be able to compete for a championship this season? Likely not. But that doesn’t mean the season will be a complete failure.

We all have our own goals in mind for this season, but what would a “good” season look like for Michigan State in 2024?

For starters they need to reach bowl eligibility. Failing to do so for the third year in a row would be flat out embarrassing, even in the Spartan’s first year under Jonathan Smith. Even though Vegas predicts Michigan State to miss a bowl game once again, MSU has to reach at minimum six wins for there to be any sense of accomplishment this year.

But in all honesty, six wins still wouldn’t be considered “good” in my books. Six wins to me is just barely getting by, which is never good enough. So in my eyes Michigan State needs to win seven games before I count this season as a success

Thankfully for MSU their schedule sets them up where this is a possibility. Michigan State can realistically win every game on their schedule outside of Ohio State, Oregon and Michigan. So winning at least six of those (hopefully seven) and a bowl game would be considered good in my eyes.

Another thing that has to happen for me to consider this season a success has to deal with the offseason. Michigan State had way too much turnover this past offseason on their roster, which I don’t blame anyone for. But MSU needs to start building stability in the program, so for this season to be a success they need to survive the offseason without losing too many players to the transfer portal, especially the major contributors to the team.

So while I expect to compete for and win championships every season, this year does feel a little different. Michigan State doesn’t need to do that to have a good season, but they do need to reach seven wins and survive the transfer portal for this year to be a success.