Michigan State's Playoff Chances Are More Alive Than Ever [BLOG]

By Mike Sullivan
@MikeSullivan

COLUMBUS -- When Michigan State lost to Nebraska two weeks ago, pretty much everybody thought its playoff hopes were crushed.

The word around town was that the Spartans haven't progressed, they play down to the level of their competition, they haven't been able to overcome any of their injuries and -- quite frankly -- they're just not very good.

Hardly anyone believed MSU was good enough to win the Big Ten, let alone make the College Football Playoff.

Mark Dantonio's Spartans just beat the No. 3 ranked undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes by a score of 17-14 on the road and proved everyone wrong yet again.

"Huge win for our program," Dantonio said. "We sat around all day listening to how we were underdogs and I think that motivates people. We came in with something to prove and usually when you have that, you have a little chip on your shoulder and you play a little bit better."

The Spartans did so without their best player.

Senior quarterback Connor Cook dressed but did not play a single snap due to a shoulder injury he hasn't fully recovered from. It was a game-time decision, according to Dantonio. Michigan State played with a "quarterback by committee" strategy where junior quarterback Tyler O'Connor saw the bulk of the action and sophomore quarterback Damion Terry took snaps as well.

O'Connor showed good poise, going 7-of-12 for 89 yards and a touchdown on the day. He led Michigan State down the field on a late game-winning drive that was ultimately capped off by a 41-yard Michael Geiger field goal as time expired.

Terry was 1-of-4 passing for only two yards, but did have eight carries for 25 yards.

The fact that the Spartans were able to win this huge game -- as 13.5 point underdogs -- without their star quarterback speaks to the culture that Dantonio has created in East Lansing.

Dantonio explained post-game, "We know how to win. Our football team has learned how to win over the course of time."

Michigan State currently sits at No. 9 in the College Football Playoff rankings. Surely they will jump in the poll after this win. We'll find out how far on Tuesday night.

The Spartans finish their regular season next Saturday when Penn State travels to East Lansing.

It's very simple -- all Michigan State has to do is beat Penn State and they'll head to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship game on December 5. Their opponent would be Iowa, which is currently ranked No. 5 in the Playoff rankings.

You may be asking how this works?

Michigan plays Ohio State next weekend, meaning one team will come out of that game tied with MSU with one loss in the Big Ten. In the situation of a two-way Big Ten East tie, the first tiebreaker is head-to-head. Michigan State holds the tiebreaker over both of those teams because they beat both of them.

A Big Ten Championship game between Michigan State and Iowa (in all likelihood) would be a play-in game for the College Football Playoff.

Michigan State is right where it wants to be. It controls its own destiny and at the end of the day, that's all Dantonio wants.

"[We] cannot lose sight, we have to win next week. If we win next week we at least control our own destiny. That's the goal," Dantonio said.

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• Big Ten