Final Four Friday: Biggest Football Rivalry

It's Michigan week, universally regarded as the biggest weekend for Spartan football each and every year. Or is it?

Michigan State plays a total of four trophy games in football, so using those as a jumping off point, here is the final four of MSU football rivalries:

Indiana

Everyone loves a winner, right? Well, the Old Brass Spittoon is the only trophy game MSU has won more times than it has lost. In fact, MSU holds a 40-12-1 series edge over the Hoosiers, including wins in the last two. The three biggest things holding back this game? 1) Indiana is usually terrible. 2) Indiana, while close to East Lansing, is arguably 11th on the list of Big Ten must-visit venues, and a good away experience is critical for developing rivalries. 3) The game almost never matters in the context of big-time bowl games.

Michigan

But for a few exceptions, Michigan has owned this series, both historically and recently. Sure, we had a good run under Nick Saban, and Bobby Williams won in 2001 (thanks in large part to Jeff Smoker, T.J. Duckett and - if Michigan fans are to be believed - Spartan Bob). Since then, however, we've only won one - last year's contest in Ann Arbor.

That said, Spartan fans don't get up for any game like they do for Michigan. It's a singular story line that dominates entire seasons. Last year, despite the run to the Capital One Bowl, was all about whether MSU would get back at Michigan after Mike Hart's "Little Brother" comments. Bobby Williams got fired following a blowout loss. It's the only game on the schedule that carries that kind of weight.

Notre Dame

This one comes close, however. And, it has the added benefit of actually being an annually competitive series.

Notre Dame has always been a big game, but it seems like the rivalry has managed to grow in recent years. The planting of the Spartan flag at Notre Dame Stadium, Charlie Weis' "guarantee", the phantom punch that Weis whined about, all of it. And that's just the last few years. Add in the Game of the Century and you've got a great rivalry tradition that's as good now as it ever was.

Penn State

The Land Grant Trophy is the largest of all of MSU's contested trophies, a metaphorical sign of how big the two schools hope the rivalry becomes. There was some talk last year that this end-of-season game might supplant Michigan-Ohio State as the premier closing game, however MSU has never really held up its end of the bargain by being good enough on a consistent basis.

As is, this is a rivalry most marked by how polite it is. I mean, Penn State fans gave M. Peter McPherson a standing ovation at Beaver Stadium when he retired as MSU's president. Penn State doesn't hate MSU, if anything they barely care. Sure, there's that whole "who was the first land grant university" thing, but it's hard to get really energized about a timing question from 1855.

And the winner is... Michigan.

Notre Dame is a huge rivalry, but nothing comes close to Michigan. Nothing.

Final Four Friday: Neutral Site Games

It’s almost game time for MSU football, which means it’s time to return to a TOSSS tradition of Final Four Friday! Today, we’re looking at the option for MSU to play in an NFL stadium for a “neutral site game”.

Penn State and Indiana have set an example for the rest of the Big Ten, as Indiana moved its 2010 home tie with the Nittany Lions to FedEx Field in Landover, Md., a suburb of Washington, D.C. There are benefits aplenty for both schools – Penn State getting essentially an extra home game while Indiana hauls in $2 million more in gate receipts – so why can’t Michigan State have a part of that action?

We already know the university would consider it. The MSU-Western game this year was supposed to be held in Detroit at Ford Field, and the Florida Atlantic return game will either be at Ford Field, Chicago’s Soldier Field or Miami’s Land Shark Stadium.

Not counting FAU, here is our Final Four of possible destinations that make sense for both MSU and the opponent.

Soldier Field, Chicago – Illinois

While the Illini may have the occasional good year – and under Ron Zook they’ll get more and more of them – it’s no secret that they can’t sell out their own stadium. Memorial Stadium only seats about 62,000, and at 61,500, Soldier Field is about the same size.

But this time, it would sell out.

MSU’s largest alumni base outside of Michigan is in Chicago, about 20,000 strong. Illinois’ largest alumni base full top is in Chicago. You’d better believe they’d pack every seat in that stadium for what would be the most raucous “home” game the Illini would have all year.

Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis – Indiana

Indiana’s already going to D.C., may as well make the shorter trip to Indy, right? MSU has a great tradition in Indianapolis, including the men’s basketball 2000 national championship and the 2005 women’s team’s run to the Final Four – including the program’s biggest-ever win in the semifinals over Tennessee.

This wouldn’t be as much of a home game for MSU as facing the Illini in Chicago, but the game would definitely sell out. That’s a win-win in my book.

Ford Field, Detroit – Eastern Michigan

The Eagles don’t host MSU until either 2018 or 2020, and you can mark down my prediction right now that this game won’t be played in Rynearson Stadium. Go ahead, mark it down.

For one, that stadium only holds 30,200 fans. For two, well, that stadium only holds 30,200 fans.

There are two other stadiums Eastern could move that game to with no difficulty and guarantee a sellout. One is the Big House in Ann Arbor. The other is Ford Field in Detroit. And I doubt very much that the good folks at Michigan will want an MSU home game in their building.

Ford Field makes sense for the Eagles. A 60,000+ crowd at home would triple – yes, triple – their average attendance. The tickets would be pricier. There are luxury boxes galore that would sell out fast. Do the math and it’s not hard to envision Eastern getting more money out of this one game than the rest of their games combined.

Cowboys Stadium, Dallas – Baylor

OK, so this one might seem like a reach given that we don’t play Baylor, but hear me out.

That is a football team on the rise, a little like Cal and Rutgers were earlier this decade. What they need are marquee opponents willing to do home-and-home deals to really establish themselves in what is a hotbed of football. Enter MSU, a team that historically loves to play that sort of role.

Baylor’s Floyd Casey Stadium seats 50,000. Cowboys Stadium seats 80,000. Waco to Dallas is an hour and a half drive. A big-time opponent like MSU in the Bears’ biggest in-state home base outside Waco is a match made in heaven. Plus, MSU gets a chance to head down to the fertile Texas recruiting base to meet and greet a few 16 and 17-year-old future phenoms. It’d be great.

And the winner is – Soldier Field.

It has been the dream of MSU's long-suffering Chicago alums for far too long. It's time to make it happen.