The Tailspin

Not that tailspin

Michigan State fans know it. The team knows it. The coaches...well...these coaches may not know it viscerally, like the fans and the players, but they know it. They know it's coming.

That's the one

For Michigan State, the football season doesn't really start until that first back-breaking loss is out of the way. I'm not saying this to talk trash, or to have some sort of ROTFLMAO moment. It is simply what years of conditioning has taught the denizens of Spartan Stadium. Sure - they're good now. Just wait. Wait until we blow a huge lead against Northwestern. Wait until Notre Dame comes here and, inexplicably, pulls out a win after losing for the majority of the game. Wait until...and here comes the words every Spartan know and love...next year.

This year, the Spartans have stood up to their past, and owned their opponents. Sure, they lost to Cal, but really - and here's another of my maxims to live by - Big Ten teams should never travel west in the first 3 games of the season. Just nix it right off the schedule. Oregon, Cal, USC - they're all death to Big Ten teams early. So, erasing that loss as much as can be done, the Spartans have gotten considerably further in their schedule without a tailspin inducing loss than before. But now the heavy lifting begins. Michigan State has skated through a relatively easy schedule to this point, facing Northwestern has probably been their biggest challenge. The next three games, Ohio State, Michigan, and Wisconsin, will largely determine their fate in the Big Ten. These three games are all winnable for Michigan State, and are the exact games that Michigan State traditionally loses.

A loss to Ohio State puts the collapse mindset in the forefront of players, fans, and coaches. It turns the following two infinitely winnable games into question marks. If MSU gets blown away by Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin are immediately in doubt. It's been this way since the dawn of time. Michigan State is just one backbreaking loss away from a .500 record, and a berth in a bowl played well before Christmas. It happened with Bobby Williams, it happened with John L. Smith, and it even happened with Spartan Golden Child Nick Saban, who despite his post-Spartan brilliance, was still 2-3 against Michigan.

A win, on the other hand, may prove that Michigan State, as a program, is turning the corner, and that D'Antonio may actually be on to something. A win against Ohio State puts the Michigan and Wisconsin games from "doubtful" to "probable" in terms of winning. It puts the Spartans in the driver's seat for a berth in the Rose Bowl.

Win, and you've got a BCS worthy Big Ten team. Lose, and you've got the same old Sparty struggling to a .500 record. It's probably hyperbole to put this one game in such a context, but given the history, it's not too far a stretch. There is a lot hinging on this game for D'Antonio's boys, but nothing more important than putting the mid-season collapse modus operendi firmly in the rearview.