Just a quick heads up that Michigan State will be losing a recruit from its 2025 class to another school soon, with an announcement possibly coming tonight. I am going to let the kid announce it himself, but just wanted to give you all a heads up.

Update: 2025 three-star TE Emmett Bork has flipped from Michigan State to Wisconsin.

Article here:

Spartans Illustrated photographer @MarvHall captured 73 images from Michigan State's 24-17 loss to rival Michigan on Saturday.

Check the photos out here. @KLuce98 provides the text:

Sometimes, great minds think alike.

I came up with the theme for this week's recap sometime Saturday night or Sunday morning. I once again decided to go with a 20th century music reference (you're welcome). I was maybe 2/3 of the way through my first draft on Sunday when I saw that @jacobcotsonika put out an article with a similar theme: MSU blew an opportunity this weekend. Today, it seems as thought Coach Smith made similar comments as well.

So, yeah. That all checks out. MSU should have beaten Michigan this weekend, but they didn't get it done. It's frustrating, but at the end of the day, this loss is not hitting me as hard as others in the rivalry have.

I am not talking about last year, though. Michigan fans love to use the "49-0" on twitter, but I don't think I am in the minority when I say that I couldn't care less about that game. MSU was a rudderless, broken team facing a bunch of known cheaters. Who cares? In no time, that score is just the line in a Wikipedia article. But Michigan's crimes will continue to live in infamy. Other losses were way worse to swallow.

But back to this year's game.

As I wrote, this game simply mattered more to the Wolverines than it did to the Spartans. I don't think that any "motivation gap" changed the outcome, but the fact is that MSU is currently over-achieving and ahead of schedule. Michigan is bad underachieving to the point that the sky is falling. A loss to MSU would very likely have set them on a path to a 5-7 record and no bowl. It would have been a disaster. Now, both teams are on track for a 6-6 record. That is still a disaster for Michigan and it is still a bit better than expected for MSU.

I am not saying that 6-6 is awesome, but based on where both teams were 10 months ago, MSU is still coming out WAY on top based on expectations, and happiness is in general the difference between reality and expectation. Would MSU's bowl at 7-5 or 8-4 really been that much "better" than at 7-5 or 6-6? Not really. But Michigan not making a bowl? That would have been hilarious.

The most fun outcome that I can see for the end of the season is for MSU to steal a win over Indiana or Illinois to finish at 7-5. Michigan is likely headed for 6-6 unless they pull a major upset. In that scenario, I can just see the Wolverines working the phones and begging the Guaranteed Rate Bowl to take them over MSU to avoid the "embarrassment" of playing in the old Motor City Bowl in Detroit. That would be even funnier.

Anyway, please enjoy this week's edition of Against All Odds.

Monday, Oct. 28​

Women's basketball: vs. Wayne State (exhibition)
6:30 p.m. B1G+
Discussion Thread
W 101-40

Tuesday, Oct. 29​

Men's soccer: at Ohio State
6 p.m. BTN
Discussion Thread
D 2-2

Men's basketball: vs. Ferris State (exhibition)
7 p.m. B1G+
Discussion Thread
W 85-67

Friday, Nov. 1​

Cross country: Big Ten Cross Country Championships (Champaign, Ill.)
Discussion Thread

Women's tennis: Spartan Invite
Discussion Thread

Field hockey: at Indiana
3 p.m. B1G+
Discussion Thread
L 0-1

Volleyball: vs. Minnesota
6 p.m.
Discussion Thread
L 0-3

Saturday, Nov. 2​

Women's tennis: Spartan Invite
Discussion Thread

Wrestling: at American
1 p.m.
Discussion Thread
W 20-12

Football: vs. Indiana
3:30 p.m. Peacock
Discussion Thread
L 10-47

Women's soccer: vs. Rutgers (St. Paul, Minn.)
4:30 p.m. B1G+
Discussion Thread
L 1-2

Sunday, Nov. 3​

Women's tennis: Spartan Invite
Discussion Thread

Volleyball: vs. Ohio State
12 p.m.
Discussion Thread
L 1-3

Men's soccer: vs. Rutgers
1 p.m. BTN+
Discussion Thread
L 0-1

The Spartans are currently fourth in the Big Ten standings.​

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's soccer heads into the final week of the regular season with a pair of games to secure seeding for the Big Ten Tournament. The Spartans will start the week on the road, taking on No. 1/2 Ohio State on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus. MSU will then end the season celebrating Senior Day at home against Rutgers on Sunday, Nov. 3.

Last time out, Michigan State tied Michigan, 0-0, in the Battle for the Big Bear in East Lansing on Oct. 22, MSU stands 5-6-3 overall and 4-3-1 in Big Ten action.

Dean Linke and Patrick Doody are on the call for the Big Ten Network.

DID YOU KNOW?
The Buckeyes are the first No. 1 team that MSU has faced since falling to No. 1 Creighton on Sept. 13, 2015.

BRACING FOR OFFENSE
With his brace against No. 25 Wisconsin, senior midfielder Sean Kerrigan led the Spartans to a 2-0 win over the Badgers on Oct. 11. It was the first time this season that the Spartans had scored multiple goals in a game. Kerrigan is now second on the team in scoring with three goals. He is first on the team in shots on goal with 11.

LOOKING AT THE BUCKEYES
The Buckeyes are No. 1 in the 16-team NCAA Division 1 Men's Soccer Rankings. It's the highest ranking in program history. OSU is also No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, also the highest ranking the Buckeyes have achieved.

Michael Adedokun leads the Big Ten in scoring with 25 points off of eight goals and nine assists. The nine assists is tied for the league lead with Michigan's Beto Soto. Patrick McLaughlin and Max Trejo have both started seven games this season in goal. McLaughlin has allowed seven goals for a 1.03 GAA, while Trejo has only allowed four goals for a 0.58 GAA.

SERIES HISTORY
Michigan State leads the overall series with Ohio State, 29-27-3, but the Buckeyes have taken control of the series of late. OSU has won the last four meetings. Last season, the Spartans only two losses came at the hands of the Buckeyes, including the Big Ten Tournament in East Lansing. At home, MSU leads the series 14-11-2. In Columbus, the Buckeyes are on top 13-8-1. On neutral ground, the Spartans lead 7-3-0.
Last season in the Big Ten Tournament, sixth-seeded OSU scored in the 54th minute and was able to hold of third-seeded MSU in the quarterfinals on Nov. 3.

LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State men's soccer retained the Big Bear Trophy by playing to a scoreless draw with Michigan Tuesday night in the 25th annual Battle for the Big Bear at a packed DeMartin Stadium.

Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Zac Kelly made four saves in registering his sixth clean sheet of the season, including his fifth in B1G play. Kelly made a highlight-reel leaping snag early in the second half.

TOURNEY TIME
This year's Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal and semifinal rounds will be held in Bridgeview, Illinois, at SeatGeek Stadium. The quarterfinals will be held Nov. 7 (1/3:30/6 p.m.) between seeds 2-7. The No. 1 overall seed will get a bye to the semifinals. The semifinals will be held Nov. 10 (3/5:30 p.m.). The highest remaining seed will host the finals on Nov. 17 at 3 p.m. on BTN. The Spartans have secured a spot in this season's seven-team tournament.

LOOKING AT THE STANDINGS
Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Spartans have secured a spot in the seven-team Big Ten Tournament. Michigan State currently stands fourth in the standings with 13 points. Indiana holds the top spot with 20 points with one game remaining. Ohio State second with 19 points, while Maryland is third with 17 points.

IN CONFERENCE ACTION
The Spartans may not be lighting up the scoreboard in Big Ten play, but they have allowed only seven goals in eight games. Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Zac Kelly has played all 720 minutes in league play for a 0.88 GAA. He has made 26 saves in B1G games. Junior midfielder Jonathan Stout is tied for 10th in the league in goals scored in B1G games with three.

BATTLE FOR THE BIG BEAR
This was the 25th anniversary for the Battle for the Big Bear Trophy. The trophy originated in 2000. MSU leads the series 14-5-5 since 2000. The Spartans currently have possession of the trophy after the teams tied 0-0 in both 2023 and 2024. In 2022 in East Lansing, Michigan State came out on top with a 2-0 win behind goals from Greyson Mercer and Jonathan Stout. With the ties, Michigan State has held the trophy 18 years.

PACKING THE STANDS
Michigan State is 11th in the nation in attendance this season, averaging 1,905 fans per game this season. That stands third in the Big Ten behind Indiana (2,992), which is third, Maryland (2,230).

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

EAST LANSING, Mich. - A pair of late second-half goals propelled No. 18 Michigan State women's soccer to a 3-1 victory over Purdue in the Spartans' regular-season finale Sunday afternoon at DeMartin Stadium.

MSU moves to 12-1-5 overall with the win and wraps up the Big Ten portion of its schedule at 7-1-3. Purdue ends its season at 7-9-2 (3-7-1 B1G).

The Spartans secure the No. 4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament with the win and will face fifth-seeded Rutgers on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 4:30 p.m. ET in the first of four quarterfinal games at Minnesota's Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium. MSU and Rutgers battled to a 1-1 draw in East Lansing on Sept. 29 this season.

"The first half I thought we played pretty well, we had much of the territory," said head coach Jeff Hosler. "We had a lot of the ball, obviously had the goal. We were generating chances. The biggest takeaway is that, our team, when we're playing well and playing with urgency, I think we're one of the best teams in the country. The good thing is we have another week of training how to get ready for our first Big Ten tournament game."

Graduate forward Mackenzie Anthony opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, registering her fourth goal of the season. Freshman midfielder Kaleigh McPherson tallied the unassisted game winner in the 82nd minute before graduate forward Meg Hughes added an 84th-minute insurance goal to secure the victory for the Spartans. In goal, graduate goalkeeper Kaitlyn Parks notched her 10th win of the season, making four saves in 90 minutes in goal.

Neither side was able to get much going in the opening 10 minutes despite a strong spell of possession from the Spartans. After Anthony had a shot blocked in the second minute, the next shot of the game came from graduate midfielder Justina Gaynor, who sent a high-flying ball over the crossbar in the 12th minute.

Purdue's Lexi Fraley got the Boilermakers' only shot of the half off in the 14th minute, but Parks was there to make the easy save to keep the game scoreless. Anthony forced the first Purdue save of the game just minutes later.

In the 23rd minute, Anthony found a loose ball in the six-yard box after Purdue goalkeeper Emily Edwards' pass slipped by Anthony's foot. Her shot went past Edwards and a Purdue defender just over the goal line to give MSU the 1-0 lead.

MSU continued to dominate the half after the Anthony goal, earning four corners while forcing a pair of saves in the final 20 minutes of the half. Despite generating several chances, MSU could not find the back of the net again, taking its 1-0 lead into the break.

The Spartans opened the second half strong with four-consecutive corner chances but could not convert for a second goal. In the 55th minute, a cross from Gaynor found the foot of Najera just outside the six, but her shot went high.

After two more shots from the Spartans, Parks made a diving save in the 62nd minute after Purdue's Gracie Dunaway ripped a shot from the top of the box to the top right corner of the net. A minute later, Dunaway equalized, sending another ball above Parks to the corner of the net in the 63rd minute.

The Boilermakers had a strong stretch of possession after the Dunaway equalizer, holding the Spartans without a shot for nearly 20 minutes while sending another pair of shots into the gloves of Parks.

A yellow card on Purdue's bench in the 80th minute gave the Spartans the momentum they needed. Sophomore defender Renee Watson forced a Purdue save before the Spartans were rewarded with a corner a minute later. Watson's corner kick found a Purdue defender, whose attempt at a clearance went straight to the foot of McPherson. Taking advantage of an opening, McPherson sent a left-footed blast to the right center of the net for the first goal of her Spartan career and a 2-1 MSU lead with under 10 minutes to go.

Continuing to pour on the offense, graduate midfielder Gabby Mueller played a ball into the box for Anthony, who found Hughes at the top of the six. Hughes slid the ball past Purdue goalkeeper Claire Wyville for the insurance goal in the 84th minute.

MSU fired off two more shots and kept Purdue to just one off-target shot in the final minutes to secure the win.

The Big Ten Tournament begins with the first round on Thursday, Oct. 31 in Minneapolis. The tournament semifinals and championship are scheduled for Nov. 7 and Nov. 10, respectively, at CITYPARK in St. Louis.

Recap courtesy of MSU Athletics

Michigan State moves up one spot after the weekend sweep over Canisius.

Boston University, which was at No. 3, lost on Friday to North Dakota, 7-2, and the Terriers moved down a few spots as a result.

MSU is off this weekend. It will play Ohio State on Nov. 8-9 at Munn.

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