The Spartans earned two votes in this week's coaches poll following the gritty fourth quarter comeback win at Maryland. Notably, Boston College who MSU heads on the road to face in Week Four got 36 votes but will face No. 7 Missou on the road this Saturday first.

Maryland, Ohio State, and Penn State were the only teams with the athletes in the Big Ten that were good enough to hang with Michigan last year. They have a lot of speed.

According to coaches and players, Maryland thought it would have a special year this year and take that next step. And they came into this game with supreme confidence.

The Spartans were resilient and overcame mistakes and injuries to unite as a team.

After next week, MSU should start the season 3-0.

Forgot what the blue wall media tells you; this was a great victory.

Go Green!

Big win for MSU! What a difference versus last year. We probably would have folded like a cheap suitcase. Good start!
And the icing on the cake- UM got creamed!
All is good.

The Spartans open Big Ten play on Saturday at Maryland. Give us your thoughts on the game.

Pitt players, after the game, run to the Cincinnati student section to taunt them after a chorus of “eat sh*T Pitt” chants all game.

Pitt safety Javon McIntyre, who had the ball after the final turnover to win the game, is followed by the Cincinnati equipment staff to get the ball back.

A Cincinnati player comes over and punches the ball out. What a scene after a 21-point comeback and 28-27 road win for the Panthers.


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Game No. 2 for Michigan State (1-0) in the Jonathan Smith era is today!

The Spartans hit the road to face Maryland (1-0) in the Big Ten opener.

Kickoff is set for 3:40 p.m. on Big Ten Network.

Follow along here for general discussion about the game and updates from College Park.

@DavidHarns, @Kevin Knight and @austenflores will be in the press box today.

Full recap from today's victory against the Terrapins is up!

Read HERE:

The Michigan State Board of Trustrees on Friday gave the go ahead vote approving a study for a new project on the the west side of campus at the northeast corner of Harrison Road and Trowbridge Road, south of the new MSU Student Recreation and Wellness Center that is currently under construction.

The main project of the redevelopment study will be a new 4,000 seat arena for the Athletics Department that would allow hosting regional competitions in Olympic sports and is being required by the expanded Big Ten Conference in order to meet league requirements to host home events and conference competitions, university officials said.

“This multi-purpose development, which will be a public-private partnership, is a bold step toward fulfilling our mission as a passionately public university,” MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz said during Friday's board meeting.

Additional components of the project would include a new hotel, retail, housing, parking, teaching, research, and clinical facilities.

With the expansion of the league to include Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington, most teams currently possess facilities on campus to host regional events in Olympic sports, but MSU currently lacks any. This would result in an inability to hose home competitions regularly in East Lansing, an obvious cometptitive disadvantage for the Spartans.

A new potential arena, first mentioned for volleyball following the hiring of Leah Johnson in 2022 as a promise to address several shortcomings the program faced using Jenison Fieldhouse as its home, would be the focal point of the project, though. It is targeted at 4,000, smaller by roughly 900 compared to Jenison's volleyball capacity, and would be smaller than 10 of the league's arenas used for the sport (Purdue's Belin Court at Holloway Gymnasium has a published capacity of 4,090). Since Johnson's hiring, the volleyball program has played its home games at the Breslin Center, breaking program attendance records both seasons with 8,789 fans in attendance against Nebraska on Oct. 6, 2023 besting the previous mark of 7,326 set against Michigan on Oct. 14, 2022.

Besides serving as a new home for volleyball, wrestling and gymnastics would also relocate from Jenison to use the facility in addition to new locker rooms and coaching office space. University classrooms would likely be included in the facility as well.

MSU would rely on donors and and future event revenue for the arena while other portions of the project would be likely tapped as a public/private partnership (P3).

“When I arrived in March and began these discussions, I knew we were standing at the threshold of something extraordinary,” Guskiewicz said. “This public-private partnership project isn’t just about new buildings; it’s about creating a vibrant ecosystem that amplifies MSU’s mission. From state-of-the-art research spaces to a modern arena and contemporary accommodations, we are crafting an environment that nurtures personal growth, encourages healthy competition and propels academic excellence. This development will be a testament to MSU’s dedication to our students, faculty, staff, alumni and the broader Lansing community.”

“A hallmark of a great institution like Michigan State University is being able to provide world-class facilities for students and student-athletes that enrich their collegiate experience,” said MSU Board Chair Dan Kelly. “Furthermore, the prospect of this facility using a public-private partnership model speaks to both MSU’s outreach and community engagement efforts and the institution’s role in economic development in the greater Lansing region.”

With the trustees’ unanimous approval of planning for the project, MSU is now able to being the formal bidding process from potential developers of the P3.

Bob Trezise, president and CEO of the Lansing Economic Area Partnership also stated that the project has the potential to enhance the Lansing region’s ability to attract events, improve tourism and complement other regional facilities and events.

University Trustees on Friday also approved construction of a 200,000-square-foot Plant and Environmental Sciences Building. Construction is slated to begin this fall and MSU expects it to be completed by December 2026. The facility will provide laboratory space for around 40 principal investigators in food security and climate adaptation along with their respective teams.

“State-of-the-art spaces will accelerate climate-critical discoveries while helping MSU attract talented graduate students and retain leading researchers,” Thomas Jeitschko, MSU interim provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said in a news release.

10 of Michigan State’s 11 members of the National Academy of Sciences focus on plant and environmental sciences, the university said.

The state-of-the-art building will foster interdisciplinary collaborations between MSU’s College of Natural Science and College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, positioning the university “to make groundbreaking advances with a far-reaching impact on research, education and the broader scientific community,” Eric Hegg, dean of the College of Natural Science, said in the release.

Research teams from both the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory and the Plant Resilience Institute will use the new building, aligning Plant Research Lab’s strengths in plant biology and molecular genetics with Plant Resilience Institute’s focus on developing crop varieties that can withstand heightened environmental stress.

Late 90s and early 2000s the show was so phenomenal. Kirk was so dastardly handsome that whatever random chick I was with on a Saturday morning would also be interested in watching. But as the years have gone by, I found myself less and less interested in the show and my focus is on doing other stuff on Saturday morning. Also, living on the west coast why would I wake up extra early to watch that garbage. Yes, the quality has tanked. Maybe it's just me, but I don't want saccharine personal interest stories or some other BS, just doesn't move the needle for me. I tune in for the game, then I'm out. I heard that today they are slurping scUM on Gameday. No thanks.

While it is much harder to change the talent level and experience, one thing that the new coaches can do is to nail down the travel and road preparation. They should already have a trailer or two on the way with all they need to set up shop in college park.

Time will tell whether they have that function covered better than the last regime. Logistics are extremely important in running a high end sports team. Typically the team stays at the University of Maryland Hotel. Which is at the front gate of campus. So they should be rested and ready to go. However if they stay up all night at the bar downstairs, they won’t be. With a new staff and 60 new players, this will be their first field trip. On Saturday we will find out quickly if they have improved logistics and preparation.

Week 2, first road game of the season. Based on the FAU game and the injury situation, we’ve compiled an expected depth chart for the Maryland game.

MSU will celebrate the Red Cedar Rowdies.​

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's soccer will conclude its season-long four-game homestand against Air Force on Friday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m.

The Spartans fell to 1-2-1 this season after a hard-fought loss to then-No. 5 Oregon State on Sept. 2. Freshman forward Mohamed Saad scored his first collegiate against the Beavers.

Charles Schmidgall and Kyle Keegan are on the call for B1G+.

LOOKING AT THE FALCONS
Air Force is looking for its first win of the season. The Falcons started the season with a 1-0 loss to then-No. 10 SMU in Dallas. Air Force then suffered a pair of 2-1 home losses to Army and new Big Ten opponent Washington.

Nick Bisagno and Logan Zaa are leading AFA in scoring with one goal each for two points. William Collins has started all three games this season in goal. He has allowed three goals in 182 minutes for a 1.48 GAA. Collins has made 13 saves this season.

SERIES HISTORY
Michigan State and Air Force have only met four times. The Spartans lead the overall series 2-1-1, but the teams haven't met since 1973. In 1967, MSU won in Colorado Springs, 4-0, while the Spartans had a dominating 8-0 win in East Lansing in 1968. The Falcons only victory came in 1973 in East Lansing, 4-0.

GETTING IN THE LINEUP
Through four games this season, MSU has used three different starting lineups. In the first four games, six Spartans have started all three games in Zac Kelly, Shion Soga, Cristiano Bruletti, Jeremy Sharp, Will Eby and Josh Adam. Adam, Kelly and Eby played every minute this season.

BIG TIME B1G
Seven teams in the Big Ten are ranked in either the United Soccer Coaches Poll or the Top Drawer Soccer Poll. In the USC poll, UCLA is No. 6, while Northwestern and Wisconsin stand ninth and tenth, respectively. In the Top Drawer Poll, UCLA stands No. 4, while Indiana is No. 9. Oregon State (No. 23), Washington (No. 24) and Wisconsin (No. 24) round out the poll.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Zac Kelly is fourth in the Big Ten in saves with 11. Junior midfielder Jonathan Stout is tied for sixth in the league in shots with 11.

UP NEXT
The Spartans hit the road to take on in-state rival Oakland on Monday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

Michigan State RB Kay'ron Lynch-Adams on his running style:

“I run with a lot of anger. I’m running for more than myself. Every time I'm out there running the ball, I just know it is for more than myself."

More by @luccamazzie

The NCAA has levied a four-year show-cause penalty on former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh.

This is Covid related. If he ever came back to College, he would have to sit out for an entire year.

For UM fans who think people are picking on Harbaugh, FIU, and the Air Force were hit with Three-year show-cause penalties related to COVID-19 dead periods.

Interestingly, Bill Sheridan, a grad assistant for Bo Schembechler, was the lightning rod at the Air Force for COVID violations.



PARTIES TO THE CASE

A. In agreement with the negotiated resolution (the parties).
Michigan.

B. Not in agreement with the negotiated resolution.
Harbaugh.

Michigan State takes on Maryland in Big Ten play tomorrow at 3:30 eastern time on the Big Ten Network. Learn some new information about the Terps below!

He was 34 years old, not 33, as NBC says here...

Rich Homie Quan - Type of Way (Official Video)​

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A lot of fun games this weekend as the second full week of college football gets going...

Here are some games I'm looking forward to:

Texas at Michigan
Arkansas at Oklahoma State
Iowa State at Iowa
Colorado at Nebraska
Tennessee vs. NC State

College sports, as a whole, are in the middle of a shake up period with multiple lawsuits in progress that will most definitely alter the entire landscape of how the NCAA and the schools move forward in the new reality of student-athletes being paid (beyond tuition, room, board) for their services.

How Michigan State handles this will define Alan Haller's legacy at MSU far beyond anything he has done to date.

This ESPN article explains how the judge presiding over the biggest trial isn't thrilled with the current settlement terms. In short, the NCAA is trying to level the playing field by gaining agreement that NIL Collectives will go away in exchange for school revenue sharing with the student-athletes. Kind of an either/or type thing. But the judge is saying both/and.

Both sides have a few weeks to see if the settlement can be salvaged or if the case will proceed to trial. If the settlement is scuttled, we're in for a few more years of no-man's land where NIL Collectives are very important to the success of the program.

I'm hearing mixed reviews from sources in and around MSU about the health of the university-endorsed collective, Spartan Nation NIL.

Anyway, here's the article if you want to read further:

Michigan State travels to Maryland this weekend to kick off Big Ten play for the 2024 campaign.

@KLuce98 has everything you need to know here

Interesting circumstances: The NCAA considers Moore a repeat offender, yet if this were Harbaugh, he would already have a contract.

"In January, Moore and Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel both signed a memorandum of understanding for a five-year, $30 million deal, framework meant to serve as a short-term stopgap for schools looking to quickly bridge hires."

“This offer is contingent upon executing a full employment agreement within 90 days of signing this,” the MOU dated Jan. 26, 2024, reads. The 90-day deadline of April 25 came and went without both sides signing a contract, an impasse that continues."

Seeing the @Kevin Knight thread demonstrating the unbridled ferocity of MSU's current opponent's mascot (Terrapins in Real Life}, perhaps we can ease our minds with things we find more terrifying than a terrapin. I'll start-

"I just flipped a switch."

D'Quan Douse explains how he was able to score the first points of the season, and the Jonathan Smith era.