Latest news with #Fornelli
USA Today
14 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
CBS Sports releases 'best, worst case scenarios' for MSU football this season
Michigan State football could be in for a very exciting fall on the gridiron or the bottom could completely fall out -- those are the best and worst case scenarios, per Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports. Fornelli did his annual best and worst case scenarios for each of the Big Ten teams in a recent article, and to no surprise, there is quite a bit variance for the Spartans. If you're looking at the bright side of things, Fornelli sees the Spartans being in contention for a College Football Playoff berth into November and finishing with a 9-3 record as the best case scenario for this upcoming season. On the flip side, the worst case scenario includes an early season loss to Boston College that essentially derails the year and results in the Spartans finishing 3-9. As I said, those are distant from each other meaning Michigan State has a wide variance for this upcoming season. Here's the positive best case scenario outlook from Fornelli: "Aidan Chiles shows development, and while his accuracy continues to be a problem, his decision-making improves tremendously, leading to far fewer turnovers. He also makes enough wow throws to fill social media with highlights. The Spartans knock off Michigan at home thanks to Chiles and a rapidly improving defense under Joe Rossi. A loss to Penn State in November ends the playoff dreams, but when Chiles announces he intends to return for 2026, the nation immediately begins hyping this program up as a 2026 dark horse." And here's the negative worst case scenario outlook: "Aidan Chiles continues to make bad decisions that lead to turnovers and continuously put the Michigan State defense in bad positions. An early loss to Boston College shakes the team's confidence a bit, and it craters following consecutive road losses to USC and Nebraska. Things only get worse down the stretch, and Chiles is benched before hitting the portal following the season, leading to a lot of question marks about Jonathan Smith's program heading into 2026." In reading through Fornelli's assessment, I really have no objections as I also consider Michigan State a true wildcard team for this upcoming season. I recently wrote about how the Spartans have the potential to reach the College Football Playoff if some key things go in their way this season. But I also fear they could hit some rough patches and be battling it out just to reach bowl eligibility again late in November. With any of these best and worst case scenario articles, it often lands somewhere in the middle. So with that being said, it sounds like Fornelli would peg Michigan State to be about a 6-6 team this upcoming season (maybe give or take one win). Getting to a bowl game is extremely important for the Spartans and Smith this upcoming fall, so they better get to six wins to keep this fanbase relatively happy. Click on the post below to read the complete story from Fornelli: Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
USA Today
15 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
CBS Sports sees Michigan football's 2025 as glorious best case, horrible worst case
Not many get it, but CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli apparently does. Michigan football has a favorable schedule in 2025, assuming that it can handle life on the road, with what should be a punishing defense and a resurgent offense. After beating Ohio State and Alabama to close out the 2024 season, the Wolverines could be a hot team this season, which is why Fornelli sees the Wolverines' best-case scenario being an undefeated season in 2025. Best Case 12-0: Bryce Underwood lives up to the hype (and the paycheck) to immediately reinvigorate the program. Nobody blinks when he throws four touchdowns in the opener against New Mexico, but after he throws for 300 and rushes for 100 against Oklahoma a week later, he becomes the story of college football. On the defensive side, the losses aren't felt for long as new studs emerge and the Wolverines roll through the regular season. After beating Ohio State for a fifth straight year, the NCAA issues a formal apology for all that hullabaloo about sign stealing. OK, that's a little facetious, but we'll take it. However, the worst case scenario is a redux of last year, minus the going out in a blaze of glory type of deal that happened last year, rectifying the 7-5 regular-season record. Worst Case 7-5: It turns out Jim Harbaugh was important to the program. Underwood shows flashes but is a true freshman prone to making mistakes. The Wolverines are blown out by Oklahoma and then lose again at Nebraska while Sherrone Moore serves his suspension. More road losses follow against USC and rival Michigan State. Then the regular season ends with a blowout loss to Ohio State, in which the Buckeyes exorcise all the demons. The NCAA then hits the program with a two-year postseason ban. So, which one is likely? We tend to lean closer to the best case over the worst case, but the answer may be somewhere in the middle. Given the home-road-home format of the season, the Wolverines will need to show that they can win away from Ann Arbor -- something they didn't get good at until 2021. There are still some tough games -- like Oklahoma, Nebraska, and USC -- and they're all on the road. Ohio State comes to Ann Arbor this year, and while the Buckeyes are defending national champions, they did lose to Michigan in The Horseshoe, 13-10, a year ago. Thus, 9-3 or 10-2 seem likely, while the maize and blue work to get the younger parts of the team going, especially on the road. But 7-5? That would likely mean every single thing falling apart. Every. Single. Thing.
USA Today
15-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Spartans listed near bottom of CBS Sports' post-spring Big Ten power rankings
Spartans listed near bottom of CBS Sports' post-spring Big Ten power rankings See where the Spartans landed in CBS Sports' post-spring Big Ten power rankings released earlier this week One of the most Big Ten knowledgeable national college football writers unfortunately has the Spartans as one of the worst teams in the league next year. Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports released his post-spring Big Ten power rankings earlier this week, and it was not good news for the Spartans. Fornelli had Michigan State coming in at No. 15 out of 18 teams in the league in his power rankings. Here's what Fornelli had to say about the Spartans: "A little peek behind the curtain for you all. If I were to break these power rankings into tiers instead of individual slots, everybody from No. 8 USC to Michigan State down here at 15 would be in the same tier. All of these teams have similarities and are a breakthrough player away from leapfrogging plenty of teams. For Michigan State, that player is quarterback Aidan Chiles. The Spartans will go as far as he's capable of taking them." At least Fornelli stated that the gap between Michigan State and USC at No. 8 really isn't that big if he's putting them all in the same tier. But it is still alarming to see the Spartans this low in the Big Ten power rankings, especially, with this being such an important year for Michigan State in its efforts to get things back on track in football. Michigan State opens the 2025 season in a home non-conference matchup against Western Michigan on August 30. Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
CBS Sports optimistic about Michigan football, but still underrating the Wolverines
Not many have a lot of faith in Michigan football entering 2025 while many have a ton of optimism as it pertains to Ohio State this season. Of course, the Wolverines went 8-5 last year while the Buckeyes won the national championship, but OSU is in a similar (albeit more advantageous) position to the Wolverines coming out of the 2023 national championship season. Ohio State lost much of its offense and defense with 14 NFL draft picks, its starting quarterback, and both coordinators -- not dissimilar from Michigan. But the Wolverines are rebuilding and still managed to beat OSU and Alabama despite having major offensive deficiencies. Those deficiencies appear to be fixed with Bryce Underwood coming in, along with Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene. Thus, CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli is optimistic that Michigan could be good, but not as good as the Buckeyes, according to his Big Ten power rankings. 4. Michigan Think of how horrible things went for the Wolverines last season. The offense was a cruel joke, and the QB situation was enough to make a MAC team blush. Yet, despite all of it, the Wolverines won eight games, including wins over Ohio State and Alabama. Yes, the team loses some studs on defense, but if the offense improves and the defense retools successfully, how far away is this team from winning 10 or more games? Advertisement With Michigan at No. 4, it is behind OSU at No. 1, Penn State at No. 2, and Oregon at No. 3. Though Fornelli is correct that Michigan loses some key playmakers on defense, the depth behind Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, Josaiah Stewart, and Will Johnson indicate that the Wolverines may not miss a beat. The defensive line, in particular, has a six-man rotation on the interior with two star transfers, while the edge group dominated the Crimson Tide, as is, in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Dec. 31. The question for Michigan comes more on the offensive side of the ball with several big unknowns. Though the pass game should improve, it's hard to quantify by how much -- especially considering there has only been a modicum of improvement at wide receiver and offensive line. Still, if the offense can at least sustain some drives, the entire team should look vastly different. What Fornelli also fails to recognize is that Michigan avoids his No. 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7 teams according to his rankings. The Wolverines face his No. 1 Ohio State, No. 8 USC, No. 9 Nebraska, No. 10 Washington, No. 14 Wisconsin, No. 15 MSU, No. 16 Northwestern, No. 17 Maryland, and No. 18 Purdue -- the worst teams in the conference, at least according to him. Thus, 10 wins are certainly on the table this year. This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: CBS Big Ten power rankings high on Michigan, but still underrating it
USA Today
13-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
CBS Sports optimistic about Michigan football, but still underrating the Wolverines
CBS Sports optimistic about Michigan football, but still underrating the Wolverines Not many have a lot of faith in Michigan football entering 2025 while many have a ton of optimism as it pertains to Ohio State this season. Of course, the Wolverines went 8-5 last year while the Buckeyes won the national championship, but OSU is in a similar (albeit more advantageous) position to the Wolverines coming out of the 2023 national championship season. Ohio State lost much of its offense and defense with 14 NFL draft picks, its starting quarterback, and both coordinators -- not dissimilar from Michigan. But the Wolverines are rebuilding and still managed to beat OSU and Alabama despite having major offensive deficiencies. Those deficiencies appear to be fixed with Bryce Underwood coming in, along with Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene. Thus, CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli is optimistic that Michigan could be good, but not as good as the Buckeyes, according to his Big Ten power rankings. 4. Michigan Think of how horrible things went for the Wolverines last season. The offense was a cruel joke, and the QB situation was enough to make a MAC team blush. Yet, despite all of it, the Wolverines won eight games, including wins over Ohio State and Alabama. Yes, the team loses some studs on defense, but if the offense improves and the defense retools successfully, how far away is this team from winning 10 or more games? With Michigan at No. 4, it is behind OSU at No. 1, Penn State at No. 2, and Oregon at No. 3. Though Fornelli is correct that Michigan loses some key playmakers on defense, the depth behind Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, Josaiah Stewart, and Will Johnson indicate that the Wolverines may not miss a beat. The defensive line, in particular, has a six-man rotation on the interior with two star transfers, while the edge group dominated the Crimson Tide, as is, in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Dec. 31. The question for Michigan comes more on the offensive side of the ball with several big unknowns. Though the pass game should improve, it's hard to quantify by how much -- especially considering there has only been a modicum of improvement at wide receiver and offensive line. Still, if the offense can at least sustain some drives, the entire team should look vastly different. What Fornelli also fails to recognize is that Michigan avoids his No. 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7 teams according to his rankings. The Wolverines face his No. 1 Ohio State, No. 8 USC, No. 9 Nebraska, No. 10 Washington, No. 14 Wisconsin, No. 15 MSU, No. 16 Northwestern, No. 17 Maryland, and No. 18 Purdue -- the worst teams in the conference, at least according to him. Thus, 10 wins are certainly on the table this year.
