Latest news with #JonathanSmith
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jonathan Smith's Spartans, Scarlet Knights tie in Big Ten preseason media poll
Michigan State football finished last season 14th in the Big Ten Conference, going 5-7 (3-6) overall. In 2025, they're expected to perform just slightly better. released their Big Ten Football Preseason Rankings for the 15th-straight year Monday morning. The Spartans are projected to finish 13th in the conference, tied with Rutgers. Michigan State was voted to the top spot on this particular poll just once, in 2014, though it won the conference in both 2013 and 2015, and has nine total Big Ten championship victories. Head coach Jonathan Smith is entering his second year guiding the Spartan program following six years at Oregon State. Smith was named Pac-12 Co-Coach of the Year in 2022 and led the Beavers to a College Football Playoff ranking of 11 in 2023. Smith built a strong foundation in his first season with Michigan State, which the Spartans will look to improve this fall. Michigan State's 2025 recruiting class is ranked 57th nationally and 16th in the Big Ten, per 247Sports. The Spartans' schedule come fall isn't terrible, in fact, they have a pretty decent shot. 📲 Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp They'll avoid games with top conference opponents Ohio State, Oregon and Illinois, voted second, third and fourth in the Big Ten, respectively. Michigan State will host projected conference winner Penn State in November and rival Michigan in October, playing its two most difficult conference games at home.
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Big Ten Football Media Days: Complete Schedule, TV Viewing Details
The unofficial kickoff for the college football season in Big Ten country is set to start tomorrow in Sin City. Big Ten Football Media Days are heading to Las Vegas for the first time in league history, with the three-day event set to start on Tuesday. This event is annually considered the transition from offseason to preseason with practice starting up only a week or two afterwards. Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith will be at Big Ten Football Media Days for the second time of his Spartans career, with his appearance set to take place on Thursday. Joining Smith from Michigan State is linebacker Jordan Hall, wide receiver Nick Marsh and offensive lineman Stanton Ramil. This year's event will be broadcasted on Big Ten Network with essentially all day coverage on each of those three days. Check out the Big Ten Football Media Days lineup, with the complete podium schedule and additional Big Ten Network coverage details below: Tuesday (July 22) Podium Schedule: Additionally, Big Ten Network will offer more media days coverage from 4 - 8 p.m. ET Wednesday (July 23) Podium Schedule: Additionally, Big Ten Network will offer more media days coverage from 4 - 8 p.m. ET Thursday (July 24) Podium Schedule: Additionally, Big Ten Network will offer more media days coverage from 4 - 8 p.m. ET 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
6 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
247Sports notes two Spartan defenders as potential breakout candidate in 2025
Michigan State football is gearing up for the 2025 campaign, the second in Jonathan Smith's tenure in East Lansing. While there is a ton of buzz centered around Michigan State's offense and the offensive additions the team made this offseason, but the talk about the Spartans defense has been limited, although it is the unit that could make or break the season in 2025. A notable figure in college football media recognized two Spartan defenders, though. 247Sports national reporter Matt Zenitz has been breaking down the top 25 breakout candidates in each of the four power conferences, and in his Big Ten breakdown, he recognized two Spartan defenders as breakout candidates. Texas State, via Oklahoma, defensive back transfer Joshua Eaton was mentioned, who is expected to be the Spartans best cornerback this season. The second player noted was junior linebacker Jordan Hall. The linebacker has been well known around MSU, but has not quite broke through, but Zenitz sees 2025 as the season that it finally happens. 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 Cory Linsner on X @Cory_Linsner
USA Today
12-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Predicting ceiling, floor for Michigan State football in 2025
Are you a glass half full or half empty type of person? Do you like to look on the bright side or dark side of things? Well, either way you go, we have you covered here with our ceiling and floor predictions for the upcoming Michigan State football season. This time of year we will come across numerous media outlets publishing the best and worst case scenarios for teams across the country, and we are no different here at Spartans Wire. So what are the best and worst possible scenarios for the Spartans in 2025? I think it could range from landing in the College Football Playoff to head coach Jonathan Smith entering the offseason on the hot seat. With that being said, let's take a look at my ceiling, floor and predicted records for the Spartans in 2025 below: Ceiling Record: 10-2 The best case scenario for the Spartans in 2025 would be similar to 2021 where essentially everything falls into place. That would require an offensive player becoming a star on the national level -- my guess would be quarterback Aidan Chiles -- and the Spartans experience some fortunate injury luck along the way. Combine those two things with wins in nearly all of their toss-up games and/or a notable upset, and that adds up to the ceiling scenario for the Spartans. As I said, it would essentially mirror what we saw in 2021 with Kenneth Walker III and the Spartans reaching the Peach Bowl. A 10-2 finish for the Spartans would almost certainly result in a berth in the College Football Playoff. This type of turnaround would be comparable to what we saw from Indiana last season -- which was equally unexpected as the Spartans doing so this fall. Floor Record: 4-8 If Michigan State gets off to a rough start and drops an early pivotal game against Boston College, then this floor may be actually lower. But I feel pretty confident Michigan State is going to handle their non-conference schedule which means the floor for the Spartans would consist of a 3-0 non-conference slate and 1-8 mark in league play. How do we get to the floor? Well, if the key players added via the portal are busts, Chiles' doesn't take that next step and the Spartans have some more bad injury lucky this fall, then finishing 4-8 is certainly possible. The schedule this fall doesn't possess as many top tier teams as last year, but the number of toss-up matchups could result in the same number of losses should they come up short in each of those predicted close games. Those are the three ingredients that will lead to the Spartans hitting their floor and ultimately putting Smith on the hot seat heading into next year. Prediction Record: 7-5 If we split the difference between the ceiling and floor then we simply land at 7-5, and that's where I'd predict Michigan State to finish at this point in the offseason. There are a lot of unknowns about Michigan State heading into this next season, but there are also a lot of things that give me confidence to anticipate a year of growth under Smith and his staff. I'm not sure yet how the games will all play out and which games I'm ready to predict the Spartans to win, but I think they reach seven this fall and get back to a bowl game for the first time since 2021. 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
12-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Odds posted for Michigan State football to win 9 games this season
Every Big Ten team's odds to win 9 games in 2025, via FanDuel | As of 7/11/25 What are the chances Michigan State football will win nine games this upcoming season? We now know the official odds of that occurring per FanDuel. Odds have been posted for every Big Ten team to win nine or more games next season, and its interesting to see where the Spartans landed among their peers. According to FanDuel, Michigan State has +650 odds to win nine or more games this upcoming season. That is positioned between Minnesota at +320 and Rutgers at +900 -- which are notable gaps on both ends. Among Big Ten teams, Michigan State has the No. 12 best odds to win at least nine games this season. That is about in line with where many are ranking and projecting the Spartans to be in the league this upcoming season. Michigan State is coming off a 5-7 season in year one under new head coach Jonathan Smith. The Spartans have fell shot of bowl eligibility in each of the last three seasons, and have won nine games only once in the last seven seasons. I'm pretty bullish on Michigan State this upcoming season and anticipate the Spartans getting back to a bowl game, but winning nine games is certainly on the higher end of the possible outcomes for me. I could see it happening if they are able to win most of their toss-up games and pull an upset or two, but these long odds of this actually hitting seems about right. Michigan State opens the 2025 season next month with its season opener against Western Michigan on August 29. Kickoff from Spartan Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET and the game will be televised on FS1. 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.
