Michigan State football bowl game destinations 2024: Where Spartans might go if they win

Posted by Admin November 26, 2024 Football

It seems pretty simple. Beat Rutgers, and first-year coach Jonathan Smith will take Michigan State football to its first bowl since 2021.

Lose to the Scarlet Knights? It’s a little more complicated — and a very remote possibility — but the Spartans technically still could be part of the postseason.

Twelve of the 18 Big Ten teams already have clinched a bowl game, with Oregon, Ohio State, Penn State and Indiana all in contention for spots in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. MSU and Wisconsin, which hosts Minnesota (6-5) on Saturday, are each 5-6 and would qualify for a postseason game with wins.

Let’s break down the math.

The Spartans and Badgers are among 15 5-6 teams in the FBS entering the final weekend of the regular season. A 16th team, Appalachian State (5-5), also can reach six wins, despite having its Sept. 28 game against Liberty canceled due to Hurricane Helene.

There are 77 teams who already have qualified for 84 bowl spots (12 CFP berths, plus two spots in each of the 36 non-CFP bowls). There also are two games this weekend featuring a pair of 5-6 teams this weekend, with the winner of the Eastern Michigan-Western Michigan and Virginia-Virginia Tech each assured a sixth victory.

So that’s 79 of 84 berths accounted for, with 11 teams fighting for the final five spots

The Big Ten has seven non-CFP bowl tie-ins. Should MSU get to six wins, it would likely be up for one of the conference’s two final selections — the GameAbove Sports Bowl in Detroit and the Rate Bowl in Phoenix — both of which are Dec. 26.

CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm projects the Spartans will head to Ford Field to face Miami (Ohio) in the GameAbove Sports Bowl, filling the last spot in the Big Ten’s pecking order. Palm has Nebraska, which picked up its sixth win last week for the first time since 2016, going to the Rate Bowl (previously Guaranteed Rate Bowl) the same day in Phoenix and facing former Big 12 rival Texas Tech.

It is almost assured there will be enough teams with six wins to fill all the bowl slots. However, should some late-November madness ensue, there would still be a minute chance for a 5-7 team to claim a bowl spot based on Academic Progress Rate. MSU is tied for 58th, out of 133 programs, in APR — but only behind seven teams which already have won five games and five others who have a chance to win a fifth game this weekend.

Which essentially makes Saturday a win-and-get-in situation for Smith and the Spartans.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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