Michigan State has played in two of the three Big Ten title games, is the defending Rose Bowl champion and is enjoying the best run in program history with 42 wins in four years.
Yet the Spartans cling to an underdog mentality, the product of being overshadowed historically by Michigan and Ohio State. Coach Mark Dantonio never wants his team to stop playing with that edge.
“Respectability can fly right out the window on us,” he said. “So it’s what we’ve done lately that you’re basically judged on, and we continue to build our future.”
The task gets tougher this year. The Spartans host the Buckeyes in a November night game that could decide the new East Division. Of more immediate concern is a trip to Oregon the first week of September.
That game could loom large in determining whether the Spartans land a spot in the inaugural, four-team College Football Playoff.