Michigan State came within one game of reaching the national championship game, but it sure felt a lot farther away in Dallas last week. The Spartans are now tasked with replacing a pack of veteran leaders while trying to rebound from the 38-0 loss to Alabama in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.
The fifth-year seniors departing East Lansing won more games than any class in the program’s history. They took Michigan State higher than most expected the team could go in a region where they have to compete regularly with traditional powers like Ohio State, Michigan and Notre Dame.