Congratulations to Michigan State On Becoming The Next Ohio State, Almost

As a kid and a Buckeye by birth, I grew up hating Michigan. The Wolverines, the state, whatever. However, that hatred did not extend to Michigan State. I liked Magic and Heathcote, and then into the 90s, I liked the Snow brothers. A bonus was the style of play that the Spartan football team employed. They wanted to play great defense, and run the ball behind a feature back. While not a completely unique template, I like to think of it as a Buckeye way of life.

Naturally, we were both little brothers of the Michigan Woverines, the first dominator of the Big Ten. Ohio State joined the conference before Michigan State, but both were late additions. Kindred spirits. Both had to claw and fight for respect. I can respect that.

With the turning of the millennia, Jim Tressel first broke the back of Michigan, and then Urban Meyer made them humble. Ohio State is the new boss, only delusional fans of lesser teams would argue, and I am sure they will.

For Michigan State, this is kind of a case the same old boss. The more established program gets all the press and credit, while they struggle in the shadows of big brother, regardless of any head to head accomplishments. This may seem unfair, but with regards to national perception, national titles matter. While Michigan used mythical, retroactive titles that JRR Tolkien would say pushes the bounds of believable fantasy, Ohio State has honest to goodness titles recently, including both a BCS(Semi legit) and Playoff(Mostly legit).

All that Dantonio and company need to do to negate this deficit is to move past measuring their season on a victory against Ohio State, and make championships the key. Until they get one in the modern era, they will still be seen as a little brother.