If MSU defeats Penn State at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, something the Spartans haven’t done since 1965, they’ll be going somewhere warm for the holidays.
The question is, where?
The Aloha Bowl and the Oahu Bowl are both sponsored by Jeep and have a minimum $750,000 payout to each team. MSU could qualify for one of the two games.
The Aloha Bowl is Dec. 25 at 3:30 p.m. on ABC, and the Oahu Bowl is Dec. 24 at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN. Both games are played in Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.
A win over the Nittany Lions would give the Spartans a 6-5 record and qualify them for postseason play.
Fritz Rohlfing, executive director of the two Hawaii bowls, said MSU is an attractive draw.
“Michigan State has a tremendous football tradition,” Rohlfing said. “They’ve been to Hawaii twice, and I also like the connection between the state of Michigan and our sponsor, Jeep.”
MSU was blasted by Washington, 51-23, in the 1997 Aloha Bowl, and they defeated Hawaii, 33-13, in the same bowl in 1989.
Rohlfing said the bowl picture is still unclear.
The two Jeep-sponsored bowls have a tie-in with the No. 4 or No. 5 Big East team, No. 4 and No. 5 PAC-10 teams and the No. 5 Atlantic Coast Conference team.
But MSU enters the Hawaii scenario if the PAC-10 can’t qualify five bowl-eligible teams, which is likely if both Oregon and Washington are selected for Bowl Championship Series games.
Another possible postseason destination for the Spartans is the Las Vegas Bowl, which has an $800,000 payout to each team and is played Dec. 21 at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.
Tina Kunzer-Murphy, director of the Las Vegas Bowl, said MSU is at the top of the bowl’s wish list.
“Michigan State is one of the teams we’re interested in, and obviously the Big Ten brings a lot of excitement,” Kunzer-Murphy said. “There’s strong support for Michigan State on our selection committee.”
Kunzer-Murphy said the bowl game is also interested in the Big Ten’s two other 5-5 teams, Illinois and Minnesota.
The Las Vegas Bowl only has a tie-in with the second-place Mountain West team, and its opponent will be an at-large selection.
The Spartans could also be eligible for the Micronpc.com Bowl, played in Miami on Dec. 28. The game pits the No. 6 Big Ten team against the No. 4 ACC team. For the Micronpc.com Bowl, much depends on the outcome of Illinois’ and Minnesota’s games Saturday.
Either team would become bowl-eligible with a win.
MSU could also play in the Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif., which is played on Dec. 31, and televised on Fox Sports Network at 7 p.m. The bowl is tied-in with a Western Athletic Conference team and an at-large selection.
