The MSU fight song will undoubtedly be heard a few thousand times this fall when Spartan sports teams start their seasons.
But the fight song could be in even greater use by November.
The football, field hockey, volleyball and men’s soccer teams are looking to improve on strong finishes last year and live up to lofty expectations this year.
If those teams live up to the hype, it could create a buzz similar to March Madness, just four months earlier.
The postseasons for field hockey, volleyball and men’s soccer begin in November and Spartan fanatics could be going wild. Not to mention, ice hockey starts Oct. 4 and the men’s and women’s basketball regular season’s start in early November.
I’ll start with the obvious.
Just about everyone is excited about the football team and the things it is capable of.
One of the biggest stories of the off-season was the return of natural grass to Spartan Stadium. The new surface has gotten rave reviews from players and coaches.
In addition, the Big Ten’s media poll projected the Spartans to finish third in the conference. The last time MSU has garnered that much preseason praise, George Perles strolled the sidelines.
When November arrives, the Spartans could be in the home stretch of a run at a conference title, starting with a trip to the Big House and ending with a road trip to Happy Valley to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions.
But football isn’t the only sport that could bring home a conference championship.
The field hockey team also has lofty expectations coming into the fall. Last year the Spartans shocked the field hockey world by upsetting then-No. 1 Old Dominion 3-2 in overtime in the season-opener at Spartan Stadium and the next day MSU defeated then-No. 6 Wake Forest 2-0. The wins ignited a run to the team’s first ever Big Ten championship and a NCAA Elite Eight appearance, the first in MSU history.
The reconstruction of Ralph Young Field, the new home of the field-hockey team, should add even more excitement to this season. Tenth-year head coach Michele Madison, the 2001 Big Ten Field Hockey Coach of the Year, will have 11 letter-winners returning to the field this year.
Madison’s squad opens the season in a rematch with Old Dominion at noon on Aug. 31 in Norfolk, Va. MSU breaks in the new field against St. Joseph’s (Pa.) Sept. 6 at 4 p.m.
There’s more.
Tenth-year volleyball coach Chuck Erbe welcomes back 10 letter-winners and all but one starter. The Spartans won nine of their last 10 conference contests and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
MSU is selected to finish third in the Big Ten preseason poll, behind Ohio State and Wisconsin, respectively, and ranked No. 16 in Volleyball Magazine’s preseason poll.
The team possesses a talented tandem in junior setter Nikki Colson and senior middle blocker Angela Morley, who were named to the 2002 preseason All-Big Ten team.
Will this list ever end?
The men’s soccer team also could be creating madness in November. Although it lost five seniors from last year’s team, which finished 13-6-1, 3-3 in the conference and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the Spartans return their top four scorers.
And finally, a sleeper. That would be the women’s soccer team. MSU (10-8-2, 4-5-1) finished seventh, but it returns its top five scorers and junior goalkeeper Stacy Heller, who posted seven shutouts in 20 games.
To keep this in perspective, the field hockey team is the only favorite to win their conference, but every other team should be right there in November. With four battle-tested and proven teams, odds are MSU could be one of the premier athletic institutions in the fall. Makes you want to sing, doesn’t it?
“On the banks of the Red Cedar
