Senior linebacker Max Bullough scoffed at the notion of overlooking the noon contest with Minnesota (8-3 overall, 4-3 Big Ten) this week by sparing any focus on the championship bout with the Buckeyes.

Bullough outlined the reasons for Saturday’s importance: He and 17 fellow seniors will give their Spartan Stadium curtain call alongside parents and friends while playing for their 40th career MSU victory, the possibility to become the first 12-win MSU team this season and BCS ranking implications.

“I think people on the outside think that’s a lot harder than it really is on the inside,” he said. “At least for me, I don’t have time to think about Ohio State or next week. Minnesota’s got a good team and … we want to leave this place better than we found it. We want to leave this place with a win, we want to leave this place with a quality win over a good team.”

The Spartans (10-1, 7-0) also check in at No. 11 in the current BCS standings, which will come into play if they don’t beat Ohio State for the Big Ten title. MSU would head to the Rose Bowl with a win, but if it loses, the possibility of being leapfrogged by Wisconsin (No. 15 in the BCS rankings with a 9-2 record) becomes real.

It’s a similar situation to 2011 when MSU lost to the Badgers in the inaugural Big Ten Championship and were passed over by Michigan for a Sugar Bowl bid despite the Spartans’ division championship and head-to-head victory.

As head coach Mark Dantonio said Sunday, though, MSU does not intend to finish second in the conference.

“We’re not going to deal with that now,” he said Tuesday. “Our focus has got to be on Minnesota. That’s where it is. Our coaches are preparing. … So our focus has to be there.”

Senior cornerback Darqueze Dennard isn’t ready think about playing on the Spartan Stadium turf for the last time. One person that is, though, is Dennard’s mother, who along with extended family is driving up from Georgia to see his final home game.

“My emotions (are) gonna be high because it’s my last game at Spartan Stadium,” Dennard said. “It’s their time, my mom’s gonna walk me out and see me finally end my career here. It’s just gonna be a great feeling.”

MSU finds itself in a vastly different position than a year ago, when senior day was spoiled by a 23-20 loss to Northwestern and a road trip to Minnesota in the season’s final week determined bowl eligibility.

Dantonio hopes the seniors are honored one last time with a packed house at Spartan Stadium despite many students leaving campus for Thanksgiving and potentially cold weather. His players echoed the sentiment that the home finale remains valuable to them.

“We’ve put all our focus in every single Big Ten game that we’ve played in and look how successful we’ve been,” sophomore quarterback Connor Cook said. “So we’re gonna continue doing that because if we don’t and we possibly lose, or if it’s a close game or a stressful game, that’s not good for us. Our whole team is all about sending the seniors out on a high note, so we’re gonna do whatever we possibly can to beat the heck out of the Gophers.”