“We should be playing tonight,” Spartan fans are saying.

“Why is Auburn playing instead of us?” others are asking.

It’s hard, yes, but let me give you the best advice there is to offer — don’t worry about it.

Seriously, don’t fret that the Spartans are not playing in the tonight’s title fight, but instead take a look at what just happened. Instead, take a minute to realize what just happened to MSU’s program.

A decade ago MSU brought on John L. Smith to man the program from 2003-2006, a period that only saw one bowl game that ended in a loss to Nebraska in the 2003 Alamo Bowl. Other than his first year as head coach, Smith’s tenure at MSU was spent more as a leader of a three ring circus than an actual football team.

Do you really think that seven years after Smith’s last game coaching that we would all be sitting here complaining about MSU barely missing out on a national title game? Unless you took a ride with Doc Brown in his DeLorean a few years ago, there is no way you could have seen this coming.

So enjoy what head coach Mark Dantonio is doing not only for his team, but this school. Dantonio has constructed three 11-win seasons, two Big Ten championships and a Rose Bowl victory, and he did it some type of way too (obligatory reference).

Besides, who’s to say MSU would have beat Notre Dame if all those calls were never made anyway?

It is one of those game where we will never know what would happen, and winning its first Rose Bowl in 26 years isn’t a bad consolation.

Spartan fans don’t have to be blood thirsty for a national title right now, not in the midst of the high that is still lingering after MSU’s emotional win. Dantonio and his current and future players will assure Spartans can look forward to its national presence for years to come, and fans will have their chance to see MSU at the top a handful of times.

Don’t worry about the “what ifs” tonight while you’re watching the game, but instead rejoice in the fact that MSU is in the midst of creating something special that’s here to stay.