The Spartans held a two-possession lead on the road over No. 2 Oregon and were looking like they could pull the upset and catapult itself into elite status. However, that quickly changed with Oregon reeling off 28 unanswered points to knock off MSU, 46-27.

The score doesn’t write the whole story for this one, as MSU dominated the Ducks for most of the first half and early into the second. But as sophomore tight end Josiah Price put it after the game, this Spartan program is past moral victories and despite posting a decent showing for most of the game, all that matters was the final score.

So what does this loss mean for MSU’s national championship aspirations? Up until this season, a loss ultimately meant you would be on the outside looking in, but the new College Football Playoff is supposed to change that.

With four teams playing for a national championship there will surely be at least one team that stumbled along the way. So in theory, losing on the road early in the season to a top-five opponent isn’t a catastrophic blow to MSU’s playoff chances. But the image of the Big Ten after a miserable showing on Saturday could ultimately be the final nail in Sparty’s coffin.

The Big Ten was abysmal this past weekend, posting multiple lackluster performances on the big stage. No. 22 Ohio State was upset by No. 17 Virginia Tech, 35-21, in the horseshoe, Michigan was shut out, 31-0, for the first time since 1984 by No. 16 Notre Dame.

Last year, MSU lost an early game before winning its final 11 games. So for fans, hope isn’t completely lost. But as hard as it might sound, it’s time to root for the guys down the road in Ann Arbor and Columbus. If there are any more weekends like this last one, it doesn’t matter how well MSU plays down the stretch if the Big Ten is considered no better than the MAC.