Although MSU's College Football Playoff dreams may have ended with their Nov. 8 loss to Ohio State, the Spartans (10-2 overall, 7-1 Big Ten) remain very interested in the College Football Playoff rankings.
The top 10 teams in the rankings are in the running for one of the selection committee's non-playoff bowl games, also referred to as the "New Year's six" bowl games. After Tuesday night's rankings MSU found themselves looking at a spot in one of those games.
With only the conference championship games remaining MSU is ranked eighth. They are ahead of No. 9 Kansas State and No. 10 Mississippi State who both do not have conference championship games this weekend with no chance to jump MSU.
Teams ahead of the Spartans that play this weekend include No. 5 OSU who plays No. 13 Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game. If Wisconsin wins they will probably move into the top 10 and could even jump MSU, but the Spartans still have a two spot cushion in the rankings.
The only other team from outside the top ten that could jump MSU would be No. 11 Georgia Tech, who plays No. 4 Florida State in the ACC championship game. A win would probably catapult Georgia Tech into the top 10, but it might not be enough to jump MSU, and they could still be in the top 10 with that result.
While nothing is official, all eyes point to a happy new year of football for Spartan fans.
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