The Spartans football team has been very successful over the last season, but what separates this senior class from others is the chance to do more. MSU has put themselves in a position to win their first national title since 1966.

"(Going to the playoffs) means a lot, because when I came in this program getting to the Outback Bowl was like a championship," senior defensive lineman Lawrence Thomas said. "Now we took this program to a whole 'nother level. Going to the playoffs is a really big thing, we're very proud of that and it just shows you that this program is really elite now."

Chemistry is the key

For head coach Mark Dantonio, his team's success stems from its cohesiveness as a unit. The Spartans are a close-knit group and it shows in crunch time.

"Like I've said before, we know how to win," Dantonio said. "There's a belief system. I've said it every single year. We have great chemistry in our football team. That's provided by our seniors. That's provided by our upperclassmen who have been here to this game before. Because of that chemistry, it creates energy, positive energy. That energy goes a long way.

"When you got to reach down when things aren't quite going so well for you, you got to reach down and you got to find something to grind out, to fight back in some way, we've been able to do that. Championship football teams do that. They do. They just know how to do it."

It started in the offseason

Before the season even began, the Spartans knew this is where they wanted to be. Senior linebacker Darien Harris said the team would not be in this position if it wasn't for all of the hard work that they put into the offseason.

"That's offseason work, that's conditioning, that's our fourth quarter program," Harris said. "All of those things come into play for games like this. I know this year we ran the stadium steps, we ran the most flights of steps in the history of Spartan football, so we're breaking records all over the place.

"That was on as seniors to say hey man, we want to do more than any team has ever done, so we can get to somewhere we've never been."

Most wins ever

With the win over the Hawkeyes, the senior class became the winningest class of all time in MSU history with their 43rd win.

"The all-time winningest class in the history of Michigan State football, which breaks the record of last year. We won a lot of football games in the last three years. Really if you look since 2010, we've won a ton of football games," Dantonio said. "Our football team knows how to win. We can play it out. We don't count ourselves out. Things aren't going so well, we keep playing, as evidenced really by the football game in general."

"For us to get our 43rd win in the senior class, that's big, that's a testament to this class," Harris said. "It's what we talked about four and a half years ago when we got here."

Been there, done that

When the media entered the Spartans' locker room something was different. The team was happy, yet tame.

Senior center Jack Allen said that's because the team's job is not finished.

"We were having some fun," Allen said. "Everybody was hooting and hollering, but we're getting more accustomed to this I would say. There's a lot more to do, we've got two more games, two more (teams) to play."

Senior cornerback Arjen Colquhoun was on the same page as Allen in knowing now is not the time for pride.

"We still have games to play and I think everyone has that in the back of their head," Colquhoun said. "Everyone knows that their job isn't done yet and we can't admire our work."