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2016 Preseason Michigan State Spartans Rankings

Main Poll Voters

User Rank Reason
gbuntin 4
KobeOrNotKobe 4
BabyBladder 5 11-2. Remember 2014 when MSU lost to the 2 teams who played in the NCG (Oregon and Ohio State)? This year they lose to ND and Ohio State, while beating Michigan. They'll end their season by defeating Stanford in the Rose Bowl. Maybe a bit of a homer pic, but if the QB situation is good this is a top 5-10 team.
captain_sasquatch 5
jzorbino 5
NatecUDF 5
pascha 5
twosheepforanore 5
BUSean 6
ChickenTaco 6
THECrew42 6
admiraltarkin 7
BosskOnASegway 7 Predictive Rank: #5 (42 points)Personal Rank: #8 (36 points)AP Rank: #12 (14 points)Total: 92/125
DavoinShower-handle 7
Disregardskarma 7
jlh2b 7
kflinderman 7
monotonemr 7
Pikachu1989 7
Red261 7
taloncarde 7
thatwasntveryraven 7
wackywiener 7
ack30297 8
Atoodope 8
aubieismyhomie 8
d_mcc_x 8
deadtofall12 8
dupreesdiamond 8
GeneralGBO 8
gsuhooligan 8
JonesUCF34 8
kdbvols 8
Khavanon 8
longhorn2015 8
njm1314 8
PalmettoFace 8
polydorr 8
Quentanamo_Bay 8
runujhkj 8
scronko 8
SenorPuff 8
sunburn_on_the_brain 8 Solid team, but they may have lost a bit much by losing a senior QB.  I don't see them winning the B1G this year because they're going to be in a slugfest with too many good teams, and I think they're going to lose one too many games.  Still a possible Rose Bowl team, especially if Michigan makes the playoff.
swanky-k 8
TDenverFan 8
Techwid 8
TheFlyingBoat 8
TotalEconomist 8
52hoova 9
A-Stu-Ute 9
Acm0028 9
alsonamedbort87 9
BallSoHerd 9
bluegrassborn 9
brobroma 9
CambodianDrywall 9
cfbguy 9
Daigotsu 9
ExternalTangents 9
Fifth_Down 9
kelling928 9
laminak 9
MammothMan34 9
Mario_Speedwagon 9
mellolizard 9 Despite ohio state being ranked higher, this is still Michigan State's conference to lose. 
milesgmsu 9
niperwiper 9
owl_man 9
PureCFR 9
qacha 9
SCRx 9
SpeedxKills 9
Stockz 9
swodaem2005 9
Texasagsman 9
buckeyegold 10
Buckeyes2010 10
BugsSuck 10
CFSparta92 10
Cheeseish 10
DafoeFoSho 10
diastereomer 10
Emperor_of_Orange 10
flipadelphia17 10
groggydog 10
HelioOne 10
jayhawx19 10
KingKliffsbury 10
Luriker 10
mgmfa 10 LJ Scott is legit, and MSU is somehow underrated again. They do have a very tough schedule, but they have the talent at the top-10 coach to make them an elite team this year.
MrTheSpork 10
pbjork 10
Polarbear1914 10
rabid_communicator 10
seanosaur 10
tabelz 10 Big losses, but Sparty is resilient. Sparty strong
ToxicSteve13 10
vanburen1845 10
Wurst_Law 10
AGSattack 11 "You thought you could get rid of me? NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND."
chceman 11
Dropbackandpunt 11
flyingcrayons 11
GiveMeSomeRaptorNews 11
goblue10 11 This seems fine.
GoldenHawk07 11
jklharris 11
keytide22 11
monkeymatt1836 11 Never count out Mark Dantonio's Spartans. This has been said time and time again over the past few seasons. Dantonio is tasked with replacing QB Connor Cook, but should once again field a talented team. MSU faces ND under the lights in South Bend Week 3, which could be a litmus test to how they perform the rest of the season. In Big Ten play, the reigning Big Ten Champs get heavy hitters Michigan and Ohio State in East Lansing. Until shown otherwise, expect Mark Dantonio to have his Spartans ready to make yet another run at the Big Ten title. 
MrDoctorSmartyPants 11
pmartin0079 11
puffadda 11
RobertNeyland 11
sideoutpar 11
SmokingCricket 11
snwidget 11
the5thpixel 11
AllHawkeyesGoToHell 12
BaldEagle88 12
Branzilla91 12
chweris 12
cmdrcaboose2 12
coreyfra 12
icklebush 12
kdcoltred 12 d12respek
meatfrappe 12
mjurkiewicz 12
myghtymouse 12
Pope_Jake 12
remwin 12
solo_22 12
ToLongDR 12
WaffleIron278 12
WarEagle9 12
Wescat 12
XSavageWalrusX 12
CantHousewifeaHo 13
CockADoodleBOOM 13
DoctorWhosOnFirst 13
emueagles 13
f0gax 13
funtubs 13
G-manP 13 Michigan State is another program who lost several starters on offense and defense this past year. Yet year after year, Mark Dantonio fields a good team. This year will be no exception as Sparty looks to stay afloat in the ultra-competitive B1G.
grjohnst 13
HarbingerOfFun 13
hokies220 13 So many players to replace including Cook, Calhoun, and Burbidge. Not sure what to expect from the offense, but they do get Michigan and Ohio State at home. They have what amounts to a warm-up game against Furman before a long break then going to play @ Notre Dame.
HUSKEROYAL 13
JCiLee 13
kamikazeguy 13 With only moderate amounts of Disrepek at 13, Michigan State has the coaching staff as well as the talent to win the BIG 10 East and make it back into the playoffs for the second straight year should they limit turnovers and big plays.
No_Way_Pablo 13
ssnider23 13 Sparty only returned about a quarter of the offense, so it makes sense why they are last out of last year's CFP teams. They had a fair recruiting class, but it doesn't compare to their rivals' Michigan and Ohio State's. While they could prove me wrong, I think they will hover between 10 and 20 on my list and the AP for most of the year.
T-Thugs 13 MSU will hang out near the bottom of my top 25 until week 3 when they play at Notre Dame. 
TopheryG8er 13
ucieaters33 13
UNC_Samurai 13
03040905 14
AaronRodgers16 14
antiherowes 14
Austinperroux 14
bties 14
fitzmauricet 14
gohuskies 14 One of the top defenses in the nation, but who knows on offense. If they can get decent QB play they can win the Big Ten, and even if not that defense will keep them in every game.
plannedsickdays 14
retnuh101 14
seaotter2 14
topher3003 14
was_saying_boo_urns 14 Defense, their calling-card, was pretty bad last year (statistically speaking). New QB. Could still Dantonio themselves into a 10-win season.
esoterik 15
G-Aardvark 15
ilovecfb 15
LEGEN--wait_for_it 15
RiffRamBahZoo 15
stephenbawesome 15
tmart12 15 Few returning starters and weaker than record in 2015 offset by strength of coaching
bakonydraco 16
BoboIsDead 16
BrutonGaster77 16 Ugh, FPI. Why disrespekt MSU? It only makes them stronger. I had a 22 rank difference from the FPI.
corundum9 16 Need to see how improved their secondary is before I can put them any higher. QB play is also a major question mark.
dabul-master 16
FellKnight 16
nickknx865 16
OhGad 16
TheTeamCubed 16
atchemey 17
buckeyes75 17
galacticdude7 17
Harry_B_C_Dresden 17
mynameisjona 17
Mythic514 17 Ouch. They took quite a beating at the hands of Bama. I maintained that they were not nearly as good as their ranking would suggest going into the CFP. I didn't think the better team won in their game against Iowa. Iowa played them down to the wire. Their team was rather mediocre in all phases when it really counted. They hardly beat OSU, Iowa, and Michigan. I don't think they'll be nearly as good as last year, and I didn't think they were all that magnificent then...
NeauxRegrets 17
CountryRoads8 18
Plneapple 18
Xtremeloco 18 Michigan St18 doesn't have quite the same ring to it.
Hummer77x 19
sirgippy 19
uwbjb 19
jeedf 20
mickeyquicknumbers 20 Masked by the pretty looking 12 win season is a question is a concern about whether the Spartan's defense slipped out of perennial juggernaut territory with Narduzzi gone to Pitt. With the very obvious exception of Malik McDowell, Michigan State's DL has been completely gutted; the secondary returns most of its starters but they gave up a LOT of big passing plays. Altogether, I still expect this to be one of the 12-15 best defenses in the nation, but that may not be enough to overcome an offense that needs a major overhaul. Connor Cook is gone, his safety valve Aaron Burbridge is gone, and so is the 2nd most trust receiver from last year's team. Michigan State loses 3 linemen including two of the best linemen in the nation in Jack Allen and Jack Conklin. Experience returns at RB, but the ground game was lacking in both efficiency and explosive playmaking options.  This offense felt just barely good enough to get the job done in just about every game last year against non-Indiana opponents; and it's been gutted of all of its best parts. I think real trouble abounds for this team's win total in 2016.
spsellers 20
eclectic_tastes 21
djowen68 22 MSU may seem low at 22. I may have them too low, but I want to see how the offense responds after losing their QB. MSU could be a quick mover in my poll because of their coach. 

Provisional Poll Voters

User Rank Reason
Blue = Human
Red = Computer
Green = Hybrid

Bold = before the AP poll was published
Normal = after the AP poll was published

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