EAST LANSING -- Two of the last three times Michigan State and Penn State have met in a regular season finale, a Big Ten title or a berth in the conference championship game has been on the line.
That will again be true this Saturday, when the Spartans and Nittany Lions meet in Happy Valley to close the regular season (3:30 p.m., ESPN).
Yet unlike the last three such meetings, it isn't Michigan State playing for the division title.
"This year the situation has been reversed a little bit," Spartans coach Mark Dantonio said this week.