Saturday’s Michigan State football game against Illinois in Champaign has a must-win feel to it. The Spartans have lost six straight games and look to be on the verge of missing a bowl game in 2016, but will need to win this one in order to stay alive.
Surprisingly, Michigan State opened as 9.5-point favorites, showing that Vegas still believes this team has the talent to get the job done on the road. Illinois, too, is 2-6 on the year and looking to win in order to stay alive in the bowl chase.
However, Lovie Smith’s first season with the Fighting Illini has gone quite the opposite of what he was expecting.