It wasn’t pretty. Heck, it might have been the second-ugliest Michigan State football game during the Mark Dantonio — outside of the 2011 thumping by Alabama in the Capital One Bowl — but the Spartans were the best representation for the Big Ten in the College Football Playoff, despite popular belief.
Alabama was the better team, by far, on Thursday night. The Spartans played a great first half, allowing a 50-yard pass which set up the only Tide touchdown in the first 30 minutes and Michigan State had a chance to cut the lead to just three heading into the locker room, but Connor Cook threw an interception at the goal line.