Michigan State's Made Up Motivation For 2015

Like a pesky fly that couldn't quite be swatted away, a repetitive annoyance found itself popping up on a seemingly set schedule during Michigan State's meeting with reporters at Big Ten media days last week.

But after witnessing to the Spartans' responses enough times, it became clear that such questions were more irritating for the other writers who had to hear them repeatedly than they were for the players who actually had to answer them on a consistent basis.

Between quarterback Connor Cook, defensive end Shilique Calhoun and center Jack Allen, Michigan State's contingent for media days included a combined six first- and second-team All-Big Ten selections. There wasn't a more accomplished group of players representing their respective team in the Windy City last week, nor has any other Big Ten team won a major bowl game in both of the past two seasons.

Except rather than focusing on all that the Spartans are, the most common Michigan State question at the annual conference kickoff seemed to pertain to what they aren't.

"Ohio State's kind of dominated the conversation, they're No. 1 in the polls and all 40 votes in the media poll had them winning the East [Division] and winning it all," one reporter asked Allen. "You guys have been in the top five the past two years. Do you feel like you're being overlooked at all?"

The question was fair, if not obvious. It also seemed to pop up every five minutes or so whether you were sitting with Allen, Cook or Calhoun, often with a caveat that included the attention Michigan has received since hiring Jim Harbaugh at the end of the 2015 season.

Rather than being offended—or perhaps more appropriately, annoyed—however, the three Spartans in attendance seemed to enjoy answering the inquiry, no matter how many times they were asked to do so.

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"Being at MSU, we're always overlooked," Allen said, any hint of a smile having disappeared from his face. "It's normal."

"Do you think that's still the case, even though you won a Rose Bowl [in 2014], won the Cotton Bowl [in 2015]?" the reporter followed up.

"Yeah. Definitely," Allen responded.

And to a degree, the senior center might be right. After all, even the defending national champion Buckeyes have seemed to take a backseat to the Harbaughmania that has filled the college football offseason.

But as the questions persisted and the answers were repeated, it became clear that this wasn't merely the Spartans' way of shaking off the notion of being overlooked. Rather, it was a part of the identity that the Michigan State program has formed, one that takes pride in proving the naysayers wrong.

"Since I’ve been here, people have always talked about Michigan and about Ohio State and left us in the dust," Cook said. "So it’s nothing new for me."

"No offense to you guys, but I'm not really worried about what the media says," Calhoun added when asked about the buzz surrounding the Spartans' rivals. "I just know I need to go in and perform. At the end of the day, that's all we need to do as football players. There's always going to be hype about one team or another team. The biggest thing is how do you go into your preseason?"

If Michigan State's media day presence was any indication, the Spartans' answer to that question will be with a chip on their shoulder.

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Not only when it comes to their battles with the Buckeyes and Wolverines, but also Oregon, who handed Michigan State its first loss of the 2014 campaign. In fact, the Spartans' only losses last year came to the two teams who went on to play for the national title, which has only added fuel to Michigan State's self-started fire.

"It's another opportunity for us to go back and rewrite the history books," Calhoun said when asked about rematches with Ohio State and Oregon this season. "We can go back and still leave our mark on those games."

But while Michigan State might see itself as counted out, there are plenty of people projecting the Spartans to continue their trend of recent success. After all, MSU returns 15 combined starters from a season ago and finds itself ranked sixth overall in the recently released preseason Amway Coaches Poll.

With both the No. 1 Buckeyes and No. 5 Ducks on their slate, that would theoretically put the Spartans in control of their own destiny when it comes to making this season's College Football Playoff.

That, however, simply isn't good enough for the Spartans—at least that's what they want you to believe. Perhaps that's why Mark Dantonio's team has been able to maintain its momentum in each of the past two seasons, as nothing ever seems to be good enough for a program that thrives on being counted out.

That was most evident in one particular answer from Allen, when he was asked if the attention Ohio State and Michigan have received this offseason has bothered him.

"I don't care about it at all," Allen said. "We get to play them."

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.