Big Ten Championship Game Appearance Proves Michigan State Is Here to Stay

INDIANAPOLIS — With all that Michigan State has achieved, and is on the verge of accomplishing this weekend, one would think head coach Mark Dantonio would be excited by the idea of the Spartans being on the cusp of being considered one of college football's elite.

Right?

Wrong.

"I hope not," Dantonio answered Friday when asked if a win in Saturday's Big Ten Championship Game and subsequent playoff appearance would make Michigan State one of the "blue bloods" of college football.

Unfortunately for the ninth-year Spartans head coach, he won't have any say in the matter.

And quite frankly, as far as any hopes of Michigan State continuing to fly under the radar are concerned, it's already too late.

While Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh may have dominated the offseason, and Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer's team remained college football's front-runner through the first 11 weeks of the 2015 season, it's neither Michigan nor Ohio State representing the Big Ten East in the Circle City for this year's conference championship game.

Rather, it's the program that's been the most consistent in the league—if not, all the country—in the past five years that will be playing Iowa in Lucas Oil Stadium this weekend in a de facto play-in game for the College Football Playoff.

For the winner of the matchup between the No. 4 Hawkeyes and No. 5 Spartans, Saturday night could be considered a crowning of sorts.

But in the case of Michigan State, its status as one of college football's top programs has already been established.

Having become the first coach in conference history to put together five 11-win seasons in a six-year span, Dantonio has spent the last half-decade pushing the Spartans to the forefront of the sport's landscape.

Michigan State's legitimacy has been solidified by consecutive major bowl wins (2014 Rose Bowl, 2015 Cotton Bowl), with Saturday marking the Spartans' third conference championship game appearance in the past five years.

"Mark has done a wonderful job. He's built a tremendous football program," Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. "It's impressive."

So if Michigan State's recent accomplishments speak for themselves, why is its head coach afraid to acknowledge the larger meaning of its culmination?

Because it's that mindset that got the Spartans to this point in the first place.

Michigan State's affinity for constantly having a "chip on its shoulder" has been well-documented, almost to a point that's become humorous. But for the Spartans, especially this season, their identity is no laughing matter and has been rooted in what's arguably been Dantonio's edgiest team yet.

"I would describe our personality as very determined," Dantonio said. "Very determined. Just a mindset in terms of how we're going to go about our business. Doesn't mean we're going to succeed, but we're going to be ready, we're going to be focused and we're going to prepare."

That's come with a senior class led by quarterback Connor Cook, defensive end Shilique Calhoun and offensive lineman Jack Allen, decorated players who opted to return to East Lansing for one last season following last year's 11-2 campaign.

Despite all of the talent it returned, Michigan State found itself written off in favor of the defending national champion Buckeyes and overshadowed by the rejuvenated Wolverines, making the Spartans a surprising afterthought given all they had already accomplished.

"Being at MSU, we're always overlooked. It's normal," Allen said at Big Ten media days in July. "I don't really care about it at all. We get to play them."

Darron Cummings/Associated Press/Associated Press

Allen's thoughts on the Spartans' standing in comparison to Ohio State and Michigan turned out to be prophetic.

Despite leading against neither opponent with time left in regulation, Michigan State pulled off last-second upset wins over both the Wolverines and Buckeyes, each coming in dramatic fashion. Even with an early-November slip-up against Nebraska, the Spartans controlled their own destiny in the Big Ten East in the final week of the regular season, punching their ticket to Indianapolis with a 55-16 beatdown of the Nittany Lions.

"It's a game. I mean, really, it's a game," Dantonio said of the ups and downs of the 2015 season, which has seen Michigan State survive no shortage of close calls. "I think you have to be able to accept losing as well as you accept winning. I believe you have to be able to do that."

Fortunately for the Spartans, it's the winning that's become more second nature.

With a combined 35-4 record in the past three seasons, different circumstances—no playoff in 2013, losses to Oregon and Ohio State in 2014—have interfered with Michigan State's consistency and prevented the Spartans from staying in national title contention in each of the past two years. This weekend, that changes, with a win over Iowa making MSU a lock for this season's four-team playoff.

"We're concentrating on winning the Big Ten championship," Dantonio said. "Whatever else shakes out, which I'm sure it's going to for one of these two teams, then we'll deal with that at that point in time."

Whether he wants to admit it, those upcoming challenges could include a shift in the perception of Michigan State as the gritty underdog to one of the kings of college football. In fact, based on where the Spartans find themselves this weekend, you could make the argument that change has already taken place.

But that won't stop Dantonio from trying to change your mind.

"I hope we stay grounded in who we are as a program," he said. "I hope we keep the same attitude that we must overachieve. There's no question in my mind that we must all overachieve for us to be successful, regardless of our level of abilities."

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.