Football Players in Rather Hall Fight?

Quickly posting this as I've gotta get to dinner. The State News is reporting that a fight in Rather Hall that took place at 9:30 Sunday night could've involved MSU football players. The mob, apparently 15 to 20 people in size, stormed in to Rather and hit about 7 people, some of whom were females. Hopefully whoever was involved, athlete or not, will be punished accordingly. Mike Valenti on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit stated today that sources told him swift and severe action was going to be taken by Head Coach Mark Dantonio and the staff. More on this as I find out about it.

MSU vs. Valparaiso - @ 12pm, BTN

Not going to be a cakewalk to Tom Izzo's record-tying 340th win as Spartan basketball head coach today when MSU hosts Valpo at the Bres. Valpo may be 1-2, but they look to me like one of those teams, like GVSU from a couple years ago, that could sneak in close due to some hot 3-point shooting. Valpo's only senior, Brandon McPherson, went 4/6 from deep against UNC to keep the Crusaders within 11 at the buzzer. McPherson also went 5/6 behind the arc in Valpo's last game, albeit against Indiana-South Bend, to give the Crusaders their first win of the season. Raymar Morgan will be a gametime decision.

As an aside, Jud Heathcote and Earvin "Magic" Johnson will both be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame later tonight. Izzo will take a plane to Kansas City for the induction immediately after the game ends today. At least that way the team won't have to deal with an unhappy Tom if things don't go to plan.

Quick Bowl Projections

Well, after yesterday, I think all of us Spartan fans should feel even half-lucky to be able to claim a third-straight bowl appearance. That finish was really indicative of a team that doesn't deserve to play in the post-season, but the extra practice, and money coming into the school, are probably worth the trip. CBS Sports was pretty quick to release their bowl projections after yesterday's action, and have MSU going to the Alamo Bowl.

I'm a little confused as to who picks when, as I always figured it went 1) Rose, 2) Capital One, 3) Outback, 4) Alamo, 5) Champs Sports, 6) Insight. However, the CBS bowl projections note that there can be a switch between the 4/5, the Alamo and Champs Sports, and they think that will land the Spartans in San Antonio, while the Wildcats would go to Orlando. That would make sense, since Northwestern played in the Valero Alamo Bowl last year, and MSU was in the Champs Sports bowl only two years ago. The flexible selection between the two bowls is also the only way to explain how a two game difference in the overall standings could be made up.

MSU would also likely finish ahead of Minnesota, who CBS has going to the Insight Bowl. Michigan State is probably a bigger draw for the higher bowl (no offense Gopher fans), and finished 4-4 in conference, while Minnesota ended 3-5. Therefore, despite the head-to-head loss, the Spartans would have the upper hand here.

The real wildcard is whether the Big Ten gets two teams into the BCS. Iowa and Penn State will be competing with the likes of Boise State, Pitt/Cincinnati, and Oklahoma State for an at-large spot. There seems to be a fairly universal split as to who is more likely to go between the Hawkeyes and Nittany Lions, but there also seems to be universal agreement that their ability to draw a big crowd for the big money game will put one of those two schools in. You may not like that idea, and it might be unfair, but the Big Ten's ability to put butts in the seats trumps their recent failures when it comes to bowl selection. Finally, if Ohio State is the only team to go to the BCS, then MSU would likely play in the Insight Bowl, and Minnesota in the Little Caesar's Pizza! Pizza! bowl, which would likely love to have a Big Ten team in its first year of sponsorship.

Spartans - 75, Gonzaga Bulldogs - 71

Close win, but a few perks came along with it. Mainly the second half play of Durrell Summers, and the gutsy comeback by Raymar Morgan after a nasty ankle sprain. 20 turnovers, the far majority taking place in the 1st half, was just silly, and it's a miracle Gonzaga wasn't up by more than 5 at the break.

Podcast Monday - 11/16

A less sick version of the Sparty Sports podcast comes to light today, as I tough on MSU football, hockey, and men's and women's basketball. The Red Wings and Lions are also discussed, but I try to keep the Lions talk to a minimum, as I'm not in the business of torturing my listeners.

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Last Week/This Week

Last Week = W/24-14 over Northwestern

Beating a solid NU team at home is just what the doctor ordered for the Spartans confidence heading into a big matchup with Iowa. Allowing Michigan to take them to overtime, and beating a clearly awful Illinois team, was probably not doing enough to boost this team's expectations. Beating a Wildcats team whose QB, Mike Kafka, had 291 passing, and had looked good in their last Big Ten game in West Lafayette, certainly did what the two prior wins could not.

In what was clearly a battle of two halves, MSU's passing game is what took center stage in the latter. After going down 7-0 in the first half, two long touchdown passes to Blair White, one of 22 yards, and the other of 47, really got MSU going in the third quarter. MSU's running game also looked a lot better this week, as neither of the team's primary rushers, true freshmen Larry Caper and Edwin Baker, fumbled the ball. Each of those two also averaged 3.9 and 3.8 yards per carry respectively, helping open things up for Kirk Cousins in that decisive second half.

This Week = vs. Iowa, @ 7pm - Big Ten Network

It certainly didn't look like it was a possibility at the beginning of the season, but MSU has now set themselves up with the chance to make a Big Ten title run. That run will hinge on a victory every week, but the huge test as to whether the Spartans are even worthy of that discussion is going to take place this Saturday in East Lansing.

Iowa comes in having some impressive victories, but some mind-boggling struggles as well. Great road wins at Wisconsin and Penn State are slightly marred by home struggles against FCS member Northern Iowa and Sun Belt team Arkansas State. To say the Hawkeyes are tough to figure out is an understatement, but the leadership of quarterback Ricky Stanzi cannot be questioned. His sub-60% completion percentage, and 11-8 touchdown-to-interception ratio isn't perfect, but he doesn't make the killer mistakes that cost his team the game in crunchtime. Adam Robinson has also looked good as a true freshman, getting playing time due to the injuries of a few ahead of him on the depth chart at the beginning of the year.

If MSU is to win this game, it'll have to be in the air. Iowa's defense is more stout than others, but Kirk Cousins has the weapons at wide receiver and tight end to confuse the Hawkeye secondary. Players like Tony Moeaki might give Greg Jones and the MSU defense fits, but Chris L. Rucker's inspired play recently will certainly help on the defensive end of things. The night crowd will probably be pretty pumped as well, so there will definitely be no lack of adrenaline on the Spartan sidelines.

Twice is Nice!

It's been so long since us Spartans won two-in-a-row over Michigan that many of us weren't even alive to witness the prior phenomenon. Duffy Daugherty was the coach of MSU back in the 60's, when the program last won, not only strings of victories against the Wolverines, but national titles as well. With that in mind, how did Mark Dantonio, in only his third season at the helm, get the Spartans to a point they haven't been to against their in-state rival in 42 years?

• No Staff Turnover - When Mark Dantonio arrived in East Lansing, he brought a great crop of assistant coaches along with him. For instance, both offensive coordinator Don Treadwell, and defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi, have been on Dantonio's staff since he arrived from Cincinnati and brought both coaches along with him. Former MSU quarterback Dan Enos has been particularly important in the recruiting realm.
  
• Recruiting - Dantonio's recruiting emphasis has been within Michigan and Ohio, and it's paid off in spades. Rivals.com ranked the MSU 2009 recruiting class 17th in the nation, and the 2010 class is 28th as of this posting. In-state kids like William Gholston, who may have practically be conceded to Michigan under the John L. Smith regime, have been coveted since day one by Dantonio and his recruiting staff.
  
• Emphasis - When it comes to the U-M game, Dantonio has made it a priority every season. The clock he had put up counting down to  the game didn't seem to make its intended point in 2007, but it's worked these last two years. Having been an MSU assistant under Nick Saban from 1995-1999, and then working as a defensive coordinator at Ohio State during their 2002 national championship season, Dantonio understands Spartan Nation's special disposition towards the Wolverines.
  

Hey, Hey Hockeytown?

My latest, and first on this site, gripe has to do with the sudden national attention that is being given to Detroit being considered "Hockeytown." There was a Sports Illustrated article about a year ago that proclaimed Minneapolis the new Hockeytown, and, now with the All-Star game having been in Montreal, yet another SI article proclaimed Montreal Hockeytown.

The crazy thing about this is that national pundits seem to believe that the "Hockeytown" moniker is something that is easily transferable, and Detroit should just give it up. This outlook couldn't be any sillier. "Hockeytown" is a trademarked name owned by Illitch Holdings, or, in other words, Mike Illitch, the owner of the team. In other words, the City of Detroit does NOT own the rights to the name (someone may want to tell the mayor of Pittsburgh). If another city wants to call themselves "Puckcity" or "Checksville" (bad I know) that's fine, but it's a trademarked name, and Illitch did it first, so he clearly has the rights to it.

Detroit hockey fans haven't been out in full force at the Joe lately, but, really, who can blame them entirely? I know the Wings are the defending Cup champs, I know they're one of the best teams in the league this year, but the people of Metro Detroit don't exactly have the funds to be spending upwards of $50 a seat on pro sports. Michigan State was supposed to have a 2009 regular season game at Ford Field against Western Michigan, but that was moved back to Spartan Stadium due to the economy. It would clearly be easier to sell seats for the game if they were stuffed into season ticket packages of Spartan fans. The Red Wings put a great product out on the ice, but it's not a cheap one.

I'm going to the game on February 25th against San Jose, my first wings game in a long while. I will recognize that I'm in Hockeytown, not entirely because Detroit deserves to be that above any other locale, but because of the TM next to that logo at center ice.