Spartans ditch Rather Hall for the Alamo vs. Texas Tech

Michigan State (6-6/4-4) will play Texas Tech (8-4/5-3) in the Alamo Bowl on January 2 at 9 pm EST. Michigan State ended up #57 by Jeff Sagarin. My guess is that Texas Tech will start out as an 8 or 9 point favorite.

How did Texas Tech do this year? They were 1-3 against ranked opponents, with their lone victory at #15 Nebraska, 31-10. Six times the Red Raiders scored more than 40 points. Only three times did they score less than 30. Yes, a Michigan State and its bleeding secondary without Chris L. Rucker and who knows who else has its hands full with the definition of the spread in TTU.

Texas Tech Red Raiders (#31 Sagarin):

DATE	OPPONENT	W-L (CONF)	RESULT
9/05	North Dakota	1-0 (0-0)	W 38-13
9/12	Rice	2-0 (0-0)	W 55-10
9/19	@ No. 2 Texas	2-1 (0-1)	L 34-24
9/26	@ No. 17 Houston	2-2 (0-1)	L 29-28
10/03	New Mexico	3-2 (0-1)	W 48-28
10/10	Kansas State	4-2 (1-1)	W 66-14
10/17	@ No. 15 Nebraska	5-2 (2-1)	W 31-10
10/24	Texas A&M	5-3 (2-2)	L 52-30
10/31	Kansas	6-3 (3-2)	W 42-21
11/14	@ No. 19 Oklahoma State	6-4 (3-3)	L 24-17
11/21	Oklahoma	7-4 (4-3)	W 41-13
11/28	vs. Baylor	8-4 (5-3)	W 20-13

As for the Big Ten? Iowa did get the BCS bid, and correctly so as they defeated JoePa. The ES digs a majority of the matchups for the Big Ten, but MSU's stint vs TTU is the worst of the bunch. He ranks the Big Ten's chances in each game below.

• Ohio State vs Oregon/Rose-BCS. Ohio State 2 of 5.
  
• Iowa vs Ga Tech/Orange-BCS. Iowa 4 of 5.
  
• Penn State vs. LSU/Capital One. Joe Pa 3 of 5.
  
• Wisconsin vs. Miami-FL/Champs Sports. Wisky 3 of 5.
  
• Northwestern vs Auburn/Outback. NW 2 of 5.
  
• MSU vs Texas Tech/Alamo. MSU 1 of 5.
  
• Minnesota vs Iowa State/Insight. Minnesota 3 of 5.
  

Here is the final AP regular season poll. Notable: Central Michigan cracked the poll at #25. And, TCU is bumming - if Texas doesn't make that last second kick or if Nebraska forces McCoy into running the ball for another second on the last play... then TCU goes to the BCS Title game. What pisses the ES off is how everyone is calling the BCS Championship as the "National Championship." Bullshit, call it what it is.

RK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS	PVS
1	Alabama (58)	13-0	1498	2
2	Texas (2)	13-0	1425	3
3	TCU	12-0	1376	4
4	Cincinnati	12-0	1302	5
5	Florida	12-1	1253	1
6	Boise State	13-0	1237	6
7	Oregon	10-2	1128	7
8	Ohio State	10-2	1080	8
9	Georgia Tech	11-2	952	12
10	Iowa	10-2	925	9
11	Penn State	10-2	883	10
12	Virginia Tech	9-3	866	11
13	LSU	9-3	686	15
14	Miami (FL)	9-3	660	17
15	Brigham Young	10-2	658	16
16	Oregon State	8-4	524	13
17	Pittsburgh	9-3	514	14
18	West Virginia	9-3	447	24
19	Stanford	8-4	390	23
20	Nebraska	9-4	371	21
21	Oklahoma State	9-3	349	22
22	Arizona	8-4	323	NR
23	Utah	9-3	151	NR
24	Wisconsin	9-3	133	NR
25	Central Michigan	11-2	64	NR

• Dropped from rankings: Houston 18, California 19, USC 20, Clemson 25

• Others receiving votes: East Carolina 53, Houston 50, Texas Tech 44, Northwestern 35, Clemson 31, California 14, Mississippi 14, USC 8, Oklahoma 7, North Carolina 7, Tennessee 6, Missouri 4, Montana 1, Georgia 1

Michigan State's bowl fate on Dec 6; Izzo passes Heathcote

What is the Spartans' football fate? Well, MSU's possible travels outside of the Detroit Pizza Bowl certainly improved this weekend with losses by #9 Pitt and #12 Oklahoma State, making it more likely for a pair of Big Ten teams to make it to the BCS: Ohio State and either Iowa or Joe Pa (if JoePa makes it over Iowa, it is complete robbery, with Iowa crushing the Old Man in Happy Valley earlier this year). Also, expect two other BCS at-large births to go to undefeated #5 Boise State and undefeated #4 TCU.
The only thing that could upset this ship is if Nebraska defeats Texas in the Big 12 title game. Note: If Pitt beats undefeated Cincinnati next week for the BCS bid from the Big Least, Cincy will be hung out to dry; the same with potential upsets of Oregon State over Oregon in the Pac 10, or of Clemson over Georgia Tech in the ACC - expect only one bid from either of those conferences.

Here is last week's bowl forecast from ESPN, which remains the same after this past weekend.

Assuming a Texas win over Nebraska in the Big 12 title game:

BCS Title: Ala/Fla (SEC) vs Texas (Big 12)
Fiesta: Boise St (WAC/at large) vs Iowa/Joe Pa (Big 10/at large)
Sugar: Ala/Fla (SEC/at large) vs Pitt/Cincy (Big Least)
Orange: Georgia Tech/Clemson (ACC) vs TCU (MWC/at large)
Rose: Oregon/Oregon State (Pac 10) vs Ohio State (Big 10)

Bowl Selection show is slated to be broadcast at 8 pm EST next Sunday night, Dec 6, on Fox. Everyone is still projecting a Michigan State vs Texas Tech matchup in the Alamo Bowl. If so, that would be played on January 2 at 9 pm on ESPN. And, with that spread offense, you can expect TTU will be licking its chops with a hemorrhaging, disappointing Spartan secondary.

Izzo passes Heathcote; UNC up next
And, in case you missed it, Michigan State crushed UMass last night, 106-68, to improve to 5-1 overall and give head coach Tom Izzo his 341st victory. Izzo surpassed Heathcote for most wins as a coach in the school's illustrious basketball history. Next up? Rematch of the National Title game to be played down in Chapel Hill, with a MSU-UNC tipoff on Tuesday at 9 pm on ESPN.