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MSU Football Now Faces One Disturbing Possibility

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MSU Football Now Faces One Disturbing Possibility


It’s a terrifying thought with six games remaining in the regular season and an active three-game losing streak, but there is a world where Michigan State does not win a game the rest of the season and finishes 3-9 overall and winless against Big Ten competition in Year 2 of the Jonathan Smith era.

MSU has only had a zero in the win column during conference play once since it played its first Big Ten football season in 1953. That happened in 1958, when the Spartans went 0-5-1 versus the conference.

Jack Vellin

Michigan State’s Jack Velling, right, runs after a catch as UCLA’s Anthony Jones attempts the tackle during the first quarter on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Looking at Michigan State’s schedule, especially through an understandably pessimistic lens following a 38-13 home loss to UCLA, there is not a game remaining that anyone should look at and think, “Yeah, they should win that.”

Here is a look at the opponents left for MSU, tiered by how likely it is for the Spartans to get a win.

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Curt Cignett

Oct 11, 2025; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti looks up at the scoreboard against the Oregon Ducks during the second quarter at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images / Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

This is probably about as much of an automatic “L” as it gets the rest of the way. Seventh-ranked Indiana won’t be that low in the rankings for long. Indiana went into Autzen Stadium and took down No. 3 Oregon, 30-20. When the AP Poll comes out, IU deserves to move up around where the Ducks were.

Also, this game was a blowout in favor of Indiana last year. The Hoosiers beat MSU 47-10 in East Lansing last year en route to a College Football Playoff appearance. With them looking even better this year and with Michigan State looking like it has actually regressed, it’s tough to imagine the Spartans having any real shot.

Michigan State’s fans look on after a UCLA touchdown during the third quarter on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Michigan

Bryce Underwood

Oct 4, 2025; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Michigan Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood (19) passes in the second half against the Wisconsin Badgers at Michigan Stadium. / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Perhaps Michigan State could have a chance against 15th-ranked Michigan on Oct. 25 because of the rivalry aspect and the game being in East Lansing, but MSU is still probably the weaker of the two power conference teams in the state right now.

The Spartans are already in the midst of their longest drought without possession of the Paul Bunyan Trophy since UM’s Mike Hart deemed Michigan State to be Michigan’s “little brother” in 2007.

On Saturday, Michigan dropped a road game to USC, 31-13. Michigan State also lost in L.A. to the Trojans a few weeks ago, 45-31. The two rivals’ other common opponent is Nebraska, who UM beat. MSU lost to the Cornhuskers last week.

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Iowa

Kaden Wetje

Oct 11, 2025; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes wide receiver Kaden Wetjen (21) takes the opening kickoff during the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ross Harried-Imagn Images / Ross Harried-Imagn Images

Another tough one will be the trip to Kinnick Stadium to take on the Hawkeyes on Nov. 22. Playing at Iowa is already tough, no matter how good or bad the Hawkeyes are.

Going off of Saturday, the Hawkeyes appear to be on the better side of things. Iowa demolished Wisconsin in Madison, 37-0, to move to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play.

Michigan State’s head coach Jonathan Smith looks on during the second quarter in the game against UCLA on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Minnesota

Drake Lindse

Oct 11, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers quarterback Drake Lindsey (5) warms up before the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Huntington Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

These three games will be the Spartans’ best shot.

Minnesota, who Michigan State will face on the road on Nov. 1, faced Purdue on Saturday and were able to grit out a 27-20 victory after outscoring the Boilermakers 14-0 in the fourth quarter. The Golden Gophers are 4-2 overall and 2-1 in Big Ten play, but both conference wins came at home during one-possession games.

Penn State

James Frankli

Oct 11, 2025; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin stands on the field following the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O’Haren-Imagn Images / Matthew O’Haren-Imagn Images

As for Penn State, if there is a team in the Big Ten that’s in free-fall mode more than the Spartans, it’s the Nittany Lions. Just like MSU, Penn State fell to 0-3 in conference play on Saturday after losing to Northwestern, 22-21, in Happy Valley.

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To make matters worse, PSU starting quarterback Drew Allar is out for the remainder of the season due to an injury he suffered against the Wildcats. Michigan State hosts the Nittany Lions on Nov. 15.

Maryland

Malik Washingto

Oct 11, 2025; College Park, Maryland, USA; Maryland Terrapins quarterback Malik Washington (7) throws from the pocket during the first half against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at SECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

Maryland got off to a 4-0 start this year, but has lost its last two games, both of which were at home. Its most recent game was a 34-31 defeat versus Nebraska. The Terrapins had a seven-point lead entering the fourth quarter, but the Cornhuskers scored all 10 of the points in the final 15 minutes and took the lead on a touchdown with 1:08 left.

MSU will play Maryland at Ford Field in Detroit during its regular season finale on Nov. 29.

Aidan Chile

Michigan State’s quarterback Aiden Chiles leaves the field after the Spartans loss to UCLA on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Keep up with all our content when you follow the official Spartan Nation page on Facebook, Spartan Nation, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and be sure to share your thoughts on when MSU’s next win might arrive when you join our community group, Go Green Go White, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE. Don’t forget to give us a follow on X @MSUSpartansOnSI as well.



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Police say Oakland County teen missing, endangered

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Police say Oakland County teen missing, endangered


Authorities are asking for the public’s assistance to find a missing Oakland County teen who is considered endangered.

Adrianna Smith, 15, was last seen in the 3500 block of South Fenton Road, just south of the city of Holly in northwest Oakland County, according to Michigan State Police.

She is believed to have left her home in a 2002 Jeep Liberty with an adult male, possibly a man named Derek Girtman, MSP said.

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Smith is described as having blonde hair and green eyes. She is about 5 feet, 7 inches tall and 160 pounds. She has one tattoo above her right knee and another on her left ankle.

Anyone with information about Adrianna’s whereabouts is asked to call 911 or the MSP Metro North Post at either (800) 495-4677 or (989) 370-8926.



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US supreme court sides with Michigan in its fight to shut down ageing pipeline

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US supreme court sides with Michigan in its fight to shut down ageing pipeline


The supreme court on Wednesday sided with Michigan in ruling that the state’s lawsuit seeking to shut down a section of an ageing pipeline beneath a Great Lakes channel will stay in state court.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for a unanimous court that the Enbridge energy company waited too long to try to move the case to federal court.

The case is part of a messy legal dispute about a pipeline that has moved crude oil and natural gas liquids between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario, since 1953.

Dana Nessel, Michigan’s attorney general, sued in state court in June 2019 seeking to void the easement that allows Enbridge to operate a 4.5-mile (6.4km) section of pipeline under the straits of Mackinac, which link Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Nessel, a Democrat, won a restraining order shutting down the pipeline from Ingham county judge James Jamo in June 2020, although Enbridge was allowed to continue operations after meeting safety requirements.

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Enbridge moved the lawsuit into federal court in 2021, arguing it affects US and Canadian trade. But a three-judge panel from the sixth US circuit court of appeals sent the case back to Jamo in June 2024, finding that the company missed a 30-day deadline to change jurisdictions.

The pipeline at issue is called Line 5. Concerns over the section beneath the straits rupturing and causing a catastrophic spill have been growing since 2017, when Enbridge engineers revealed they had known about gaps in the section’s protective coating since 2014. A boat anchor damaged the section in 2018, intensifying fears of a spill.

The Michigan department of natural resources under Gretchen Whitmer, the state’s governor, revoked the straits easement for Line 5 in 2020. Enbridge filed a separate federal lawsuit challenging the revocation.

Enbridge won a ruling from a federal judge blocking the move, but Whitmer, a Democrat, has appealed to the sixth US circuit court of appeals. In March, the supreme court rejected Whitmer’s appeal claiming that she couldn’t be sued in federal court.

It was unclear how the federal ruling blocking Whitmer’s revocation attempt would affect Nessel’s case in state court. The company said in a statement that the judge in the Whitmer case had already decided federal regulators, not the state, are responsible for Line 5 safety and they had found no issues that would warrant shutting it down.

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Enbridge also is seeking permits to encase the section of pipeline beneath the straits in a protective tunnel. The Michigan public service commission granted the relevant permits in 2023, but a coalition of environmental groups and Michigan tribes has filed a lawsuit seeking to void state permits for the tunnel. The state supreme court is weighing that case.

Enbridge also needs approval from the US army corps of engineers and the Michigan department of environment, Great Lakes and energy.

The pipeline is at the center of a separate legal dispute in Wisconsin as well. A federal judge in Madison last summer gave Enbridge three years to shut down part of Line 5 that runs across the Bad River Band of Lake Superior’s reservation. The company has appealed against the shutdown order to the seventh US circuit court of appeals, but it started work in February to reroute the line around the reservation.

The Bad River Band and environmental groups have filed a state lawsuit seeking to halt the work, arguing regulators have underestimated the damage the reroute construction will cause. That case also is pending.



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Hockey roundup: Three Michigan State recruits at U18 worlds; Bruins top Sabres

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Hockey roundup: Three Michigan State recruits at U18 worlds; Bruins top Sabres


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Three Michigan State recruits will represent Team USA at the world U18 hockey championships in Bratislava and Trencin, Slovakia.

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The U.S. opens against Czechia on Wednesday (10 a.m., The Hockey Network).

The future Spartans are: defenseman Nick Bogas (Royal Oak), defenseman Tyler Martyniuk (Washington Township) and forward Brooks Rogowski (Brighton).

Other local commits include: defenseman Abe Barnett (University of Michigan) and goalie Luke Carrithers (Western Michigan).

Team USA’s head coach is Nick Fohr (Dexter) with Kevin Porter (Northville) and Dan Darrow (Livonia) among the assistant coaches.

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The tournament features 10 countries with the final scheduled for May 2.

Bruins tie series with Sabres

The visiting Boston Bruins scored three second-period goals and held off a late Buffalo Sabres rally to post a 4-2 win on Tuesday and even their Eastern Conference quarterfinal playoff series at one victory apiece.

Viktor Arvidsson scored in the last two periods, giving the Bruins 1-0 and 4-0 leads. Morgan Geekie and Pavel Zacha also lit the lamp for Boston, which heads home for Game 3 of the best-of-seven series on Thursday.

Jonathan Aspirot, Casey Mittelstadt and David Pastrnak each dished out two assists for the Bruins, and Jeremy Swayman made 34 saves.

Bowen Byram and Peyton Krebs scored as Buffalo climbed within 4-2 in the closing minutes.

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Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed four goals on 19 shots before Alex Lyon entered in relief following Arvidsson’s second marker, which came just 16 seconds into the third period.

Buffalo had a 36-26 shot advantage, including 20-8 in the third period, but its power play went 0-for-5. Boston finished 1-for-6 on the man advantage.

The physical contest featured 47 penalty minutes for each team.

Following a scoreless opening period, the Bruins took over in the second, scoring on three of their 11 shots against Luukkonen.

Arvidsson broke the deadlock 4:54 into the middle frame, taking Aspirot’s lob pass in ahead of the defense and beating Luukkonen five-hole with a backhander from the left circle.

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A gaffe by Luukkonen helped Boston double its lead with 3:31 left in the period, as Geekie’s high backhanded dump from the far side of center ice eluded him over the glove.

The Bruins’ power play got in on the action 1:41 later. After Geekie’s one- handed keep-in at the blue line extended the play, Zacha tipped in Pastrnak’s shot from the top of the right circle while stationed in the bumper position.

Arvidsson made it 4-0 early in the third, prompting Sabres coach Lindy Ruff to change goaltenders. Aspirot banked a long feed off the boards to set up the play, leading Arvidsson down the left wing to score on a 2-on-1 rush with Zacha.

The Sabres struck twice in a 1:14 span to make things interesting. Byram accepted Beck Malenstyn’s back pass for a wrister from the top of the right circle to break Swayman’s shutout bid with 6:06 left.

Krebs soon made it 4-2, batting down and scoring the rebound of a Rasmus Dahlin point shot that caromed off the post and back into the crease.

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Detroit Red Wings received six A’s in The Detroit News’ final grades for the 2025-2026 season.

Grades and key takeaways for Finnie, Gibson, Seider, Larkin, Raymond and DeBrincat after the Wings’ late collapse.



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