Latest AP Poll shows even tougher path ahead for Michigan State football

The path ahead for Michigan State football is proving to be even tougher after the release of the new AP Top 25.

The latest edition of the AP Poll was released on Tuesday and there are a lot of teams featured that are on the Spartans’ schedule. Michigan State football is scheduled to face four of the top eight teams in the country. That is unheard of no matter what team you support and the conference they are in.

Here is the updated AP Top 25 Poll:

🚨NEW: Week 2 College Football AP Pollhttps://t.co/aosdJBAuZo pic.twitter.com/jv3Z0v09RU

— On3 (@On3sports) September 5, 2023

As you will notice, Michigan State will face (8) Washington, (2) Michigan, (5) Ohio State, and (7) Penn State. Let’s take a quick look and see how all of those teams fared in Week 1.

No. 8 Washington

Michigan State’s Week 3 opponent kicked their season off at home against Boise State which is a Group of Five school, but one of the most respected in the country. So much so that Boise received some preseason AP Poll votes. To put it lightly, Washington dominated this game. The Huskies were favored by 14 points but still won 56-19. I thought this was going to be a tight game, but the Huskies dominated from start to finish. Spartan fans’ favorite opposing quarterback (joking) Michael Penix Jr. threw for 450 yards and five touchdowns. It could’ve been more but he was pulled from the game early. Strap in, Spartan fans, Week 3 could be tough.

No. 2 Michigan

The Michigan Wolverines also had a solid showing against their Week 1 opponent. Michigan beat East Carolina 30-3 in a game they were in full control of from the start. This game did raise one question for me about this Wolverine team. How good are their backups? Like Washington, Michigan also pulled their starters early in this game. However, after doing so they struggled to score any points. Shockingly, Michigan only scored seven points in the second half. Michigan fans will tell you it doesn’t matter because the game was already won. That may be true, but if your backups struggle that much against East Carolina, how well will they do against Big Ten competition? I’d be a little nervous if I were a Michigan fan.

No. 5 Ohio State

Ohio State struggled the most in Week 1 out of these four teams. Don’t get me wrong, there was never any chance they were going to lose this game. But only beating Indiana 23-3 does not impress me even if it was a road game. Indiana was picked by many to be the worst team in the East division, so you would think a title contender would win by more than 20. This was starting quarterback Kyle McCord’s first game as a starter, so I imagine he will grow more with experience. Time will tell as the Buckeyes head to South Bend to play Notre Dame in a couple of weeks.

No. 7 Penn State

Penn State did exactly what they were supposed to do against their Week 1 opponent and then some. Penn State played West Virginia at home and won convincingly 38-15. The Nittany Lions also seem to have struck gold with freshman quarterback Drew Aller. He looked like the real deal to me, going 21-for-29 for 335 yards and three touchdowns. In my opinion, Penn State looks like the team to beat in the Big Ten so far.

Mel Tucker and Michigan State have their work cut out for them this year. I, however, am excited about these opportunities in front of us. By no means do I think we will win each game, but imagine if we were able to win just two of these games? The hype in East Lansing would be back after a likely great season and we will once again have some momentum we can build on.