🏈 Through @15 yrs as a Sparty beat writer, DFP sports journalist ranks Bama '10 as toughest opponent.

[TerryP]

and, the '15-'16 team comes in second.

_____

If you thought these top-10 lists were carefully mapped out, you’re wrong. I might even have room for another idea or two if you care to contribute. This is a great idea of Lansing State Journal Stringer Hall of Famer (and author, and former Battle Creek Enquirer sportswriter) Jeff Karzen. The best teams I have seen play against Michigan State teams during my time on the beat (to review those years again, 1998-2000 and 2003-present). I could easily do this for football and basketball, but let’s combine them and go for the elite of the elite. This is an easy category to forget someone, but I think I’ve got it sorted out:

1. Alabama football 2010: Yeah, that’s right. MSU has played several national champions in both sports over the years, yet I went with the 2011 Capital One Bowl champions as the best football or basketball team I’ve ever seen play a Michigan State team. As Alabama fans will tell you, that team had tons of injuries. And it had inconsistency. And it had a ridiculous collapse in a loss to Cam Newton and Auburn. It also had Julio Jones, Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson, Barrett Jones, D.J. Fluker, Marcell Dareus, Dont’a Hightower, Dre Kirkpatrick, etc., etc. A terrific college quarterback and leader (which seems to be Nick Saban’s ceiling at that position at Bama) in Greg McElroy. This team should have won it all going away. Keep in mind, that 2010 MSU team was legitimate. It won a share of the Big Ten, beat Wisconsin and Notre Dame, won big at Michigan, had pros on both sides of the ball. And was made to look like a Division III team by Alabama in a 49-7 humiliation. By midway through the third quarter, you just wondered how many more MSU guys were going to get knocked from the game.

2. Alabama football 2015: I would take the 2010 Alabama team over the defending national champs. Both healthy, neutral field (I mean, I suppose all the fans would be happy either way) and both playing their best football. Of course, the 2015 Alabama team won it all. And if you want to compare results, the 2015 Alabama team won 38-0 over a much better MSU team than the one the 2010 Alabama team destroyed. But again … for the 284th time … the Capital One Bowl was never competitive. This game was, for a full half. And then it got out of hand. And frankly, Jake Coker played above his level that night. So, apologies to the 2015 Alabama football team. You may be No. 1 in the nation right now, but you’re merely No. 2 on the list of opposing teams I’ve watched MSU play on this beat. Will you be OK?

(Interesting to me he has the 2014 OSU team ranked 8th ... but that's a few hell of some basketball teams he has ranked above them.)

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/.../hey-joe-top-10-best-msus-opponents/82260760/

 

[252BAMA]

No surprise. IMO, no team in the history of CFB could have beaten Bama on 01/01/2011. Greg Burks, the ref in that game, said it was the best team he ever saw. Burks was a ref in the Big 8 in the 90's and would have worked games involving the great Nebraska teams.

MWC names Greg Burks head of football officials

 

[252BAMA]

I am very proud to say I was there!

Kickoff time: 1:03 pm • End of Game: 4:15 pm • Total elapsed time: 3:12
Referee: Greg Burks • Umpire: Scott Campbell • Linesman: Al Green • Line judge: Randy Campbell • Back judge: Terry White • Field judge: Scott Gaines • Side judge: Jeff Yock • Scorer: Brian Ormiston •
Temperature: 77 • Wind: SSE 13 • Weather: Sunny
Alabama wins the 2011 Capital One Bowl
Alabama #41 Courtney Upshaw named MVP

 

[jlabit]

Yes 252BAMA, I was there for that game, also, and it was the most merciless thrashing I have ever seen on any football field in my 66 year lifetime. I really enjoyed that trip to Orlando.

 

[psychojoe]

So thorough was the thrashing that CNS was embarrassed when Eddie Lacy, coming off an injury, and the 4th RB we had used that day, ripped off a long touchdown run fairly late for the final TD.

 

[BAMAneck]

That '10 game is the only game I can recall feeling sorry for the opponent , at least that was playing BAMA . Am I correct thinking they were playing a tight end at QB by the end of the game ?

 

[TerryP]

Am I correct thinking they were playing a tight end at QB by the end of the game ?

WR, transfer from OU as a matter of fact. Nichol, Nichols, something like that ...

 

[Bamabww]

That 2011 bowl game is one of my favorite non NC games ever. We were hitting on every cylinder that game.

 

[PurlJam]

Kirk Cousins, Andrew Maxwell and Keith Nichol approves this message.

 

[rammerjammer]

Best part of that game was when Eddie Lacy busts up the middle and runs about a 50yd TD. We were up pick and Saban just throws his hands up as if he was frustrated that we were scoring.......which I know he wasn't, but Saban is a class act and didn't want to run it up on Dantonio.

 

[bama alum]

Kirk Cousins, Andrew Maxwell and Keith Nichol approves this message.

 

[PurlJam]

After the 28 second mark, You want me to do what !!!? play QB?

 

[BamaFan334]

I remember it being an ass whooping, but I never realized how much of a straight f'ing ass whooping it was. Pretty high marks for a non-Championship team, beating out one that just blanked them in a playoff game.

 

[planomateo]

That 2010 game was a great game. Wish I was at that game just to get a vibe of the fans to compare against last year. My experience with Michigan State fans is you either find those who liked Nick or the opposite. I would imagine that 2010 game there weren't nearly as outspoken as last year.

I can speak to the vibe at the game last year. The Michigan State fans were cocky as hell and they started leaving the stadium by mid 3rd quarter. They talked so much shit in the parking lot.

 

[UAgrad93]

That 2010 game was a great game. Wish I was at that game just to get a vibe of the fans to compare against last year. My experience with Michigan State fans is you either find those who liked Nick or the opposite. I would imagine that 2010 game there weren't nearly as outspoken as last year.

I can speak to the vibe at the game last year. The Michigan State fans were cocky as hell and they started leaving the stadium by mid 3rd quarter. They talked so much **** in the parking lot.

Sounded a lot like the Notre Dame fans in Miami! They bumped those gums so hard leading up to kickoff. Midway 3rd quarter they were leaving in droves.

 

[JoshB]

That team didn't even have a healthy Mark Barron that day either... like others said, there wasn't a team in college football that would have been able to compete with that team that day. They were hungry, angry, and had a MASSIVE chip on their shoulders. The beating they laid on Kirk Cousins was one of epic proportions, Upshaw's hit on the goal line was one of the most vicious hits I've ever seen (thank God he's coming to Atlanta).

 

[BamaFan334]

Sounded a lot like the Notre Dame fans in Miami! They bumped those gums so hard leading up to kickoff. Midway 3rd quarter they were leaving in droves.

Got that right. I honestly had never heard a fan base run their mouths so much in my life, and I have been to Athens (family are Georgia fans as well), Knoxville, Auburn, Oxford, Columbia, and I have never heard that much trash talk. We shut them up and couldn't find a single one after the game was over.

 

[UAgrad93]

Got that right. I honestly had never heard a fan base run their mouths so much in my life, and I have been to Athens (family are Georgia fans as well), Knoxville, Auburn, Oxford, Columbia, and I have never heard that much trash talk. We shut them up and couldn't find a single one after the game was over.

I found a couple on the walk out to the car. I told them that not every BAMA fan poisons trees or rubs their balls in your face. I then told them to be careful though!

 

[sean]

i was down in nola in 2012 for the game against lsu. the only other time i'd been around lsu fans was at the game earlier that season when they won 9-6.

they were out in force in nola, their self-proclaimed back yard, saying all kinds of stuff.

after the game, i didn't see too many and dang sure didn't hear much of anything from them. it was beautiful.

 

[psychojoe]

After the 2011 game, someone here posted some of the chat from a Sparty message board during the game. There was an epic meltdown going on.A couple of the lines stuck with me over the years.

After another vicious hit led to yet another Spartan being helped from the field, one of them said ' we've had so many people sent to the Orlando hospital that they're going to name a wing of it after us.'

After Eddie's long TD run ' their fourth string tailback just ran right through our defense, and all we could do was swing our purses at him'.