Michigan State inexplicably lost to a Tommy Rees-quarterbacked Notre Dame team, but after Connor Cook got his sea legs under him, Michigan State finished the season as one of the hottest teams in college football.
But what if their season hadn't ended with just a victory over Stanford in the Rose Bowl?
Dino thinks they could've went all the way, had the playoffs existed.
From Chris Vannini of CoachingSearch.com:
“Do I ever think about that? Yeah, I’ve thought about that,” Dantonio said at Big Ten Media Days. “I thought we’d have been national champions, to be perfectly honest with you. I think we would have had a shot to do that. Coming out of the end of the season, we were playing great football. We were believing in ourselves.
“Were we there at the beginning of the season? No, but we played our best football in November into the championship game and Rose Bowl. We were like this (going up). That wasn’t necessarily the case for some other teams.”
After watching Michigan State close the season, it's hard to argue with Dino. Michigan State as national champions? Yeah, it could've happened.
Boy, will the playoffs be fun.
