Of the potential scenarios, which BCS National Championship matchup would create the greatest gag reflex across the college football landscape?
Le'Veon Bell and Michigan State erased another barrier to an undefeated season by rolling past Michigan on Saturday. Could the Spartans be a sleeper BCS contender?WEEKLY WOLVERINE WATCH
So Michigan lost to Michigan State for the third straight time, the Wolverines' first three-game losing streak in the series since 1965-67.
So Rich Rodriguez has as many losses against the Spartans in three years as Lloyd Carr did in 13 years. Carr went 10-3 against Michigan State from 1995 to 2007.
It's over. Michigan State's a good team.
Now the Wolverines can't let this thing fall apart. And they don't even have to beat No. 15 Iowa this week.
In 2008, Michigan started 2-2, then lost five straight and seven of their last eight to finish 3-9. In 2009, Michigan started 4-0, then finished the season on a five-game losing streak, dropping seven of their last eight, to finish 5-7.
This wasn't a national title season for the Wolverines or a Big Ten championship season. They need to be competitive this week - they hung right with the Hawkeyes in a 30-28 loss last season - and then take care of the softer middle of their conference schedule. After Iowa, Michigan gets Penn State, Illinois and Purdue before finishing against Wisconsin and Ohio State.
Rodriguez at Michigan is 2-7 against ranked teams, but an upset against the Hawkeyes isn't impossible. But Saturday's loss absolutely cannot be the start of Michigan losing six of their last seven.
-- Doug Lesmerises
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Thirteen unbeaten teams remain. Of those 13, five regular-season games are on the schedule between the 13 teams, as well as the Big 12 title game, which still could be an unbeaten showdown.
At the most, the season could end with six unbeaten teams, though obviously that won't happen. Probably.
Yet of the potential scenarios, which BCS National Championship matchup would create the greatest gag reflex across the college football landscape and cause experts to rush, say, a two-loss Alabama team into the title game?
Boise State-TCU? Missouri-Nevada? Auburn-Oklahoma State?
Nope.
Ohio State-Michigan State.
The South would secede and the Pac-10 teams would send Arnold Schwarzenegger on a mission to the Midwest before that would be allowed to occur, even if the Buckeyes and Spartans finished as the country's only undefeated teams.
This is the last time something like that could ever happen, with the Big Ten adding a championship game in 2011. The SEC, ACC and Big 12 already play title games and the Pac-10, Big East, Mountain West and WAC teams all face each other during the regular season.
The idea of the Buckeyes and Spartans both ending the season 12-0 is both tantalizing and disappointing, a potentially heightened replay of the 2002 season when both Ohio State and Iowa finished the Big Ten season at 8-0, though the Hawkeyes had a nonconference loss to Iowa State. Ohio State entered that bowl season ranked No. 2 and beat No. 1 Miami for the national title, while No. 3 Iowa lost to No. 5 USC in the Orange Bowl.
But we never saw what could have been a classic Big Ten game.
The Spartans haven't finished a season without a loss since going 9-0-1 in 1966 and are battling the reality that they are ... the Spartans.
Michigan State hasn't exactly built up a big-game reputation in recent years, and instead seems to tease the fans every year. Maybe this is a tease. After big wins over Wisconsin and Michigan, facing Illinois this week looks like it could be a trap game.
While the Buckeyes have had double-digit wins in seven of the last eight season, Michigan State has won 10 games just twice in its history, in 1999 and 1965. At 6-0, with a manageable schedule ahead, it certainly looks like a third 10-win season is a possibility.
Will the Buckeyes get to 12-0? I've believed it since the preseason and still think it today. Could the Spartans get there, too? Going to Iowa on Oct. 30 is the toughest game on the calendar, but the Spartans seem like solid favorites in their other five remaining matchups.
At the halfway point of the season, this looks like a season that could end up with multiple undefeated teams. As I wrote before, Nebraska's path in the Big 12 isn't daunting, and the Cornhuskers looked like they might be ready to roll with the way they beat Kansas State last week.
I'd bet the TCU-Utah winner runs the table in the Mountain West and Boise State gets through the rest of the WAC to finish without a regular-season loss for the fourth time in five years.
It's doubtful that an SEC team emerges unscathed, with LSU and Auburn the only candidates. Oregon, while impressive, has to watch out for what could be a very frustrated USC team that will host the Ducks on Oct. 30.
With six games down and six to go, the guess is that Ohio State finds its way to 12-0 and then finding the right opponent for the Buckeyes is a mess.
Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio, one of Jim Tressel's best friends, could be sitting 250 miles from Columbus, raising his hand, saying, "What about us?"