RJ Young
FOX Sports National College Football Analyst
This isn’t your average college football ranking.
My Ultimate 136 is a set of rankings that is fluid, but it’s my job to look ahead and make a claim for all FBS teams based on what I know and why I know it. Here are the three pressing questions I started by asking when putting together this list:
- Who do I think is good?
- Why do I think they’re good?
- What are the chances they will finish above or below my expectations?
Here is a look at where Michigan State lands in my Ultimate 136.
Michigan State ranking: 97
Last year’s ranking: 82
Top player: WR Nick Marsh: Set MSU true freshman records last season in receiving yards (649) and receptions (41).
[Michigan State’s 2025 schedule]
RJ’s take: If QB Aidan Chiles and WR Nick Marsh can play the two-man game where Chiles throws for an average of 250 a game – but 150 are to Marsh – 4-0 is there for Jonathan Smith’s Spartans. The toughest games on its schedule this season are when Penn State and Michigan come to East Lansing — no Ohio State, no Oregon.
The Spartans receive an early opportunity to throw down a marker at USC on Sept. 20, a program it beat the last time the Greeks clashed in 1990 – a 17-16 Sun Bowl victory for the men of Leonidas over Hector’s men of Troy. Sure, there’s Boston College in the non-conference before USC, but that’s it.
The margins are thin and the Michigan State race car isn’t that fast. But there’s lap time left to find, and who knows just who they could make flinch in wheel-to-wheel combat? Send it, Spartans.
Michigan State Win Total Odds: Over 5.5 (-138) Under 5.5 (+112)
Have an issue with my rankings? Think your alma mater is too low, or your school’s rival is too high? Get at me on X, @RJ_Young, and I’ll select my favorite tweets and respond to them in a future article.
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him at @RJ_Young.
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