247Sports' Josh Pate: Michigan State Football a 'Tier 5' Program in Big Ten

247Sports' college football aficionado Josh Pate ranks the Spartans in the lower half of Big Ten football programs...

Big Ten Football is entering a new era in 2024, as the conference welcomes USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon from the former Pac-12 Conference, and several new head coaches as well.

Looking ahead to the upcoming fall, 247Sports college football podcast host Josh Pate ranked all 18 of the Big Ten's football programs into six tiers based on a three-year running average of four categories: On-Field Production, Program Stability, Talent Acquisition and Resource Pool.

As Michigan State enters a new era under head coach Jonathan Smith, Pate sees the Spartans as currently the No. 11 program in the Big Ten, and slots the program among six that make up 'Tier 5' in the league.

"Jonathan Smith is coming in to take over, and I love him as a head coach, but he just got there five minutes ago," Pate said of Michigan State. "They've got back-to-back losing seasons, which just makes that 2021 season feel so long ago."

The Spartans' run to an 11-2 season and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl victory in 2021 was baked into Pate's ranking of MSU, but mostly overshadowed by Michigan State's 9-15 record over the last two seasons. There's little doubt the Spartans would rank low in recent "On-Field Production", and the "Program Stability" over the last three years is certainly holding the Spartans back in Pate's ranking.

"Talent Acquisition" is more of a mixed bag, as MSU's previous coaching staff landed two consecutive Top 25 recruiting classes in 2022 and 2023, but the 2024 class salvaged by Smith ranked outside the Top 40. Michigan State's "Resource Pool" ranks very high among fellow Big Ten programs and should be viewed as a positive.

Here's a complete list of Pate's rankings of Big Ten football programs and their tiers:

Tier 1

1.) Ohio State
2.) Michigan
3.) Oregon

Tier 2

4.) Penn State

Tier 3

5.) USC
6.) Washington
7.) Iowa

Tier 4

8.) Wisconsin
9.) Maryland
10.) Nebraska

Tier 5

11.) Michigan State
12.) Minnesota
13.) Purdue
14.) UCLA
15.) Rutgers
16.) Illinois

Tier 6

17.) Northwestern
18.) Indiana

Full Big Ten program ranking segment from 'Late Kick w/ Josh Pate' can be viewed below:

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