Could Michigan State play four Top 5 teams in 2023?

Michigan State will play one of the toughest schedules in all of college football in 2023. In fact, based on their opponents' winning percentage in 2022, the Spartans' will play the second-hardest schedule in the country this season.

A year ago, MSU played four opponents that finished in the Top 10 of the final Associated Press Top 25 rankings. It's hard to imagine a more difficult schedule than that, but according to CBS Sports' post-spring Top 25 that's exactly what the Spartans are in for this fall.

Post-Spring College Football Top 25 per @CBSSports‼️https://t.co/qtalljLaBT pic.twitter.com/rTFHPIS0nG
— On3 (@On3sports) May 8, 2023

CBS Sports lists Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Washington inside its post-spring Top 5, each of whom are on Michigan State's schedule in 2023. The Spartans went 0-4 against these same opponents last year, and were outscored 152-71 in those games. That's an average final score of roughly 38-18.

There's no doubt that Michigan and Ohio State are bonafide preseason Top 5 teams. As difficult as it is for Spartan fans to swallow, the Wolverines are the two-time defending champions of the Big Ten Conference and bring back most of their major contributors from last season's 13-1 team. The Buckeyes, meanwhile, are routinely the top recruiting team in the league and had won four consecutive Big Ten titles prior to Michigan's recent resurgence.

I'm not sold on either Penn State or Washington as Top 5 teams, but both are going to be really good in 2023. I wouldn't be surprised to see both the Nittany Lions and Huskies in the preseason Top 10, and I expect both to finish the year in the Top 15, at minimum.

Penn State breaks in a new starting quarterback, but former five-star prospect Drew Allar has the Nittany Lion faithful excited. Allar will have a pair of stud running backs in the backfield with him, and Penn State also returns a whole lot from a defense that was one of the nation's stingiest a year ago.

Washington comes to East Lansing this year, but the Huskies will bring quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with them, and the one-time Indiana Hoosier has been a Spartan killer in his career. In three starts against Michigan State, Penix Jr. has completed 82 of 120 pass attempts (68.3%) for 1,003 passing yards, with 10 touchdowns and two interceptions. The Huskies can score in bunches, and will provide a huge test for MSU's defense in Week 3.

Michigan State needs a bounce back season in 2023, but the Spartans could be a vastly improved football team and not be recognized for it record-wise because of the difficulty of their schedule. MSU can't worry about that right now, however. Mel Tucker and his staff have to add a couple more pieces through the transfer portal to solidify their roster, and then begin finding out who is going to start at key positions this fall.

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