Recent Four-Year Stretch Hasn't Been Kind to MSU Fans
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There are plenty of legitimate gripes for Spartan Nation at the moment.
Michigan's men's basketball national title has helped cap off what has undoubtedly been a difficult four-year stretch to be a Michigan State fan. For this year's crop of seniors at MSU, there will be some painful memories attached to their four years in East Lansing.
Football Misery
Where it's been worst is the sport that drives everything else. Ever since that 11-2 season led by Kenneth Walker III in 2021, the Spartans' football team has had four straight losing seasons. Their overall record over that time has been just 18-30 (.375) overall. Against Big Ten competition, the record has just been 9-27 (.250).
In a vacuum, those records would be bad enough. Michigan State hasn't had four losing seasons in a row since it had five in a row from 1979-83, during the days of Darryl Rodgers, Frank "Muddy" Waters, and George Perles. It's the worst stretch of football in East Lansing in more than a generation.
But that hasn't been all. Mel Tucker got fired two games into the 2023 season for allegedly sexually harassing Brenda Tracy. All of that aside, it basically tossed away the entire '23 season and forced MSU into a coaching search. Athletic director Alan Haller, who eventually was fired in May 2025, went with the "safe" option in Jonathan Smith.
Obviously, that didn't work out, either. Smith never connected with the fanbase, and the below-mediocre football certainly didn't help. After going 5-7 in Year 1 and 4-8 in Year 2, that was that. New AD J Batt and Michigan State are eating a buyout north of $30 million (minus the salary of Smith's next job) that will be paid in monthly installments over the next five years.
The success of the program's rivals has only poured salt in the wound. Not only is MSU 0-4 against arch-rival Michigan over the last four seasons, but the Wolverines also won it all in 2023. Indiana, which hired Curt Cignetti in the same cycle that Michigan State hired Smith, just won the 2025 National Championship. Ohio State got one, too.
Oh yeah, and there's the vacated wins. Remember that overall record from before, which is well below .500? Well, as far as the NCAA's concerned, that record is actually 4-30. MSU agreed to vacate all of its wins from 2022-24 in November 2025 due to recruiting violations that occurred during the Tucker era. There just hasn't been much to be happy about on the gridiron lately.
Men's Basketball
It hasn't been remotely as painful as football, but the Wolverines taking home a national title doesn't make anyone in East Lansing feel very good about it. Tom Izzo has been chasing that second national title since 2000, which he achieved in his fifth year as head coach at Michigan State, and now he's been matched in rings by Dusty May, who just completed Year 2 at Michigan.
UM winning it all is really the main complaint. MSU's NCAA Tournament streak is still ongoing -- 28 years and counting -- and the Spartans have made it to the Elite Eight and the Sweet 16 in back-to-back seasons. There was also a Big Ten regular-season championship for the 2024-25 season. Zero Final Fours, something that not many four-year classes have had happen with Izzo at the helm, is a bit of a blemish, though.
Hockey
The hockey team has also provided some absolutely excruciating NCAA Tournament exits. In fairness to Adam Nightingale, he's still done a great job.
He's won five of six possible Big Ten titles in the last three seasons, winning all three regular-season crowns and winning the conference tournament twice. Not getting to a Frozen Four in that time, though, is pretty painful.
This past season's loss was perhaps the toughest. MSU was minutes away from advancing to the Frozen Four against Wisconsin, holding a 3-1 lead with five minutes to go. That lead slipped away, and then the Spartans lost less than a minute into overtime. The year before that, it was a first-round upset in the final seconds to Cornell. Before that, it was a regional final defeat at the hands of rival Michigan.
All three of those years, Michigan State was the 1-seed in its respective region. Even though the Spartans have had a favorable path to the Frozen Four three years in a row, the drought that extends back to 2007 persists.
A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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