KU Up to No. 2 in AP Poll

That included a critical 47-yarder late in the third quarter to give MSU a short-lived lead.

Denzel Valentine isn’t mad about Michigan State being the No. 1-ranked team in the nation. All of us knew it was score or go home. The Spartans had netted 39 percent of 3-pointer attempts in their first eight games. 4 Kansas team in the Champions Classic and a then-No. Both teams were ranked earlier this season.

MSU came into the matchup ranked No. 3 in the nation, but after the ninth-ranked Tar Heels from North Carolina defeated the third-ranked Maryland Terrapins 89-81 in the B1G/ACC Challenge, and the UCLA Bruins upset the top ranked Kentucky Wildcats 87-77 later in the week, it created room for the Spartans to climb to the top of the polls. They have much more favorable game against Michigan State rather than having to play Oklahoma.

At the end of it, L.J. Scott powered through a pile of Hawkeyes and reached the football out into the end zone to score the game-winning touchdown in the final minute.

Two days before, then No. 1-ranked Kentucky had struggled against Illinois State. The Spartans were No. 1 for two weeks that season and for a three-week span in November and December of 2013.

“We wanted to come back and win a championship”, Cook said. Iowa’s undefeated season was ended in the Big Ten Championship Game loss to Michigan State, while Stanford couldn’t reach the final four despite a win over USC in the Pac-12 Championship Game. “I thought we actually executed pretty well, we just couldn’t put the ball in the basket”.

However, Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio and his staff may have a little more at stake in that department. Whether it was the order of the four seeds or the selection of the New Year’s Six and standard bowl matchups, there was plenty to talk about. During the championship season, Michigan State suffered an early season loss at Wright State.

“Wish it had a different outcome”, Ferentz said of a game that had been dubbed the biggest in Iowa football history. The Hawkeyes have plenty of capable backs but were held to just 52 rushing yards by the Spartans. “If we’ve got to go 30, we’re going to go 30”. But he believes the leadership of Valentine and Costello has the team headed in the right direction.

The Sooners didn’t have to play in a conference championship game to determine whether they would get in to the College Football Playoff but after locking up a spot with a Big 12 Championship, they had to be disappointed with how things played out.

This is the same team that pulled out its two signature regular-season wins in the most clutch of fashions. While the Bulldogs will be without star running back Nick Chubb, who was knocked out for the year with a midseason injury, there’ll still be plenty of star power, as this figures to be the last college game for Lions quarterback Christian Hackenberg.