Program-changers: Dantonio faces old boss Saban in playoff

HEISMAN HENRY: Alabama Heisman Trophy victor Derrick Henry is closing in on the first 2,000-yard rushing season in SEC history with 1,986 yards going into the Cotton Bowl. Their performances will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the final result. And – if he’s anything like I was – Connor definitely didn’t know. The Spartans have won two Big Ten titles, the Rose Bowl and the Cotton Bowl in the last three seasons. That’s what is riding on the Alabama-Michigan State game.

Since he’s protecting quarterback Jake Coker’s blind side, Robinson will be the more important of the two tackles with regard to negating Calhoun. Now the betting odds for the game have the Crimson Tide favored to pick up the victory and play for a national title. Alabama can lull teams to sleep with three or four-yard handoffs up the middle, and Henry usually is able to hit a hole and break one for a huge gain once the opposing defensive front is worn down. OUTBACK BOWL (1/1 at 12:00 p.m. ET)Tennessee Volunteers (-8/47.5) vs. Northwestern Wildcats: 56 percent on Northwestern, 68 percent on the Over.

Because the Crimson Tide are playing for far more than themselves, which in and of itself is pressure enough. Last season, though, they let an early 21-6 lead slip away and lost to the Buckeyes in the Sugar Bowl. Exploiting special teams would only give Alabama another edge. Sharp action: Per Rood, MGM Resorts has been taking sharp action on Alabama (-10 vs. Michigan State), Florida (+4 vs. Michigan) and Ole Miss (-7 vs. Oklahoma State). “But looking at the way this group’s handled things, this group practices every day, their passion for the game; I’m telling you now, (defensive linemen) A’Shawn (Robinson), Jarran Reed, Jonathan Allen, Dalvin (Tomlinson), those guys like practicing”. “I mean, I think that’s why we have a great country”. “Harlon Barnett has always been one of my favorites because he’s a great competitor, really good person”, Saban said. “We’ll probably get to kick off”. And when you play another winning program, you just have a lot of respect for that. Whether he’s at 100 percent is another question. For the Spartans, it is to play their best football yet this year and beat Alabama to get to the school’s first National Championship since 1966.

Conklin, from Plainwell, Michigan, has gone from walk-on to a potential first-round National Football League draft pick during his four seasons at Michigan State.

London will be the wild card.

Football coaches are restless by nature, perhaps because they’ve been conditioned to instantly diagnose the situation on field and getting the next play called in a matter of seconds, over and over again for 60 minutes a game, 12 to hopefully 15 times a season.

The Spartans don’t have a dynamic runner like Ezekiel Elliott in their backfield.