Dantonio sees bowl as redemption chance

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio admitted after Saturday's loss to Penn State what many already knew: MSU is not an elite Big Ten program.

After being beat up by both Penn State and Ohio State, the Spartans proved that their record says one thing and reality says another. Against those two teams, MSU was outscored 94-25.

At 9-3 (6-2 in the Big Ten) MSU finished only one game behind the Big Ten co-champions, but are leaps and bounds behind them in terms of program stature.

However, Dantonio is determined to get his program to that level.

"Obviously, we are a ways away. I think we played better last year for whatever reason, maybe a little bit of an older team last year in some respects. We don't have many seniors," Dantonio said. "Our goal is to win championship here and that will always be our goal."

A way to close the gap will be a victory in the forthcoming bowl game.

Dantonio said the bowl game would be used as redemption for his team. The national perception of MSU is that it cannot compete with the bigger programs in the country.

An opportunity to change that view will be against the bowl opponent, more than likely a Top 25 team from the Southeastern Conference.

"I'll be damned if we get beat by another 40 points again, I know that," Spartan defensive end Trevor Anderson said. "From a player's point of view, we will take about a month off and we'll prepare for whoever we play. We'll watch the film or whatever, get cussed out and go on from there."

There are three likely bowl scenarios for the Spartans. The best option would be the Capital One Bowl on New Year's Day in Orlando, Fla.

In that game, their likely opponent would be the Georgia Bulldogs; the No. 1 ranked team in the preseason poll.

If not in Orlando, MSU could be in the other New Year's Day bowl in Florida with Big Ten ties, the Outback Bowl in Tampa.

The third and less likely option would be in San Antonio, Texasn against a Big 12 team in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29.

MSU's bowl destination largely depends on, believe it or not, Oregon State.

If Oregon State beats archrival Oregon on Saturday, they will get the Pac-10 automatic bid to the Rose Bowl to face Penn State.

Southern Cal, which is in a virtual tie with Oregon State atop the Pac-10 standings would lose the tiebreaker with the Beavers due to their head-to-head loss, would get chosen for a BCS Bowl as a at-large pick. Likely, that would eliminate Ohio State from a possible BCS bid.

The Capital One Bowl would then select the Buckeyes, giving the Outback Bowl a choice of MSU, Iowa and Northwestern.

The two teams not chosen for Outback Bowl would then be available for the Alamo Bowl representatives to choose from.

Since the Spartans defeated both of those teams, it is very unlikely MSU would by bypassed by both.

"Whatever team we play in a bowl game, we are going to come out with a mindset that we can win the game," said wide receiver Mark Dell. "We know we can compete with anybody, all we have to do is go out there and execute."

But until they prove they can, the skeptics will still be there.

From afar, MSU's record has shown improvement, but the skill level is still similar to the 7-5 team from a year ago.

However, if you ask any of the players, they are a much better team.

"You listen to us, we made a lot of progress," said right tackle Jesse Miller. "You watch TV, we didn't make any."