Michigan State football. Elite?

There's two ways of looking at this. Certainly head coach Mark Dantonio has transformed the Spartans from "little brothers" in their own state into a perennially nationally ranked team -- typically among the Top 10. You name a Top Ten -- whether it be college football or basketball, pro golf or tennis, and whoever's in it year after year is pretty damn good. In that respect, Michigan State could be considered elite.

But wait a minute. What truly defines "elite"? Lots of teams and individuals have been recognized as being top contenders over the years, but were never good enough to win the "big one". Consider the Minnesota Vikings or Buffalo Bills when it comes to Super Bowls. Ask Dan Marino. And it's not just sports. Every four years a politician claws his way to the top of their party to run for President -- and loses the election in November. Sometimes by a landslide. Ouch. Good, but not good enough to finish when it counts the most.

That would seem to be the case of MSU football. Under Dantonio, they're typically "in the hunt" but never good enough to play for a national championship, let alone win it. One way or the other, year after year, the Spartans will take a misstep or two, and that's all it takes, to knock themselves out of title contention. In that respect, perhaps the Spartans are not so elite.

Let's get real. This year the Spartans played both Oregon and Ohio State, who will face off for the national championship. They hung with the Ducks for a while, but eventually got blistered 46-27. At home, against the Buckeyes, they would surrender a whopping 49 points and go down 49-37.

So when given the opportunity to play against cream of the crop teams -- the Spartans crashed and burned. Sure, they've won conference championships here and bowl games there, and that's all well and good. But it doesn't make them "elite". That will only come if and when they're capable of getting to the next level. Maybe it will happen. Maybe it won't. Given the turnover rate through graduation, eligibility, early jumps to the NFL, and incoming new players every year, every college football program will forever be a work in progress. MSU may be better -- or worse -- next year.

On a related note, yours truly chuckled when he read a scribe's account of the Spartans game against Baylor in the Cotton Bowl, and the imminent departure of defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi to take over the reins at Pittsburgh.

Granted, the Spartans overcame a huge deficit to squeak out an unlikely 42-41 victory over the Bears. Kudos to the Green. But the Baylor coaching staff completely blew it. They'd been marching up and down the field all day against the porous Spartan defense, but sent in the scrubs thinking the game was in the bag. Bad move.The tide quickly turned, and with the help of a couple crucial penalties, the Spartans gained momentum and Baylor was never able to recapture it. The Spartans didn't win this game nearly as much as the Bears lost it. But that's the way it goes sometimes. MSU returns home kings of the cotton and will likely have a final ranking of #6 or 7. (They were #8 going in.) Just outside the inner circle. Close but no cigar.

The yuk came when I read of the timing being just perfect for Narduzzi to "move on" to greener pastures, no pun intended. This was a guy who's so-called vaunted defense gave up an incredible 600 yards passing to Baylor. Yet this was refered to as merely a scratch in the whole scheme of things.

Scratch? Hell, it was a gaping hatchet wound that was hemorrhaging yardage all day. A screen door on a submarine. 600 yards passing in a single game? That's TWO really good games for guys like Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers.

Similarly, against Oregon and a second-string Ohio State QB at the time, the Spartans were gashed for major yardage as well. Narduzzi's defense was stout -- when it came to playing the patsies. But it was exposed by good teams and shredded by the elite ones. Perhaps it's time for him to move on indeed. Good luck at Pitt. A hefty pay raise and he be da man. But he won't sniff a title there either.

MSU being called a "national power" is absolutely correct. At least in as much as there's 25 of them every week throughout the college football season. It's called the polls. They're ALL allegedly national powers.

But right now there's only two. The Ducks and Buckeyes. The 'Noles and Tide were kicked to the curb. Do you really think the Spartans could have beaten either of the latter this year? Not me.

In the end, MSU is a very good program, kings of their state, and have a pretty fair bowl record against other almost, but not quite good enough teams to make it to truly elite status either.

And that's all they are.....