CFB Most Influential Programs
#17 Michigan State Spartans
School: Michigan State Spartans
First Game: 1896
Winning Percentage: .596 (26th)
Appearances in AP/Rank: 419 (22nd)
Average AP Ranking: 11.7
National Titles: 6
Claim to Fame: Michigan State played one of the most famous (or infamous) football games against Notre Dame in 1966 when both teams were ranked in the top 2. The game ended in a tie. MSU got screwed out of a Rose Bowl appearance that year though because the Big Ten had a rule saying the same team could not go to the Rose Bowl back-to-back years. Imagine such a rule now.
Why I have them in my Collection: A college football cynic may look at the Spartans and say their claim to fame is only the fact that they have many famous rivals. That’s not what I would say, but college football is quite tribal, and people can be pretty cutting when describing programs.
Prior to the Civil Right Act of 1964 Michigan State was one of the most successful programs in the country. But what they did in the two years following set the stage for what other programs across the nation would do moving forward, some quicker than others.
In 1965 and 1966 Michigan State won national championships with fully integrated rosters. While teams in the south and others around the country dipped their toes in allowing a handful of black players onto squads at most, Michigan State took players from the segregated south and put them on their teams to great success.
This was a blueprint followed by many schools outside of the deep south footprint moving forward. They would probably never admit it, but those coaches and administrators probably saw what the Spartans did and thought to themselves, well of course we can do that too, and we’ll win doing it.
So, whether or not they did it for altruistic reasons, the Spartans showed other colleges how college football would have to be won moving forward.
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