Dr. Green and White Sports Authority

As the final week of the 2025 regular season of college football looms, there is a lot to talk about in the broader landscape. In the sections below, I will highlight conference championship game tiebreaker scenarios and college football playoffs seeding. But in East Lansing, there will be no post season this year. Once this week's game against the Maryland Terrapins puts all zeros on the clock, the season will be over. Spartans fans will need to wait another nine months to see the Green and White take the field again. We can (and will) talk about the odds that Michigan State will notch their first Big Ten win, but we might as well address the elephant in the room. When the Spartans do take to the field again on Sept. 5 against Toledo, who is going to be the head coach? There are two different ways to analyze this question. The first and most important question is what will happen. But unless your name is Michigan State Athletic Director J Batt, this question is irrelevant. In fac...

College football is a sport that relies a lot on decisions. When building a team, coaches have to decide which high school and transfer portal inhabitants to target. Then, they have to wait for the prospects to decide which schools to attend. Once the roster is assembled and the games are played, coaches make a myriad of decisions as to which players to send out onto the field and which plays to call in any given situation.  Should the defense play press man coverage or quarters zone? Should they blitz or should they drop seven players into coverage? Should the offense run or pass on third down and three to go? Should they go for it on fourth-and-two near midfield, or should they tell the quarterback to punt the ball? Speaking of punting, should they punt the ball to the more dangerous return man in Iowa football history or should they punt it out of bounds? Decisions, decisions, decisions.  Good leadership is often simply the ability to make the "right" decision more often t...

As the 2025-26 Michigan State football season enters twilight, it would be easy to make the argument that there is nothing left for the Spartans to play for. The dreams of a late-season resurgence, a run to a bowl game, and maybe every a winning record were dashed last week as Michigan State fell to Penn State. Uncertainty, rumors, and speculation about the future of the coaching staff are running rampant both on-line and in real life. To make matters worse, by some measure this weekend's contest on the road against Iowa is the third toughest game on the Spartans' schedule, behind only the road games at Indiana and at USC.  Had Michigan State defeated Penn State last week, the showdown with the Hawkeyes would have had taken on new meaning. The Spartans would have had momentum and would have suddenly felt good about themselves for the first time in weeks. In contrast, Iowa is a team coming off two grueling, close losses to Oregon and at USC last week, 1,800 miles from home.  Fu...

Back in 2005, the indie rock group Death Cab For Cutie penned a lyric in their song "What Sarah Said," that has stuck with me over the years. The song opens with the line: "And it came to me then that every plan is a tiny prayer to father time." Going into the 2025 college football season, Michigan State fans were optimistic about the future. There was the belief that head Coach Jonathan Smith had a plan to rebuild the Spartan program. There was the hope that Year Two under the new staff would show significant improvement on the field. Many Spartan fans had plans to book a trip to a bowl game for the first time since the Peach Bowl in 2021. But after last weekend's loss to Penn State, the Spartans have been eliminated from bowl contention. Michigan State has clinched a fourth consecutive losing season in East Lansing for the first time since the early 1980s. This particular prayer to father time appears to have gone unanswered. The frustration from the fanbase o...