Michigan State featured on iconic ESPN show for head-scratching reason despite 1-0 start

Zain Bando

Michigan State featured on iconic ESPN show for head-scratching reason despite 1-0 start image

© Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Michigan State protected home-field advantage in its opening week win against Western Michigan, securing a 23-6 victory to open the season on the right foot.

But if one opted to bet on Michigan State, especially those who opted to take the Spartans as a sizable home favorite, it was a far less exciting Friday evening.

The Spartans were on the verge of shutting out the Broncos late in the third quarter as they had already opted to put their backups in the game to get valuable reps. Therefore, this meant that Aiden Chiles, who finished the night with a touchdown pass to go alongside 155 yards, had exited the game and it was up to Alessio Milivojevic to lead his team.

It backfired in the worst way for Milivojevic, as his lone pass went for a pick-6 to eventually wipe out hope for the Spartans to cover a 22.5-point spread.

This got ESPN's Scott Van Pelt and Stanford Steve fired up as the pair included the Spartans' blunder during the most recent edition of "Bad Beats."

"They signed up for 60, and that is a trip to cover town for the MAC," Van Pelt said.

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Overall, it was a good week for the Big Ten as the conference finished 16-2 in Week 1.

As for the Spartans, they host Boston College Saturday night on NBC as they attempt to keep the momentum going.

Zain Bando

Zain Bando is a freelance writer for The Sporting News. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism. Over the years, Bando has written about various beats surrounding Illinois, Northwestern, and Kansas State Athletics but sticks to the Big Ten as his primary expertise. Outside of collegiate reporting, Bando covers MMA and boxing for MMA Knockout On Sports Illustrated and hosts/co-hosts two podcasts as part of the Empty The Bench Podcast Network – Bando's Breakdowns and The MMA Outsiders, which air weekly on YouTube and are distributed on all podcast platforms Wednesday nights and Friday afternoons. Bando is a Chicago Suburban native and a member of the FWAA and USBWA, continuing to hone his professional skills as a sports journalist and media personality. Since June 2019, Bando's byline has been featured in numerous media outlets, including MSN, Yardbarker, Deadspin, FanSided, BJPenn.com, Bridge Media Network (Sports News Highlights), Mike Farrell Sports, Reuters, and more. When Bando is not writing, he binges on old UFC fights, spends time with family and friends, memorizes every Super Bowl, and manifests all the places he still has to travel to (even while bringing his laptop).