Michigan State's upset loss to Penn State on Saturday wasn't only costly in dropping the Spartans to third place in the Big Ten standings. It also knocked them out of the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in four years.
The Spartans weren't ranked in the AP poll during the entire 2006-07 season, when they finished with a 23-12 record. (But they did reach No. 24 in the coaches' poll.)
MSU (10-5 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) is still ranked in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll, coming in at No. 24. However, this is still quite a drop for a team that was ranked No. 2 in the preseason.
The Spartans probably received some benefit of the doubt from voters, with losses to Duke, Syracuse, Connecticut and Texas, all of whom are in the Top 25. But losing to Penn State calls into question whether or not MSU is a middle of the pack team in the Big Ten right now. The conference has four teams in the current poll, each of whom is ahead of the Spartans in the standings.
Here is this week's full AP Top 25:
- Duke
- Ohio State
- Kansas
- Syracuse
- Pittsburgh
- San Diego State
- Villanova
- Purdue
- Notre Dame
- Connecticut
- Brigham Young
- Texas
- Kentucky
- Texas A&M
- Missouri
- Illinois
- Washington
- Louisville
- Temple
- Wisconsin
- Kansas State
- Georgetown
- Central Florida
- Georgia
- Cincinnati
You can view the coaches' poll here.