Michigan State let a fourth-quarter lead slip away Saturday, as they fell to Michigan on a last second field goal, 12-10.
The loss drops Michigan State to 4-4 on the season and 1-3 in the conference. They have now lost four out of their last six contests. The story of the season has been losing the close games. Excluding the 17-point loss to Notre Dame on Sept. 15, the Spartans' losses have come by a total of six points, one of which was in double-OT.
At one point ranked No. 10 in the nation, Michigan State's hopes for the 2012 season have dropped from a BCS bowl bid to simply a bowl bid. SB Nation's Michigan State blog, The Only Colors, writes that a bowl game is by no means a given at this point.
A bowl game is seriously in question at this point.
Wisconsin seems a likely loss...That means we need two out of three from Nebraska, Northwestern, and at Minnesota. Thanks to home field (and Minnesota being the weakest of the bunch), we're probably going to be slight favorites in all three - but we haven't handled close games well for much of the year, and our offense doesn't seem to be capable of making it not a close game. Getting two out of four is probably not better than a 60% chance right now.
As mentioned by The Only Colors, the Spartans' next game comes against the Wisconsin Badgers on the road next Saturday. Wisconsin has won five of their last six games, including a 38-13 victory over Minnesota this past week.