1998 Michigan State Spartans football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record6–6 (4–4 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorGary Tranquill (4th season)
Offensive schemePro set
Defensive coordinatorChris Cosh (1st season)
Base defense4–3
Captains
  • Garett Gould
  • Sedrick Irvin
  • Jason Strayhorn
  • Amp Campbell
  • Sorie Kanu
  • Courtney Ledyard
Home stadiumSpartan Stadium
Seasons
← 1997
1999 →
1998 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 2 Ohio State %+   7 – 1     11 – 1  
No. 6 Wisconsin $+   7 – 1     11 – 1  
No. 12 Michigan +   7 – 1     10 – 3  
No. 24 Purdue   6 – 2     9 – 4  
No. 17 Penn State   5 – 3     9 – 3  
Michigan State   4 – 4     6 – 6  
Minnesota   2 – 6     5 – 6  
Indiana   2 – 6     4 – 7  
Illinois   2 – 6     3 – 8  
Iowa   2 – 6     3 – 8  
Northwestern   0 – 8     3 – 9  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1998 Michigan State Spartans football team competed on behalf of Michigan State University in the Big Ten Conference during the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season. Head coach Nick Saban was in his fourth season with the Spartans. Michigan State played their home games at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan. The Spartans went 6–6 overall and 4–4 in conference play. The team did not play a bowl game following the 1998 regular season.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
August 294:00 p.m.No. 15 Colorado State*No. 23
ESPN2L 16–2368,624
September 53:30 p.m.at Oregon*No. 23
ABCL 14–4843,634
September 128:00 p.m.No. 10 Notre Dame*
ABCW 45–2374,267
September 2612:00 p.m.at Michigan
ABCL 17–29111,238
October 31:00 p.m.Central Michigan*
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
W 38–770,905
October 1012:00 p.m.Indianadagger
ESPNW 38–31 2OT73,425[1]
October 2412:00 p.m.at Minnesota
ESPN+L 18–1941,327
October 3112:00 p.m.Northwestern
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
ESPN2W 29–567,473
November 73:30 p.m.at No. 1 Ohio State
ABCW 28–2493,595
November 1412:00 p.m.Purdue
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
ESPN+L 24–2569,010
November 211:00 p.m.Illinois
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
W 41–967,285
November 281:00 p.m.at No. 23 Penn State
ABCL 28–5196,358
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP / Coaches Polls released prior to game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

See also: 1998 NCAA Division I-A football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
AP23———————————————
Coaches Poll23———————————————
BCSNot released———————Not released

Roster

1998 Michigan State Spartans football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
TE 83 Chris Baker Fr
QB 16 Bill Burke Jr
WR 4 Plaxico Burress So
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DT 99 Dimitrius Underwood Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Coaching staff

1999 NFL Draft

The following players were selected in the 1999 NFL Draft.

Player Round Pick Position NFL Team
Dimitrius Underwood 1 29 Defensive End Minnesota Vikings
Sedrick Irvin 4 103 Running Back Detroit Lions

References

  1. ^ Dye, Dave (October 11, 1998). "MSU outlasts IU in two". The Detroit News. p. 1C. Retrieved October 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.


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