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Michigan State controls its own destiny in the Big Ten title race - sort of.
What the 10th-ranked Spartans can't control is what bowl they'll end up in, and that's why coach Mark Dantonio would rather talk about a conference championship than any BCS permutations.
''What we can control is we can be at the very minimum co-Big Ten champions. I know we can control that,'' Dantonio said Tuesday. ''We'll need a little help to be outright, to go to the Rose Bowl. The main thing to me is be a champion. That's what we'll try to do, strive to do.''
Michigan State has the weekend off, and the Spartans are enjoying a chance to relax a bit before returning to the field against Purdue on Nov. 20. Michigan State is one of four teams with one Big Ten loss, so if the Spartans win out, they'll finish at worst in a tie for first place.
There are several possible tiebreaking scenarios, but Dantonio would just as soon not worry about what has to happen for his team to go to the Rose Bowl.
''Wherever we go, we're going to play a good football team,'' he said. ''It will be a Southeastern Conference team, a team from the BCS, whatever. ... I don't have any control over those things, so we'll try to control what we have.''
Dantonio expects wide receiver Keshawn Martin, who has been recovering from a knee injury, to be ready for Purdue.
The players aren't the only ones who can use some rest. Dantonio had a mild heart attack in September, and although he says he feels good, he knows it's important for coaches to get rest. The staff also has a chance to break from routine and do some recruiting, which is no doubt easier now that the Spartans are 9-1.
''I think there's added significance that the program is moving in the right direction,'' he said. ''That attracts people. I think the number one thing people want to do when they go to college - they want to win. They want to see themselves going to bowl games, competing for championships.''
The game against Purdue will be Michigan State's final home game of the season. Attendance for the Spartans' last game, a 31-8 rout against an overmatched Minnesota team, was 71,128, the second-smallest home crowd of the season. Dantonio didn't seem upset or concerned.
''I appreciate the ones who are there. I appreciate the ones who are vocal. I appreciate our students,'' he said. ''But, you know, life isn't always about football. It's just not. It's not always about athletics. That's just the way it is sometimes.''
