EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Everything the Michigan State Spartans were hoping for to start this season is within their grasp.
With their victory at Northwestern last Saturday, the Spartans clinched the Legends Division and a berth in the Big Ten championship game against Ohio State on Dec. 7 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Although they're not allowing themselves to look too far ahead, the Spartans have been thinking about a possible Bowl Championship Series game.
They know that won't happen unless they take care of business at home Saturday against the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
"To me, this is an opportunity to win 11 football games," MSU coach Mark Dantonio said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. "It's an opportunity to go 8‑0 in the conference, (on) our senior day at the end of the season in Spartan Stadium, and last time to play in Spartan Stadium for our football team.
"Just as importantly, (it's) an opportunity to probably get in the top 10 with a win, in the country, which would be something that you strive for at the end of every season, I believe."
One reporter mentioned that Wisconsin, which hosts Penn State Saturday, was already saying that if it goes 10-2, it deserves the No. 2 conference bid.
Dantonio was asked if he'd feel comfortable campaigning for his team.
"Oh, yeah, I'll campaign," he said. "We beat Wisconsin the last three out of four years. We can start with that, but we'll worry about that later on."
For now, Dantonio wants to recognize the fact that Saturday will be the final game at Spartan Stadium for his 18 seniors, the winningest class in MSU history at 39-12.
"Our seniors have an opportunity to win their 40th game this weekend, which would mean that they would average winning 10 games a year for four years, which I think is amazing in that capacity," he said. "And then also they still have two more games beyond that.
"It's really a benchmark for a program that's been in existence for 118 years."
One senior that is particularly special to Dantonio is offensive lineman Blake Treadwell, Dantonio's godson. Blake's father, Don, is a former MSU assistant coach who's now the head coach at Miami-Ohio
"I remember when he (Blake) was born, remember the christening, remember when we lived in Kansas and they came and visited us when I was coaching the University of Kansas," Dantonio recalled. "He had a baby bottle in his mouth as I was showing Tread (Don) around the campus.
"Now, to see him and see the maturity that he has as a young man and the way that he's grown as a leader and as a football player, and the way he presents himself to his peers and the way his peers respect him and hold him up -- it's a special time for the Treadwell family and for my family, as well, to see that."
One of the seniors on the other side of the ball is linebacker Max Bullough, who comes from a very green-and-white family, including his brother, Riley Bullough, a fullback.
"When you talk about guys that have won 40 games here and you say who have been the most important guys, and you want to rank them one, two, three, four -- he's got to be one, two or three," Dantonio said. "Probably one because of all the things he does as a linebacker out there, getting the calls, making the adjustments and being gap sound, and he's made a lot of football plays for us.
"He's been an outstanding contributor, and we wouldn't be where we're at without Max Bullough."
Where the Spartans are is 10-1 overall and 7-0 in the Big Ten, facing a Golden Gophers team that is 8-3, 4-3 in the Big Ten.
Another definitive win over a solid Big Ten opponent will help the Spartans make their BCS case.
"Certainly, we have to win this game to even be in the talk in that regard," Dantonio said. "And then the next thing you have to ask yourself is: Are the two best teams playing for the championship?
"I think they are. But we're going to find out after Saturday if that's the case because we have an opportunity and a challenge in Minnesota.
