There’s still plenty at stake for Michigan State.

Any outside chance the Spartans had at earning a College Football Playoff bid at the end of the season was shattered after a 39-31 loss in triple overtime to Northwestern last Saturday. But with that being the lone blemish in conference play and No. 7 Penn State and No. 6 Ohio State still on the schedule, a division crown, even a B1G title, is still within reach.

Like Mark Dantonio said earlier this week, Michigan State is still in control of its own destiny.

Good news for the green and white. Bad news for the Nittany Lions, Buckeyes and, potentially, the entire B1G.

Michigan State finds itself in a unique position for the final month of the season, similar to Penn State’s in 2016. Win out, and its destined for a fourth trip to Indianapolis in seven seasons. Knock off Wisconsin in the B1G Championship game and the Spartans would counter a paltry 3-9 record in 2016 with a conference title in 2017.

An awful lot would have to go right for the Spartans over the next month for this to be a more serious scenario. It would require wins over Penn State and Ohio State in back-to-back weeks, an incredibly daunting challenge alone. If Michigan State was to, somehow, shock the nation with victories in those two contests, it would then be tasked with beating No. 9 Wisconsin on a neutral field.

So yeah, those are a lot of chips falling into place.

But imagine Michigan State did run the table and the rest of the season plays out the way it’s anticipated. That means the B1G would have a two-loss champion — sound familiar, Penn State? — while the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes also sit with a pair of defeats. Wisconsin would only have one loss, but would lack that essential quality win.

It’s kind of the worst-case scenario for the conference. Unless there were multiple two-loss conference champions at the end of the season — which may not actually be all that inconceivable right now, either — the College Football Playoff committee would slam the door in the face of the B1G.

While it may seem unlikely that Michigan State finishes the year with four straight wins and claims its 10th B1G title, is it really that much of a stretch? The Spartans allow an average of just 19.6 points per game and have surrendered more than 30 points just twice this season — losses to Notre Dame (38) and Northwestern (39). They also own the nation’s fourth-best rush defense, holding opponents under 90 yards per game.

That’s a pretty solid foundation to win games in the B1G, especially as the cold weather settles in now that the calendar has flipped to November.

Obviously, Michigan State would have to figure some things out offensively if it was to disrupt the Playoff picture for the B1G. Heading into Week 10, the Spartans are the only Power Five team in the country that has recorded six wins while averaging fewer than 24 points per game. Quarterback Brian Lewerke has played better and receivers Cody White and Felton Davis III have emerged as quality targets in the offense, but it’s not resulted in enough touchdowns just yet.

As good as the defense has been, Dantonio’s offense needs to score some points against Penn State and Ohio State. The challenge of winning the division will be nearly impossible if it doesn’t put bigger digits on the scoreboard.

Jim Delany and others in the B1G office are probably crossing their fingers and toes that Michigan State doesn’t figure that out in the next two weeks.

But Dantonio doesn’t get paid to ensure the conference is represented in the College Football Playoff. And it’s not Michigan State’s job to care whether or not one of its opponents receives one of the four bids at the end of the season. All the Spartans care about is that they control their own destiny and could be B1G champions at the end of the season.

Even with two losses on the resume, there’s a lot at stake for Michigan State in the final month of the season.

It just so happens there’s a lot at stake for the B1G, too.