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ESPN Insider: Michigan State wins it all
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Travis Haney might not be allowed in the state of Ohio anymore.
The ESPN Insider already rubbed Buckeye fans the wrong way this week when he predicted that Ohio State would miss the College Football Playoff.
On Wednesday, we found out why he isn’t all in on the Buckeyes. It’s because he believes Michigan State is the best team in college football.
My CFP picks: 1) Mich St 2) Okla 3) Tex A&M 4) Ariz St. (Yes, I know 3/4 play in W1.) MSU over ASU. OU over A&M. MSU over OU. #hottakez
— Travis Haney (@travhaney) September 2, 2015
All four of Haney’s picks are underdogs to win their respective conferences, including his national runner-up Oklahoma, which would have to get past the likes of Baylor and TCU first.
Michigan State will start off the year ranked No. 5 in the country after stunning Baylor with a late comeback in the Cotton Bowl.
The Spartans didn’t receive a single Associated Press vote for the No. 1 team in the country. That’s because Ohio State was the first unanimous preseason No. 1 in the poll’s history. Michigan State, on the other hand, only got one No. 2 vote.
Haney’s lofty ranking of the Spartans will ultimately come down to whether or not they can pull off a November upset in Columbus. That game last year was what put the Buckeyes back into the national title conversation.
According to Haney, Sparty already belongs in that discussion.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Tradition. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.