Michigan State - Texas Tech

Alamo Bowl January 2, 9:00pm San Antonio, TX

Michigan State (6-6) _____________ Big10 ___________ 11.18 ____ YPG = 399.3 (113%) PPG = 28.3 (120%) dYPG = 382.9 (102%) dPPG = 27.1 (103%) ____ Wk Opponent oPts Score 1 Montana St -510.82 W, 44-3 2 Central Michigan 257.98 L, 27-29 3 Notre Dame 23.90 L, 30-33 4 Wisconsin 189.12 L, 30-38 5 Michigan -106.70 W, 26-20 6 Illinois -190.53 W, 24-14 7 Northwestern 126.96 W, 24-14 8 Iowa 322.42 L, 13-15 9 Minnesota 7.50 L, 34-42 10 Western Michigan -188.83 W, 49-14 11 Purdue -27.94 W, 40-37 12 Penn St 256.10 L, 14-42

Texas Tech (8-4) ______________ Big12 __________ 131.04 ____ +18% ← YPG = 463.2 (131%)__________ +50% ← PPG = 36.5 (170%)__________ -9% ← dYPG = 361.2 (93%)_________ -18% ← dPPG = 22.5 (85%)_________ ____ Wk Opponent oPts Score 1 North Dakota -508.13 W, 38-13 2 Rice -295.50 W, 55-10 3 Texas 487.27 L, 24-34 4 Houston 213.71 L, 28-29 5 New Mexico -391.30 W, 48-28 6 Kansas St -32.33 W, 66-14 7 Nebraska 177.80 W, 31-10 8 Texas A&M -11.32 L, 30-52 9 Kansas -89.35 W, 42-21 11 Oklahoma St 211.94 L, 17-24 12 Oklahoma 102.05 W, 41-13 13 Baylor -105.91 W, 20-13

Yeah, the Red Raiders lead in the stats categories, but you can throw those out the window due to the situation with Mike Leach this week. Like it or not, this game is gonna be a big referendum on how much the Texas Tech team is going to miss Leach as a coach and architect of their offense. If they really are happy he's gone, and show that by rallying to play well, it won't seem like such a poisonous environment for a new coach to come into. But if they fall apart... Michigan State has been laying low throughout this season, and they might just be able to bring the hammer to this one.

The Line: Michigan State +7.5

The Call: Michigan State by 3

The Result: Texas Tech 41-31

That'll go a long way toward rallying the Red Raiders without Leach. It probably won't help the university's legal defense, but that's another story. Tough loss for the Spartans, who always seem to have a shot in the Big10 but never quite get there. At least they'll get some time off to regroup - it doesn't look like Texas Tech can say the same.