The Boise State Broncos and the Michigan State Spartans face each other in the first game of the season between two top-25 ranked teams. Michigan St. is ranked 13th in the first AP Poll of the season, with Boise State ranked 24th. This Friday night matchup in East Lansing will be a perfect setup to Saturday's non-stop college football action.
Michigan State came one or two unfortunate plays away from going to the Rose Bowl last year, and it should be in perfect contention to compete this season. But its passing game is going to have to totally rebuild with quarterback Kirk Cousins in the NFL, along with three of his top wide receivers plus his primary tight end.
This Boise State team probably won't be quite as good as the Kellen Moore-led teams that contended for BCS bowls the last two seasons, but it shouldn't drop off too much considering the weakness of it schedule. It should be underdogs in this contest, though, breaking in a new quarterback.
Game time, TV channel: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN
Point spread: Michigan State favored by 7 points.
For news, discussion and more: For more on Spartans football, visit Michigan State blog The Only Colors, plus Big Ten blog Off Tackle Empire and SB Nation Detroit. For more on Broncos football, visit Boise State blog OBNUG, plus SB Nation Denver. And you should probably start reading Big East Coast Bias.
Video: Check out the Mountain West Conference video preview.
Here is the Michigan State team preview.
While we’re here, let’s watch some of the many other college football videos from SB Nation’s YouTube channel: