The Michigan State Spartans and Baylor Bears are playing in the Cotton Bowl Classic Presented by Goodyear on New Years Day on Thursday and the matchup starts at 12:30 pm ET on ESPN and streaming online from AT&T Stadium as MSU represents the Big Ten against the number five Bears after they were left out of the playoff.
Baylor comes in as one of the most impressive teams in the nation and this bowl matchup has two top 10 schools battling it out. The Cotton Bowl puts a great offense up against a great defense and Baylor comes in ranked number one in scoring this season with nearly 50 points per game. The team is fifth in passing yards per game with 346 per contest behind Bryce Petty, while the rushing attack averages 235 yards per game. The defense has been solid with 24 points allowed per game and now they have a top team in MSU.
Michigan State comes in after a win against Kansas State and while that wasn't enough to get into the playoff, the team has the chance to make up for it with a win here. The team went 11-1 this season and 3-0 in the top 25 matchups and they saw Petty pass for over 400 yards in the win against KSU. The team went 8-1 in the Big 12 and ended up winning five games in a row to end the year, but both the Bears and TCU were left out of the playoff.
Connor Cook is another impressive quarterback in this game and he comes in after passing for 2900 yards and 22 touchdowns this season. The Spartans come in after a win against Penn State to end the season and they ranked in the top 15 in both points scored per game and allowed. MSU averaged 43 points per game this season and they were 15th in points against with 20 points allowed per game. Jeremy Langford has been excellent all year after rushing for 1360 yards and he comes in after putting up 118 on Penn State. Michigan State ends the season with three straight wins coming into this game and they previously had won six in a row before losing to Ohio State.
Petty had a great season with 3300 passing yards and 26 touchdowns to rank second in the Big 12 and he only threw six picks on the season. Petty and Cook are friendly and now they matchup against each other and this is a chance for Michigan State to end the year with a win after getting 10 victories in four of the last five seasons. Last year the team won in the Rose Bowl over Stanford and this year they will settle for the Cotton Bowl.
Check here for the Michigan State Spartans and Baylor Bears live coverage.
