Michigan State football is listed as one of the worst teams in the Big Ten, according to the writers included in CBS Sports' preseason national poll.
CBS Sports has released their preseason 138 poll, which ranks every single FBS team in college football. The Spartans, to no surprise, came in as one of the lowest ranked Big Ten teams. Michigan State was ranked at No. 66 out of the 138 teams included in the poll.
Among Big Ten teams, Michigan State was only ahead of one team: Purdue at No. 82 nationally. Wisconsin and Rutgers weren't much further ahead of the Spartans at No. 60 and No. 62.
Here is where each of the teams on the Spartans' schedule landed in the preseason poll:
- Toledo - No. 107
- Eastern Michigan - No. 118
- Notre Dame - No. 3
- Nebraska - No. 33
- Wisconsin - No. 60
- Illinois - No. 29
- Northwestern - No. 48
- UCLA - No. 42
- Michigan - No. 15
- Washington - No. 19
- Oregon - No. 2
- Rutgers - No. 62
Based on the rankings alone, Michigan State is only ranked ahead of two teams: Toledo and Eastern Michigan. So hopefully, these ranks aren't forecasting how the season plays out for the Spartans this fall.
NEW: The Preseason CBS Sports 138 dropped 🚨
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) August 12, 2026
Full 1-138 ranking entering 2026 season 🔗 https://t.co/vBMXXBhSoApic.twitter.com/c93TX8rhht
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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: MSU football listed near bottom of CBS Sports preseason poll