Spartan Savants

Take a listen back at our first live game watch from Thursday's loss to Illinois.

Plenty to talk about with MSU this week, and the Spartan Savants are diving into all that and more. In this episode, we'll talk about some recent football news, the unfortunate reality of the CFP national championship, the Lions-Cowboys conspiracy, some important injuries for the Spartan basketball team, and give some MSU-themed New Year Resolutions.

2:23 MSU Football Notes
2:39 Jacoby Windmon Declares for the NFL Draft
4:30 Will Any Spartans Get Drafted?
6:05 Updating Football Transfer Portal Targets
15:30 Another Coaching Hire 17:45 College Football Playoff Talk
21:18 PSA: Michigan Fans Are Absurd
26:16 Washington vs. Michigan
31:00 Lions vs. Cowboys
31:22 The NFL Lied, Decker WAS Eligible
39:45 MSU Basketball Talk: Thoughts From Indiana State Win
44:55 Jaxon Kohler Set to Return
47:30 Jeremy Fears
49:30 Tre Holloman Breakout Season
51:33 MSU New Year Resolutions
58:12 Weekly Picks

Go Green!

Positive vibes all around on this episode of the Spartan Savants. Jonathan Smith continues to kill it as he rebuilds the football program, and the basketball team finally had the game we've been waiting for. The Savants discuss all that and more as we enter the early signing period and a stretch of winnable games on the court.

2:00 Assessing New Additions to the MSU Football Staff
10:42 Spartans Land Big-Time Transfer in Aidan Chiles
24:40 Expected Commitments and Other Recruiting Talk
36:30 Is Spartan Basketball Back?
46:30 Resetting Expectations for the Basketball Team ... Again 5
7:20 Best & Worst MSU Sports Moments of 2023
1:07:53 Weekly Picks

The MSU Basketball Team is struggling, but we're powering through. This week, the Spartan Savants share their thoughts on the basketball team's performance so far, Aidan Chiles as a possible MSU quarterback, the still vacant defensive coordinator role, the transfer portal, and the College Football Playoff field.

0:25 Time to Panic About MSU Basketball
15:25 Aidan Chiles
26:42 Defensive Coordinator Candidates
41:05 Transfer Portal Talk
45:28 Predicting Where Transfer QBs Will Land
1:04:33 College Football Playoff
1:17:00 Weekly Game Picks

We have a new football coach! Michigan State has hired Jonathan Smith as the program's 26th head coach, and the Spartan Savants have thoughts to share on the hire, his coaching staff, the transfer portal, the basketball team, and more. Disclaimer: Some situations regarding committed recruits and coaching options have changed since we recorded.

1:55 MSU Basketball
10:00 Is it time to adjust our expectations?
13:13 Football Finale Vs Penn State
16:40 MSU Hires Jonathan Smith
31:45 Defensive Coordinator Candidates
37:57 Where does Harlon Barnett Fit?
42:30 Transfer Portal
49:37 Quarterback Talk
1:06:54 College Football Playoff
1:22:55 Weekly Picks

Disclaimer: Did not get to edit this week again so please enjoy another raw and uncut episode of the Spartan Savants. Viewer/listener discretion advised. This week, esteemed MSU alums Travis Tyler (Uncle T), Winston Urwiller, and Nick Homberg discuss the latest news around the MSU football and basketball programs and dive into some more aspects of the college football season.
0:00 Intro/Spartans Will
2:30 MSU Football vs. Indiana Recap
7:15 MSU vs. Penn State Football Season Finale
15:30 Latest updates on Football Coaching Search
19:42 MSU Basketball Talk
23:23 MSU vs. Arizona Thanksgiving Basketball Preview
26:25 Would You Rather: Lions beat Packers on Thanksgiving to get to 9-2 or MSU Win Thanksgiving Basketball Game Against Arizona?
29:04 About Last Week's Episode (Season 1, Episode 8)
30:00 College Football Playoff and Heisman Talk
35:00 Weekly Football Picks

We have a win to celebrate this week and our first official guest since the rebrand! Friend of the show and esteemed MSU alum Mike Messemer joins the show as we discuss the latest news around the Spartans football team, the MSU football head coaching search, and the season outlook for the Spartans on the basketball court.

2:23 Football News
2:40 Should Sam Leavitt Redshirt?
9:05 We Won A Game!
18:56 MSU vs. Ohio State Preview
28:35 Coaching Talk
45:55 We lost to James Madison???
50:00 Rest of the Season Basketball Outlook
53:25 Basketball Expectations
57:28 Basketball Season Predictions
1:13:48 Champions Classic vs Duke Preview
1:16:37 Weekly Football Picks

We're back after some technical difficulties last week. This time we're diving into the growing case of football season depression after losses to Michigan and Minnesota, preview Saturday's game against Nebraska, talk about the Michigan cheating scandal and some coaching positivity (that has since faded away as quickly as it appeared)

1:40 Thoughts from the Last 2 Games
15:00 Barnett Press Conference Quotes/Thoughts
16:49 Quarterback Carousel
27:35 Nebraska Preview
37:30 Connor Stalions and the Michigan Cheaters
58:25 Coaching Talk
1:17:50 Weekly Picks

IT'S RIVALRY WEEK!!! Plenty of stuff has happened over the last 48 hours in the MSU-Michigan rivalry. Unfortunately, we recorded this before any of that news broke, so we were left to fill in some gaps with effects. Anyway, this week we recap another horrendous loss and monumental collapse against Rutgers, preview the upcoming bloodbath against Michigan, talk about the worst things about the Wolverines, and make our weekly picks.
1:30 Recovering from another bad loss
4:20 Does Harlon Barnett bring enough animation to his press conferences?
7:18 The Dantonio Effect
11:30 New football commit
14:05 Jaxon Kohler injury
17:00 Coaching Rumors
19:10 Rutgers Recap
26:30 Penalties Are A Problem
29:08 The Houser Factor
39:23 Barnett's Sideline Demeanor
45:58 -99 Combined Spread Against Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State
48:05 Michigan Preview
1:01:00 Can We Win?
1:04:00 SD4L
1:07:30 Worst Things About the Michigan Wolverines
1:24:00 Picks

Spartan football is back with a road game against Rutgers. We'll discuss some notable news and notes from the bye week, preview the upcoming game against the Scarlet Knights, dive into the outlook for the rest of the season and the possibility of making a bowl game, and give some hot takes on the rest of the MSU football season.

1:55 Bye Week News & Notes
2:18 Will we see a new starting quarterback on Saturday?
5:48 Katin Houser
10:08 Transfer Portal
14:46 How many more will leave?
18:15 Injury Updates
18:47 The Maliq Carr Factor
22:15 Rutgers Preview
34:30 Outlook for the Rest of the Season
41:00 Could Harlon Barnett be the next head football coach?
45:15 Would You Rather: Make a Bowl Game or Beat Michigan/Ohio State/Penn State and Miss a Bowl?
49:00 Hot Takes
51:55 Weekly Picks