MSU football lands near the bottom in CBS Sports’ 138-team preseason poll

CBS Sports’ preseason national poll of all 138 FBS teams has Michigan State football listed near the bottom of the overall order, reflecting how the outlet’s writers view the Spartans entering the season. The ranking places MSU in the lowest tier of expectations among Big Ten programs, where preseason evaluations often become a proxy for how voters project roster continuity, production, and coaching stability into the year.

The CBS Sports list is built from votes collected from writers included in the outlet’s preseason poll, so the outcome is less a statement of “where the Spartans are guaranteed to finish” and more an indication of national perception. In college football, those perceptions matter most early, when a team’s margin for error is typically slimmer than it looks on paper, and when non-conference results and early conference games can reshape the narrative quickly.

For Michigan State, being placed near the bottom changes the tone of the season before the Spartans have played a down. That matters because preseason bottom-of-the-table labels tend to influence how opponents manage preparation (more emphasis on confirming weaknesses than testing new wrinkles), how fans calibrate expectations, and how the media frames every late-season correction as either progress or “catch-up.”

At the same time, preseason polls can be particularly volatile for programs whose outcomes depend on takeaways, quarterback development, and depth at key positions across an unforgiving fall schedule. A team can be ranked low nationally and still be capable of challenging for wins inside its own division, especially if early games produce the kind of confidence that turns close contests into separable results.

Michigan State’s placement in the CBS Sports poll also adds to a broader preseason picture for the Big Ten, where the league’s most visible teams typically draw the most top-tier attention. In that landscape, MSU’s task becomes twofold: win enough games to force reassessment and then keep building momentum once conference results start to determine bowl and postseason pathways.

What to watch next is how the Spartans translate preseason respect, or the lack of it, into the fundamentals that preseason rankings often fail to capture. Early indicators include whether MSU can sustain drives, protect the football, and perform in high-leverage moments. If the Spartans keep those areas trending upward, the preseason ranking will look less predictive and more like a starting point for an underdog story that unfolds through the schedule.