Nebraska opens Big Ten play by walking into East Lansing, where a Michigan State program that just blew up its coaching staff is trying to figure out who it even is anymore.
Bush’s Picks
NEBMSU
NEBMSU
OverUnder
Best BetNebraska
Nebraska brings a coach in year 4 with continuity at the top, while Michigan State is starting fresh under Pat Fitzgerald after a 4-15 stretch got Jonathan Smith fired. The Huskers also have the head-to-head edge, having won in Lincoln last season. Backing Nebraska to win outright here is the straightforward read given the gap in program stability.
Nebraska
+Back-to-back winning seasons under Matt Rhule
+Beat Michigan State 38-27 in Lincoln last year
+Added O-line and pass-rush talent via portal
−Lost starting QB Raiola to Oregon transfer
−2025 collapsed late, lost bowl game by 22
−New QB Colandrea unproven at Big Ten level
Michigan State
+New OC Nick Sheridan installing modern spread offense
+Added proven portal RB Cam Edwards
−Fired Jonathan Smith after 4-15 two-year stretch
−Finished 2025 at 1-8 in Big Ten play
−ESPN ranked MSU last of 18 Big Ten teams
Nebraska heads into this one under a new center of gravity at quarterback. Dylan Raiola, who threw for over 2,000 yards on 72.4% passing before a season-ending fibula fracture last October, is gone — he transferred to Oregon after what's been described as a messy break with the program. In his place, Rhule brought in UNLV transfer Anthony Colandrea, the reigning Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, as the presumed starter. Michigan State's quarterback picture is even murkier: redshirt sophomore Alessio Milivojevic took over the job late last season and benched incumbent Aidan Chiles (who's since left for Northwestern), but UCF transfer Cam Fancher is in the building to push him.
The bigger story in East Lansing is the sideline, not the quarterback room. Michigan State fired Jonathan Smith in late November after a 4-15 stretch that bottomed out at 1-8 in Big Ten play, and replaced him with Pat Fitzgerald, the former Northwestern coach settling into his first job since his own program's hazing scandal. New offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan is scrapping Smith's pro-style approach for a modern spread, which means this Spartans team is installing a new offense with a new coach in year one. Nebraska, by contrast, gets to lean on continuity — Rhule's staff added portal pieces on both lines and at linebacker rather than blowing the whole thing up, though the market still reads Michigan State as the extreme underdog here.
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Spread
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NEB Nebraska
MSU Michigan State
History says not to sleep on this series regardless of who's rebuilding — the last five meetings between these two have all been decided by 5 points or fewer, including Nebraska's 38-27 win in Lincoln last October. That competitiveness is worth remembering before assuming this is a laugher just because one program is starting over.
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Sep 19?vs North Dakota—
Sep 12?vs Bowling Green—
Sep 5?vs Ohio—
Michigan State Spartans
Sep 19?@ Notre Dame—
Sep 12?vs Eastern Michigan—
Sep 4?vs Toledo—
Recent form.
Nebraska closed 2025 at 7-6 after an ugly finish — a 6-2 start unraveled down the stretch and ended with a 44-22 Las Vegas Bowl loss to Utah. It was still Rhule's second straight winning season, and the roster additions (O-line transfers from LSU, Iowa State and South Carolina, portal pass-rushers and linebackers) suggest a program trying to build depth rather than just plug one hole. Michigan State has no such recent success to point to — ESPN slotted the Spartans dead last among 18 Big Ten teams entering 2026, and a defense that managed just 22 sacks a year ago still has to prove it can get after opposing quarterbacks.
Nebraska Cornhuskers
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Michigan State Spartans
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
This is Nebraska's Big Ten opener, and with a brutal back half of the schedule still ahead — Ohio State and Oregon among the tests waiting later in the year — a clean start on the road matters. For Michigan State, it's about establishing any kind of identity under Fitzgerald before the schedule gets harder. Two programs pointed in very different directions collide early, and how each side handles that gap will say a lot about where both are actually headed in 2026.
