The disappointment of the bowl rout to Alabama aside, Michigan State shouldn't be unhappy with a final ranking of 14th in the Associated Press poll. The Spartans finished one spot ahead of the "other MSU" - Mississippi State. When history looks back at 2010, it will see that the Spartans beat Michigan, Notre Dame and Penn State in the same season, and that the Spartans did have a signature victory over Wisconsin, which placed No. 7 in the final AP Poll. There was a lot more good than bad for the Spartans football in 2010.

Random Thoughts

- Who would have thought at this stage of January, the Spartans' football team would be rated in the Top 25, and not the basketball team. Yet, who doesn't expect Tom Izzo's squad to make a long tournament run in March? It's all about peaking at the right time.

- Brad Penny is a quality pitcher and should help the Tigers - if he is healthy. It's good the one-year contract, reportedly worth $3 million guaranteed, is incentive-laden. If healthy, Penny could easily win 12-to-15 games for the Tigers. If healthy, Penny would be a significant upgrade from Armando Galarraga as the fifth starter.
But look, in that relatively short paragraph, how many times "Penny" and "if healthy" were mentioned. The knock on Penny is that, just when you start to depend on him, he breaks down. Happened just last year in St. Louis.