After three straight losses, does Michigan State still have a shot at a bowl game?

Michigan State has hit a rough patch in its schedule.

The Spartans are in the middle of a series of games that will pit them against several teams that are among the best in the country. Many of Michigan State’s opponents in recent weeks have been against top-25 teams. That will remain the case with some of the Spartans’ opponents after the bye week. Few teams in the country have a schedule as tough as Michigan State’s.

Although Michigan State has lost three games in a row, they started the season with three straight wins. This put them halfway through the six wins needed to qualify for an invitation to a bowl game. While many preseason bowl projections left out Michigan State, many began including the Spartans after their successful start to the season.

Normally, losing three games in a row would take a team out of college experts’ bowl game predictions. However, CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm recently released his updated bowl projections, and Michigan State was still listed as a team expected to make a bowl game. Palm has the Spartans staying close to home and playing in the Detroit Bowl.

Palm predicts Michigan State will face the Eastern Michigan Eagles of the Mid-American Conference.

Michigan State is now 3-3 on the season and 1-2 in Big Ten play, which is about where they should realistically be after the first six games. Outside of Boston College, which the Spartans faced without wide receiver Nick Marsh and numerous other players, Michigan State lost to an Ohio State team and an Oregon team that most would have assumed would fall.

While three-game losing streaks are never fun, coach Jonathan Smith and the Spartans need to keep everything in perspective. They’re not far from where they would probably prefer to be in Smith’s first season at the helm. Michigan State enters the bye week looking for answers and improvements.

Smith and his coaching staff must do everything they can to keep the team together in the coming weeks and deliver a solid end to the season. If they can, Michigan State will return to a bowl game for the first time in several seasons.

Don’t forget to follow the official Spartan Nation page on Facebook Spartan Nation WHEN YOU CLICK HEREand also be part of our vibrant community group Go Green Go White WHEN YOU CLICK HERE.