Things went bad for Michigan State in 2016 as the Spartans finished 3-9. Things aren't going well in 2017, either.

Mark Dantonio's class is currently ranked No. 31 in the country, which is only 14 spots behind Maryland.

It also just lost a target, two-star defensive tackle Joe Spivak, to a Northwestern walk-on offer.

From 247sports.com:

“Pretty much everyone was surprised,” Spivak said. “The word got out a little bit on Twitter that Michigan State offered. I got flooded with texts saying ‘You got to be taking that.’ I thought about it a lot and called Coach Fitz and said lets go win a Big Ten Championship.”

Hopefully for Spivak that Big Ten championship wasn't a deciding factor in his decision.