NCAA football: Michigan State vs. Wisconsin - September 24, 2016

Michigan State quarterback Tyler O'Connor (7) prepares to take the field in the fourth quarter of their Big Ten football game against Wisconsin at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, on Saturday, September 24, 2016. Wisconsin won the game, 30-6.

(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

EAST LANSING -- A losing record after a Big Ten title under Mark Dantonio would have made for a shocking prediction heading into this Michigan State season.

But throughout Michigan State's last 63 years of football history, it's actually a surprisingly common occurrence.

Of Michigan State's six Big Ten titles before Dantonio's arrival, four were followed up by losing seasons the following year. Another was followed up by a 6-5-1 season.

The only outlier is 1966, when Michigan State went undefeated and won its second straight Big Ten title.

But other than that, Michigan State has a 20-32 record in years after pre-Dantonio Big Ten titles. Those five seasons have all featured a regression of three games or more:

• In 1953, Michigan State won the Big Ten and the Rose Bowl in its first season as a conference member, going 9-1. Biggie Munn stepped down after that season, and Michigan State went 3-6 the next year in Duffy Daugherty's first season.

• In 1966, Michigan State won its second straight Big Ten and national title, capped off by the Game of the Century tie. It came back next year with much of that team's core gone and went 3-7 overall.

• Michigan State broke a 13-year Big Ten title drought in 1978, finishing the year on a seven-game winning streak. It started 1979 on a three-game win streak, but then lost five straight and finished 5-6 in Darryl Rogers' last season.

• It wasn't a losing season, but Michigan State definitely took a downturn after breaking its 22-year Rose Bowl drought in 1988. The following year started 0-4-1. Spartans defensive coordinator Harlon Barnett, a member of that team, has referenced that stretch this season.

• George Perles won his second Big Ten title in 1990 by winning five straight to end the season, plus a bowl. He started the 1991 season on a five-game losing streak and finished 3-8.

Michigan State can still avoid a losing season following a Big Ten title if it can finish 4-1 or 5-0 in its last five games.

But it's 2016 season is already bearing a resemblance to those other post-Big Ten title years in another way: five-game losing streaks.

Before this season, Michigan State had lost five straight games in a season just six times in school history.

Three of those streaks came immediately after after Big Ten title seasons: 1967, 1979 and 1991. Another, in 1958, came after an 8-1 season.

Other numbers after Michigan State's loss to Maryland as it prepares to host Rutgers:

4: Times since 1995 that Michigan State has been an 18-point or more underdog entering a game, as it is on Saturday against Michigan. The Spartans won one of those games, 28-24 at No. 1 Ohio State in 1998, after coming in as 27.5-point underdogs.. They went 0-3 in the others: a 17-13 loss in 2006 at Penn State (19-point spread), a 61-7 loss at Penn State in 2002 (21-point spread) and a 50-10 home loss to Nebraska in 1995 (18-point spread).

270: Rushing yards for Michigan State against Maryland, marking a season-high. Its previous season high was 260 yards against Notre Dame. LJ Scott's 128 yards marked the second-highest single-game total of his career, behind only his 146 yards against Purdue last week. His 48-yard touchdown run in the first half marked the longest rush of his career.

134.4: All-purpose yards per game for R.J. Shelton, a figure that ranks No. 3 in the Big Ten and No. 26 in the country. Shelton had 181 all-purpose yards against Maryland, with seven catches for 89 yards and 92 yards on kickoff returns.

9: Number of true freshmen who have played for Michigan State this season. Two more joined the mix on Saturday: safety Kenney Lyke and linebacker Joe Bachie.