Michigan State head coach Mark Diantonio thinks only conference champs should go to the playoffs. The Spartans coach admitted during his weekly media press conference earlier on Tuesday that while it's only his opinion he believes "you should be the champion of your league before you can be the champion of the country."

Michigan State head coach Mark Diantonio thinks only conference champs should go to the playoffs. The Spartans coach admitted during his weekly media press conference earlier on Tuesday that while it's only his opinion he believes "you should be the champion of your league before you can be the champion of the country."

More from Diantonio:

"We can't say, 'Hey, let's try and go 11-1 and not be in the championship game, and then we'll get into the playoffs.' I don't think it should work like that. That's just my opinion. My vision is that you should be the champion of your league before you can be the champion of the country. That would be my vision if I was doing it. It might not happen like that."

The Spartans host Wyoming on Saturday for their final non-conference game before kicking off a Big Ten schedule the following week. Dantonio said his comments Tuesday shouldn't come as indication that there's less value in winning the Big Ten:

"We need to win the Big Ten championship. That's our goal. Then you springboard past that. Maybe it is like basketball a little bit where if you don't get to the Final Four, maybe it's not as successful."

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- Marc Weinreich