EAST LANSING – Mark Dantonio learned Michigan State was a big underdog according to betting lines headed to Ohio State this weekend.

A grin started to spread across his face.

“It's gone to 16, huh?” he said with a nod, drawing a chuckle from reporters.

It’s right where Dantonio and the Spartans have been at their best. In so many ways.

From missing a bowl game to contending for a Big Ten title. It’s a remarkable one-year transformation for MSU. And Dantonio knows what’s at stake for the 16th-ranked Spartans when they travel to No. 11 Ohio State this week (noon, Fox). He’s been there before.

In Ohio Stadium. In the hunt for a championship. In a meaningful November game against the Buckeyes. In the role of being heavily doubted with large, looming odds stacked against the Spartans.

Yet MSU still maintains its own fate. Win Saturday, and the Spartans could be headed back to Indianapolis.

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“We have a lot to lose,” Dantonio said during his weekly press conference Tuesday. “We’re in control right now, so we do have a lot to lose. And we want to stay in control.”

The Spartans and Buckeyes are both 7-2 overall, with 5-1 Big Ten records. MSU lost 39-31 in triple-overtime at Northwestern on Oct. 28, with its other loss a 38-18 home defeat against No. 5 Notre Dame on Sept. 23. Ohio State got blown out Saturday at Iowa, 55-24, and the Buckeyes’ other loss was a 31-16 home defeat to No. 7 Oklahoma on Sept. 9.

MSU qualified for a bowl game last month after missing out for the first time in Dantonio’s tenure a year ago. That has helped alleviate some of the burden on the young Spartans to move past 2016, while bringing new pressures of competing for a championship again ahead of schedule.

“Everybody is excited about the next thing,” Dantonio said. “I think that's good for people. Sometimes it does keep us loose. … We've really not allowed things to get into our head too much. We've just said, ‘We've got to make these plays, and this is what we've got to do.’ And usually, there's some good and there's some bad – we certainly haven't played flawlessly.”

MSU and Ohio State have been part of four of the six Big Ten Championship Game since it began in 2011, including a head-to-head meeting won by the Spartans to get to the Rose Bowl in 2013 when the two schools were in different divisions.

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During the regular season, the visiting team has won each of the six meetings since 2008. That includes MSU’s stunning upset in 2015 at Ohio Stadium, when the Buckeyes were ranked No. 2 and the ninth-ranked Spartans were without injured quarterback Connor Cook. Michael Geiger’s winning kick as time expired gave the Spartans a 17-14 victory in the cold, wet, windy game.

“It’s what you come to Michigan State for, those big games, those big moments,” junior linebacker Andrew Dowell said Saturday. “Beating Michigan my freshman year, beating Ohio State in the Horseshoe my freshman year, which we look to go do again. … We know what's on the line. We know we have all of our dreams and goals that we want to accomplish in front of us. And all of us Ohio guys will be even more up for it.”

Since Urban Meyer arrived at Ohio State in 2012, the two teams have split their six games. Last year was one of the rare times when the game only meant something to the College Football Playoff-bound Buckeyes, but the struggling Spartans still nearly pulled off the upset before falling, 17-16.

“We’re a very smart team,” Meyer said during Tuesday’s Big Ten teleconference. “We understand what’s at stake to come back home and play against the other team that’s tied against us in first place. … They’re playing typical Michigan State, very good defense. They’ve just got some momentum right now.”

Coming off their 3-9 downturn, the Spartans have far surpassed outside expectations this season. Their defense is ranked No. 12 overall in the Football Bowl Subdivision, while they are third in the country at stopping the run (87.0 yards per game). MSU’s offense has taken flight the past two weeks, with sophomore quarterback Brian Lewerke passing for 845 yards and throwing 113 times against Northwestern and Penn State.

And the Spartans are brimming with confidence coming off the 27-24 upset of the Nittany Lions. With a chance to defy the Vegas odds once again this week.

“Where we're at right now is pretty much where we wanted to be – in control of our own situation, our destiny, I guess,” Dantonio said. “We at least can control some things. That's where you want to be in November. …

“I think that somebody said we're playing with house money. I don't know. So we'll just keep going.”

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.