Kickoff announced for Michigan State versus Penn State in Week 12

Michigan State will look to win back the Land Grant Trophy from Penn State on Nov. 15 when the Spartans host the Nittany Lions in their final game at Spartan Stadium this season. Kick time was announced by the Big Ten on Monday afternoon and the game will start at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time with the network broadcast being carried on CBS after the network finally announced the decision on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 9.

MSU last played against PSU on Nov. 24, 2023 with the Black Friday matchup being played in primetime at Ford Field. The Spartans accepted the inconvenient arrangement from the Big Ten as required by the massive media rights deal former Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren struck with networks and was approved by conference university leadership at the time and moved the game indoors in Detroit for fan comfort. Unfortunately, the product on the field offered little to match the climate-controlled atmosphere as the Nittany Lions blanked the Spartans 42-0 in front of an announced crowd of 51,297.

The Spartans are coming off a tough overtime loss at Minnesota this past weekend. Critical errors combined with embarressing officiating in overtime doomed MSU to a sixth-straight loss as the team remains winless in conference play. MSU enters Week 11 on a bye before hosting PSU. The Spartans will need to win out in order to clinch bowl eligibility for the first time since 2021.

The Nittany Lions, meanwhile, host No. 2 Indiana at Beaver Stadium this Saturday following a 38-14 loss at No. 1 Ohio State this past weekend. The loss was PSU's fifth straight and comes under interim head coach Terry Smith. Penn State currently sits at 3-5 on the season and 0-5 in Big Ten play. A win by either team next week will likely be the first in league play as PSU is a roughly 14-point underdog to IU.

As for the overall series against Penn State, the Spartans fell to 18-19-1 all time against the Nittany Lions with 2023's loss. Michigan State is currently looking to snap a two-game losing streak in the series. PSU holds an 18-10 advantage in conference matchups as well. The teams compete for the Land Grant Trophy each meeting as Big Ten members, the hulking monstrosity constructed from seemingly random garage components harvested from old bowling trophies craftsmen found lying around and in honor of the two institutions being the oldest land grant schools in the country, despite the claims Kansas State likes to make being the first university founded after the 1862 Morrill Act. The reality is of course that MSU was the first school founded on the very model that inspired the Morrill Act and thus has the true claim as the first land grant agricultural school in the United States no matter what the Wildcats want to claim.