ESPN has accomplished it once more, people. Bill Connelly chose to insult the Spartans even further, especially Alessio Milivojevic, barely a week after Joe Lunardi predicted Michigan State as a 4-seed after defeating Purdue at Mackey Arena before passing out behind the wheel.
Due to the Spartans’ absence from a bowl game since 2021, it shouldn’t be too unexpected that Michigan State’s football team is once again predicted to be among the Big Ten’s worst. Although it has been five years since Michigan State’s last postseason football game, Pat Fitzgerald is ushering in a new era.
Even with the newfound sense of optimism surrounding the program, ESPN hasn’t stopped disrespecting MSU.
Connelly of ESPN recently released a ranking of every Power Four starting quarterback prior to spring ball, and his ranking of Milivojevic of Michigan State is honestly rather harsh.
Indeed, you are reading that correctly. Milivojevic is ranked 64th out of 68 beginning quarterbacks in the Power Four by ESPN as of the start of spring ball. The description was nearly as disrespectful as the rating, implying that, with Cam Fancher committing through the transfer portal, Milivojevic may not even have secured the starting position.
Milivojevic was also the cause of the Spartans being in a number of games late in the season, and Connelly added that he had a few “decent” performances in the last half.
Milivojevic is also rated below the quarterback he took over for in East Lansing.
Former Michigan State quarterbacks are getting far more respect
Perhaps Milivojevic would have gained greater respect in these rankings had he moved during the summer transfer window. This appears to be true for Aidan Chiles, who is currently nearly ten spots ahead of the quarterback who took over for him in 2025.
Chiles is ranked as the 57th best quarterback in the nation, and even though it’s tempting to criticize him and claim he should be lower than Milivojevic, this is a Bill Connelly issue, not a Chiles one.
For, um, reasons, Connelly has his backup quarterback from last season ranked higher than Milivojevic.
The former Spartan with the highest ranking on the list is Sam Leavitt, who comes in at number 14. You can bet that he won’t be received warmly back in Tempe anytime soon after switching from Arizona State to LSU this offseason.
No. 33 was Katin Houser. After playing for East Carolina for the last few years, he is now a member of Bret Bielema’s Illinois team. In fact, I believe that 33 might be a bit too low for him.
However, Milivojevic is still treated with more contempt than anyone else.
