After the craziness that was week 14 in college football, there is quite a bit of debate as to who should play in the BCS National Championship Game.

This weekend, most of the teams involved in the discussion are playing in their conference championship games.No. 1 Florida State is a heavy favorite over No. 20 Duke, No. 2 Ohio State has a tough matchup against No. 10 Michigan State and No. 3 Auburn faces off against No. 5 Missouri.

Many think Auburn, who is coming off a stunning last second upset over previously top-ranked Alabama, should jump Ohio State if they beat Missouri this Saturday, regardless of the result between Ohio State and Michigan State.

Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio has differing views though.  When asked about the BCS circumstances surrounding Saturday’s matchup, Dantonio came right out by saying, “I do believe, if Ohio State should win, that they should represent in the National Championship Game.”

However, Dantonio did not only lobby for why Ohio State would deserve a National Title nod.  He threw his own team into the mix.

If Michigan State should win the Big Ten Championship Game and finish the season 12-1, Dantonio simply asked the media Tuesday morning, “Why not us?”

Most people would say that he is crazy for thinking Michigan State can be thrown in that discussion, but he has a solid point if you look at all the scenarios under a microscope. Michigan State, along with the Big Ten as a whole, has received a lot of doubt due to a perceived weak schedule.

Max Bullough answered those doubters by saying, “We play some of the best offenses in the country.  We just make them look bad sometimes so you don’t think they’re that great.”

This brings up an interesting debate, mainly asking are there any misconceptions in the strength of conferences?

So let’s get hypothetical, shall we?

Now obviously for the discussion to even happen, Michigan State needs a solid victory over Ohio State on Saturday.  Simply a victory won’t just be enough though.  They would likely need a resounding victory, showing off their top-ranked defense by stopping a high-powered Buckeyes offense led by Braxton Miller.

That takes care of the second-ranked team, but the top-ranked Seminoles would also have to be upset by Duke in the ACC Title Game.

Missouri would then need to take down third-ranked Auburn, another possible result. Other teams ranked ahead of Michigan State, who are in play this Saturday, are Oklahoma State, Baylor, and Stanford.

All three teams face ranked opponents, Oklahoma State playing Oklahoma, Baylor playing Texas and Stanford playing Arizona State.

Out of these three, I believe Oklahoma State is the only team the Spartans NEED to lose.

Beyond that, Baylor recently was blown out by aforementioned Oklahoma State and Stanford has two losses. After that, who knows, crazier things have happened.

But all these are just hypotheticals, and Dantonio knows that his guys need to focus on getting the victory Saturday before any magic can happen.

Dan Tyler is the host of Spartan Red Zone for Impact Sports

Photo: Michigan State Athletics