This is Michigan State's biggest game since ____?

Michigan State hasn't been to the Rose Bowl since the 1987 season. This is the first time it has begun the season with eight wins since 1966.

On Saturday, the 8-0 Spartans play at Iowa. If it wins, it has three games left. Those are home games with Minnesota and Purdue (almost-sure victories) and a regular-season finale at Penn State.

So today is big for MSU. Large. Enormous. Its biggest game since, well, since a long time ago.

What can I give you before you make your way to Kinnick Stadium or your television set/radio/computer? Well, here are a few unrelated items involving Spartans and Hawkeyes.

Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press says there's no way MSU Coach Mark Dantonio should play defensive back Chris L. Rucker today, though Dantonio said the decision is Rucker's.

Rucker had just served eight days in jail after pleading guilty to reckless driving. That was a violation of his probation from an arrest stemming from an altercation last year on the MSU campus.

Wrote Rosenberg: Now Dantonio has a choice. He could have -- should have -- let everybody know that in order to play at MSU, you need to be more than just legally available.

Instead, Dantonio is letting Rucker decide whether he will travel to Iowa City. Maybe that's a clever way for MSU to let Rucker suspend himself, so that everybody can say, "See? He learned from the situation." But Dantonio should have suspended Rucker for at least one more game. That would have sent a message, not just to fans, but to the team: We have standards here, and we won't sacrifice them no matter how big the stakes get.

David Harris at isportsweb.com disagrees in this essay. Harris writes:

Does Dantonio owe us fans some explanation? I'd say yes. Does he owe it to us right now, this instant? I'd say no. Being coy about Rucker's situation can be an important strategic piece and Dantonio doesn't want to tip his hand to his upcoming opponent. I'd like to hear what criteria Dantonio uses in these instances to make his decisions. I'd like to make sure they match the majority of Spartan Nation's opinion as to these matters. But I can wait. And I can trust Dantonio's judgment. In this fan's opinion, Mark Dantonio has earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to making decisions like these. He has done a good enough job in my mind at parsing out justice and making tough choices when confronted with situations like this in the past. ...

As of Friday, Rucker will have been suspended for 18 days, will have spent 8 of them in jail, and he will have missed two important Big 10 football games. THAT is a punishment. A big-time punishment for a senior. Don't lose track of that. He has fulfilled his legal obligations and has served his time in the Ingham County Jail.

Here's a Friday night Tweet from Lisa Byington of WLNS-TV in Lansing:

@LisaByington Just met #MSU fb team in Iowa. Chris L Rucker traveled.#Spartans huddled around him walking into hotel so cameras cudnt get clean shot

In other news, Michigan State signed a three-game contract with Boise State. They'll meet in the 2012 season-opener for both in East Lansing, then will have a home-and-home in 2022 and 2023.

Good for both of them. Boise State clearly wants to play big-time nonconference teams, and is accepting a two-for-one to do it here, and Michigan State is adding to a plenty-difficult Big Ten schedule by taking on the Broncos.

Andre Rison was a very good wide receiver at Michigan State, and was the same thing in the NFL. He told the Flint Journal that MSU's top four wideouts are good. How good?

"You got K-Mart (Keshawn Martin), you got Marky D (Mark Dell) - I have nicknames for all of them, you have B.J. (Cunningham) and then you got Big Nich (Keith Nichol)," said Rison. "Collectively, all together, they're definitely the best quartet of receivers in the Big Ten. And in my eyes, they're the best quartet in the country."

Football was played Friday night in Florida. Iowa recruit Jake Rudock of Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas (8-0) completed 11 of 14 passes for 147 yards and three touchdowns in his team's 56-6 win over Deerfield Beach.

Rudock's team clinched a state playoff berth the week before with its 56-0 win over McArthur.