By beating
Penn State on Saturday, Michigan State secured a share of its first
Big Ten title in 20 years.  It was a big game, but it was far from
Michigan State’s biggest. 

 
The biggest game in the Spartans’
long history wasn’t one of their 30 victories over Michigan, their
six national title-clinching contests or their three Rose Bowl triumphs.   

No, the biggest game in Michigan
State history was against Notre Dame in 1966 – and it wasn’t a victory.   

A lot of history went into
that contest.  Both schools had leveraged their football success
to raise the profile and prestige of their universities.  Both
wanted desperately to get into the Big Ten, but Notre Dame was blocked
in the twenties by Michigan’s first big-time coach, Fielding Yost,
while Michigan State was blocked in the forties by Michigan’s second
big-time coach, Fritz Crisler.   

Notre Dame finally said, to
heck with you guys, and went off on its own to become the only independent
power with a national following.  But Michigan State knew independence
wouldn’t work as well for a state school.  So the Spartans kept
asking the Big Ten to let them in.  Watching this unfold, the Irish
concluded: Any enemy of our enemy must be a friend of ours.   

Thus, in 1948, the Irish told
the Spartans, Sure, for the first time in 27 years, we’ll play you. 
And they’ve kept doing it all but four years since.   

The rivalry gave the Spartans
added credibility, helping them win national titles in 1951 and 1952. 
The next year, when the Big Ten finally let the Spartans join, they
celebrated by taking the league title in their first year.    

The Irish had to wonder if
boosting their friends to national prominence had perhaps worked too
well.  Since the Irish had won their last national title in 1949,
the Spartans had won five.  

It all came to a head on November
19^th, 1966, in East Lansing.  The radicalism that had
already started growing in Ann Arbor, Madison and Berkeley hadn’t
yet reached East Lansing or South Bend.  Most students there were
not yet focused on the draft or civil rights, but football.   

The game attracted 8,000 more
fans than Spartan Stadium had seats – and for good reason.  Before
kick-off, the pundits were already calling it, “The Game of the Century.” 
Notre Dame entered the game undefeated, and ranked number one in one
poll.  The Spartans were also undefeated, and ranked number one
in the other poll.  

The nation would be watching
– or trying to.  In those days, colleges were allowed only one
national telecast per season, and both teams had already used theirs
up.  But interest in the “Game of the Century” was so great,
fans in the South and West wrote over 50,000 letters to ABC.  Can
you imagine people today writing 50,000 letters – not emails — to
anyone, about anything?   

It worked – sort of. 
ABC agreed to show the game on tape delay – which, before the advent
of the internet and cell phones, still allowed most fans to watch it
hours later without knowing who had actually won.   

State scored first, and took
a 10-7 lead into half-time.  In the second half, Notre Dame managed
to kick a field goal – just was enough to tie the game.  The
Irish got the ball back on their own thirty yard-line, with a minute
left and a chance to win the game.  

But instead of playing to win,
Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian started running out the clock. 
The crowd booed lustily, but Parseghian stuck to his guns.  There
was no overtime then, and he knew a tie would not cost the Irish a chance
at another national title, the way Notre Dame’s narrow loss to Southern
California the previous season had given the crown to Michigan State.  

Not this time. When Notre Dame
swamped Southern California the next weekend, 51-0, Parseghian won his
first national title – but he’s been answering for his decision
ever since.   

The Spartans earned a share
of the national title, too.  But don’t feel sorry for either
team.  They played ten games each, tied one, and shared a national
title.  Feel sorry for Alabama’s Bear Bryant, whose team won
the SEC title, won the Sugar Bowl, didn’t lose to or tie anyone —
and won nothing.  

And that’s the story of the
Game of the Century – the biggest game any college team ever… tied.