So Bama's beatdown of the Spartans in 2011 inspired them to improve, and now they get to see how they measure up.
"The last three years, there's been a tremendous amount of success," Dantonio said. "You know, when you look at the big scheme of things, in 2013, we sort of climbed our way to the Rose Bowl, won the Rose Bowl, ended up No. 3. Last year we had two very big games that were against what I would call heavyweights at that point in time that played for the National Championship, and we were ahead in both of those games but eventually lost to them. So the drive was to get farther, and the drive was to play better on a big stage.
"So now here we are in the College Football Playoff. We've got exactly the opportunity that we've worked so hard for since last February, and we're going to see if we measure up. Alabama has certainly had a football team that's been in that situation before, so they know what to expect. We're sort of new on the scene in that type of thing."
Total Members: