Football and politics have a lot in common. For one, it’s wise not to believe the hype.

While polls are great indicators of depth in college football and political candidates alike, they can be misleading.

One outlier of both the Associated Press and USA Today lists is the significantly bolstered Michigan State. The Spartans have adjusted under head coach Mark Dantonio to avoid past pitfalls, such as penalties, blown leads, and off-field distractions.

With Dantonio beginning his third year in East Lansing, the Spartans are finally emerging from the middle of the pack and starting to nip at the heels of the Big Ten’s strongest title contenders.

Dantonio already has inklings that perhaps this season could be the year for the Spartans.

“Our goals will be a Big Ten championship, a BCS game, and we’ll move from there,” Dantonio said at the Big Ten media days in Chicago last month. “We’ll hope to continue with our consistency. Good things are happening. I’m very, very excited about this year.”

The upcoming football season marks the 10-year anniversary of when the 10-2 Spartans finished seventh in the nation and dramatically clinched a 37-34 Citrus Bowl victory thanks to former Spartan Paul Edinger’s 40-yard, game-winning kick against Florida.

The famous Big Ten-SEC game served as the starting block for Spartan wide receiver Plaxico Burress’ vault into the NFL. Similar to the 1999 Spartans, this year’s team is rich with deep wideout talent.

Fifth-year senior Blair White returns after leading the Spartans in receptions (43) and came in second in receiving yards (659). The All-Big Ten preseason pick finished second in the Big Ten in receiving yards per game with 71.0 as well and is backed up by sophomore Keshawn Martin.

A former high-school quarterback, Martin quickly became acclimated in his new position, seeing action in 10 games last year. He accounted for 234 all-purpose yards in 2008, and Dantonio plans to get the ball to Martin more this time around.

While Dantonio is set on wide receivers, the quarterback rivalry between sophomores Keith Nichol and Kirk Cousins continues to grip Spartan country.

“We’ll run the same offense for both quarterbacks,” Dantonio said. “Obviously, we look for something a guy does a little bit better than the others, but I don’t see any big wrinkles that we would change for one or the other.”

While the Spartan offense awaits its leader, the defense returns top linebacker Greg Jones. Last season, he led the Spartans in tackles with 127 (80 solo), ranking 17th nationally.

“I think he was a first-team All-Big Ten player last year,” Dantonio said. “He’s beginning to attract more attention, and that’s good for not only Michigan State, [but] Greg Jones, our defense, [and] the type of defense we run.”

The junior is on the watch list for three national awards — Butkus Award, Lombardi Award, and the Lott Trophy — and was named the Big Ten’s preseason Defensive Player.

“When I was told about it, I was very excited,” Jones said. “At the same time I was very surprised. There are so many other good defensive players here. … looking at that also, it is preseason, you know, the season isn’t here yet and nobody has done anything in training camp. But it’s definitely motivation to get better.”