Tags: National Collegiate Athletic Association Team Season.
The 1996 Michigan State Spartans football team competed on behalf of Michigan State University in the Big Ten Conference during the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. Head coach Nick Saban was in his second season with the Spartans. Michigan State played their home games at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing Michigan. The Spartans went 6–5 overall and 5–3 in conference play during the regular season. The team played in the Sun Bowl on December 31 1996 and were defeated 0–38 by Stanford.