. In 2015, Dantonio became the first head coach in Big Ten history to achieve at least 11 wins in five of six seasons. On December 6, 2015, it was revealed that Dantonio's Spartans qualified for the College Football Playoff for the first time in the program's history. The Spartans were the No. 3 seed in the Playoff and faced Alabama in the 2015 Cotton Bowl, but lost 38–0.