I think what this proves is how difficult it REALLY is to have the pressure of being top-ranked. MSU got the best shot of an above average Kentucky team on the road (it was close until the fourth quarter) and then Arkansas, who was improving.
Then they went on the road and faced a team that has more experience - by far - than anyone else playing BIG GAMES with big stakes. If they had played us a month earlier, MSU probably beats us. But that death-defying escape in Baton Rouge was just what we needed and the adrenaline came out in the next game.
Remember - when the pressure shifted in 2011, Oregon, Boise St, and Okie St all went down to inferior opponents. In 2012, the same thing happened to K-State and Oregon. And in 2013, it happened to Ohio State.
It happens. I'm still convinced our loss to ATM in 2012 had more to do with the LSU hangover than anything else.