Big Ten Basketball: In-depth look at Michigan-Michigan State rivalry
By Ryan Kay
Michigan State and Michigan are on a collision course to play in at least two epic games on Feb. 24th and Mar. 9th with a possible third game in the Big Ten Tournament. This season, these top-ranked rivals may have some amazing epic clashes.
64 Miles and just over an hour drive to separate the universities of Michigan State and Michigan. Taking the drive via US-23 to I-96 between the two schools is not the same 10-mile drive as the US-15 to US-501 route separating North Carolina and Duke.
However, the rivalry between the Spartans and Wolverines has been edging towards the same type of hype, excitement, and interest among the two fan bases and even nationally as that of the rivalry of Tar Heels and Blue Devils.
This season with both teams not just being the two favorites to win the Big Ten but it is also feasible that they both end the regular season ranked in the top 5. Both teams have played each other at least once since 1945 as they did not play each other in 1944 due to the events revolving around World War II.
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From that time in 1945 to now in those 127 meeting between the two rivals, Michigan State hold the slight edge with 65 victories to Michigan’s 62 wins (Some wins for Michigan were vacated due to NCAA Sanctions.
The rivalry became a conference rivalry in 1949 when Michigan State joined the Big Ten conference as Michigan was an original member of the Big Ten but left the conference before rejoining the Big Ten in 1917. The Spartan’s of Michigan State and the Wolverines of Michigan are archrivals and their in-state rivalry is very intense within the boundaries of the state of Michigan.