REPORT: MSU-UM Rivalry Gets Laughably Overlooked

Michigan State's rivalry with Michigan was not included on a list of top college rivalries. We discuss why that's absurd.

Michigan State's Tre Holloman, center, pushes Michigan's L.J. Cason, left, and Phat Phat Brooks, right, back off the Spartans logo as senior teammates prepare to kiss the floor during the second half on Sunday, March 9, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There's no doubt that Michigan State football's rivalry with Michigan takes a backseat to the Wolverines' rivalry with Ohio State, one of the biggest rivalries there is in sports.

But the Spartans' rivalry with Michigan -- regardless of sport -- is one that is overlooked.

That was evident in 247Sports' Brad Crawford's recent list of "10 most-heated rivalries in college sports."

Here were his selections:

1. Michigan-Ohio State (Football)

2. Duke-North Carolina (Basketball)

3. Army-Navy (Football)

4. Alabama-Auburn (Football)

5. Texas-Oklahoma (Football)

6. Alabama-LSU (Football)

7. Ole Miss-Mississippi State (Football)

8. Kentucky-Louisville (Basketball)

9. Georgia-Florida (Football)

10. Pitt-West Virginia (Football)

Here's the thing. While all of these rivalries deserve the consideration, notice how they all pertain to a certain sport. The discussion is "college sports," and Michigan State and Michigan's rivalry stretches across all sports, particularly in football and basketball, and you can even throw hockey in there, as those meetings present bitter showdowns as well.

Michigan State and Michigan haven't been on the same level on the gridiron for some time now, but nonetheless, their meeting every fall is always a highly anticipated matchup for both fandoms. And every so often, the two programs do find themselves both ranked when they collide. Fans usually get quite a treat when that is the case.

But the rivalry on the hardwood is fierce as well. The Spartans have been blue bloods in college basketball under Tom Izzo's reign, and Michigan is a historically success program in hoops as well.

Heck, just look at this year. They were perhaps the two best teams in the Big Ten, with Michigan State winning the conference's regular season title and Michigan winning the Big Ten Tournament title. We were just a Michigan win away from seeing the in-state rivals face off in the Elite Eight.

Not to mention, their lasting memory of one another was a scuffle at midcourt, which went viral in the world of sports.

Is that not enough? Let's look at the ice rink. Last year, the schools' hockey teams faced off in both the Big Ten Tournament Championship and the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the Spartans winning the former and the Wolverines prevailing in the latter.

Michigan State and Michigan's rivalry is not limited to one sport, unlike most of the others on Crawford's list. There's no love lost whenever or wherever these schools face off.

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