Rivalries are an exciting thrill to the players and the crowd regarding sporting competitions. Some examples of these rivalries are teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers/Baltimore Ravens, the Yankees/Red Sox, and Michigan/Ohio State. The fanbases surrounding these teams are the most exciting parts of these games because they keep bantering back and forth between each other proving that their team is the best there is. The most popular rivalry of all time are two college teams which are the Michigan State Spartans and Michigan Wolverines. In the fall season, Michigan passed expectations, proved they could beat MSU in football, and later won the national championship. On the other hand, basketball is the sport that MSU has shown to be better at. That’s why there are a variety of sports in all colleges because one college could be bad at one sport and be better at a different sport.

In comparison, MSU is currently at a better spot in basketball than Michigan. MSU is ranked 5th in the Big Ten and was previously at a record of 17-9 with a conference record of 9-6. They got on a rocky start at the beginning of their season when they were having a bad time figuring out how to win the games because they would lose every other game. Later throughout the middle of the season, Malik Hall and Tyson Walker would be very helpful to the success they are having right now. Malik and Tyson would be the two top scorers of the MSU team averaging around 15 points a game. When the time came for both teams to face off against each other, MSU ended up beating Michigan with a score of 73-63. Tyson put up 19 points with Malik also helping by scoring 18 points. 

In addition, the Michigan Wolverines are among the teams of many that are having a rough season. The Wolverines are ranked very last in the Big Ten placing at the 14th spot with a losing record. Michigan was previously sitting at a record of 8-17 and a conference record of 3-11 before they played MSU. At the start of their season, they were able to get some wins and looked to have a hopeful season. But as it turned out, their starters looked as if they did not want to play and kept on losing games. There was one point when Michigan coach Juwan Howard threatened to play their walk-ons after Michigan had their 10th loss in the past 11 games. One of the main reasons why Michigan’s team started going downhill was because of Hunter Dickinson’s transfer to the Kansas Jayhawks. The past seasons with Hunter have shown that they were able to pull off successful winning seasons but with their loss, Michigan has lost its momentum. 

All in all, MSU was the better team in this matchup and has shown Michigan to step up their game and get better. Even without Hunter Dickinson, Michigan would need to have better team chemistry instead of having players not playing as they should. Many people have also speculated that since it was a home game for the Wolverines, it should give them an advantage. Unfortunately, that theory was crushed and MSU was able to beat Michigan in their home arena for a long time which was 5 years ago. The other possible cause for the Wolverine’s loss could be the absence of Terrance Williams II due to an illness. The possibility of him participating in this game could have given Michigan more points but they still would have lost. The rest of MSU’s season looks to have them winning some of their games and making it to the Big Ten and NCAA tournament. However, Michigan looks to end off their season in their last few games and by not participating in any tournaments. Hopefully, Michigan can pick up their pace next year and be able to compete at a higher level.