Mel Tucker addresses what Michigan rivalry means to him, Michigan State

Michigan State and Michigan have been rival schools for many, many years, and their rivalry from an athletics perspective has become one of the best in all of college sports – especially in football. While the Spartans and Wolverines are both a part of the Big Ten Conference, they annually collide on the football field in a game that consistently generates a large viewership.

Looking back at the 2021 meeting between the two programs, Michigan State came out on top with a 37-33 win at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. While the contest was a thrilling affair that had the Spartans trailing 10-0 after the opening quarter and 23-14 at halftime, they were able to defend their home field and record the victory in front of 76,549 fans.

As the 2021 meeting proved to be a dandy, nearly every rivalry matchup between the two schools results in an instant classic. In a recent interview, Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker addressed what the Michigan State-Michigan rivalry means to him and his team.

“It’s not just another game and we embrace it,” Tucker said. “I talked about it in my introductory press conference that it was not just another game, it was the game we needed to win, so we act accordingly in all of our preparation, with the coaching staff, the players and the support staff. You know that everything is riding on that game.

“Again, that’s a game that you just need to win. You do prepare a little differently. I can sit here and say, hey it’s just another game and we go through our process the same way, but we spend quite a bit of time making sure our players are educated on the tradition of the game, what the game means to our former players and all of our alums, some things that have happened in the past and some things that have been said in the past.”

Michigan State and Michigan have collided 114 total times on the football field, with the Wolverines holding a 71-38-5 advantage in the all-time series.