A widening gap: Michigan, Michigan State are two programs diverging in rapidly opposite directions

Let’s go back to the day before Halloween in 2021. 

Mel Tucker’s Michigan State Spartans were 7-0 hosting in-state rival No. 6 Michigan. 

With ESPN’s College GameDay in town, MSU upset the undefeated Wolverines, 37-33, with star tailback Kenneth Walker rushing for close to 200 yards and five touchdowns. 

Tucker moved to 2-0 against Jim Harbaugh, and it suddenly looked like the Spartans were nipping at Michigan’s heels again like during the heyday of the Mark Dantonio era. 

Nope. 

Since that game, the two programs have diverged in rapidly opposite directions, and the gap between the in-state rivals is seemingly widening with every new day. 

A week after beating Michigan, Michigan State was ranked No. 3 in the country only to be upset by Purdue. Two weeks later, it lost 56-7 to Ohio State. Conversely, Michigan rebounded to run the table to the College Football Playoff, beating the Buckeyes and winning the Big Ten for the first time since 2003. 

Fast forward to the present, and Michigan is riding high off a second straight conference championship, while the Spartans are still licking their wounds from a 5-7 season that included an embarrassing post-game brawl in their loss at Michigan. 

In the last week, the Wolverines saw nine players get drafted and landed two more blue-chip recruits, giving them a Top 5 recruiting class in the nation. 

Meanwhile, Mel Tucker saw his starting quarterback Payton Thorne and best offensive weapon Keon Coleman enter the transfer portal. 

Not great!

To be clear, the sky isn’t falling in East Lansing. Tucker & Co., have done a nice job in the transfer portal again this offseason, adding 16 players to the roster including key defensive additions like former Top 50 prospect defensive end Tunmise Adeleye from Texas A&M. 

Even after a 5-7 season, Michigan State signed another Top 25 class last cycle, too. 

But Tucker’s program is treading water compared to Michigan’s ascent to one of the best teams in the country in the last 18 months. While Tucker is aiming to fix a broken defense and take the Spartans bowling again — a non-guaranteed deal considering their schedule includes Washington, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan plus Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska from the West — Jim Harbaugh is talking about striking while the iron is hot.

Michigan’s head coach believes the Wolverines have their best team since he’s been in charge of the program. They’re legit national championship contenders in 2023, with the best running back room in the country and a loaded defense with a couple of plug-and-play additions from the transfer portal. 

Michigan is also suddenly recruiting like one of the big boys, too. This spring, the Wolverines beat out Clemson for 5-star quarterback Jadyn Davis and Ohio State for tailback Jordan Marshall. Last week, 4-star in-state tight end Brady Prieskorn committed to UM over Michigan State and Penn State. 

Back-to-back Big Ten champs. Two straight wins over Ohio State and now a potential Top 5 recruiting class? There’s never been a better time to be a fan of the Maize & Blue in recent memory. 

Michigan State? Ironically, its memories are mostly chalked with scaries since its Halloween-eve win over its arch-rival, and they don’t look like they’re going to improve anytime soon, either.