Newsstand: Early Vegas odds in on matchup with Michigan State
The Vegas odds are slowly trickling in for Michigan football’s road trip to Michigan State next weekend in East Lansing with most books floating the Wolverines out as 19.5-point favorites, a number that should only increase as we get to Saturday night’s game.
Michigan will be looking for its first two-game win streak in the rivalry since the 2018 and 2019 seasons against the Spartans. Michigan is 4-4 against its in-state rival since head coach Jim Harbaugh arrived in 2015 and won last season’s game in Ann Arbor by a score of 29-7. Other victories in the series came in 2016, 2018 and 2019, respectively.
“The goal is mutual respect and tremendous competition,” Harbaugh said at Big Ten Media Days when asked about the rivalry with Michigan State. “That’s what we’re striving for. We have that for Michigan State, mutual respect. And it is great competition.”
Of course, this game looks much different than it did a few months ago. Spartan head coach Mel Tucker was fired for cause in September after MSU found him guilty of violating the moral turpitude clause in his contract thanks to an inappropriate relationship with Brenda Tracy, a sexual assault educator who had a business partnership with Michigan State. In his absence, Michigan State tabbed Harlon Barnett as the team’s interim head coach with former boss Mark Dantonio back with the program as an advisor.
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With so much going on behind the scenes in East Lansing, the struggles on the field have snowballed. After season-opening wins over Central Michigan and Richmond, helmed by Tucker, the Spartans have lost three straight games under Barnett to Washington, Maryland, Iowa and Rutgers.
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Michigan quote of the day
These guys play for each other. There’s so many third-year and above, third, fourth and fifth-year players that are on the team, veteran team and all the new players of one-year players — the guys who’ve transferred in I mean — they’ve picked up on that vibe. They love it. And so of our young players, I mean, they see it and it’s yeah, that’s the vibe I pick up. Guys that are playing for each other and they prepare for each other. They fight for each other. They go out there and win for each other. They work together. They win together.
As Katie Harbaugh came up with a quote, she was looking at my quote board and she said, ‘Work together, win together.” That’s my new favorite quote on my clipboard.
– Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh on his team’s mentality after a 7-0 start to the season
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