Staff predictions: Michigan at Michigan State

Well, you can’t say the last two Michigan – Michigan State weeks haven’t been interesting. Last year, the tunnel assault took the shine off a 29-7 beating in which the Spartans were defeated with (relative) dignity before giving it back with the postgame embarrassment. This year, Michigan is in the news for alleged sign stealing resulting from improper, on-campus scouting.

RELATED: NCAA investigating Michigan for alleged illegal sign stealing

There have been unconfirmed rumblings that Rutgers coach Greg Schiano is the one who made a call to the Big Ten offices, which makes sense. Certainly, the Wolverines would need to know the signals of a program that went winless last year and had little chance of pulling out a win in Ann Arbor even if they knew every play in advance themselves. If it proves to be true, though … well shame on Michigan for wasting time that would have been better spent elsewhere.

As for Michigan State, we’d heard last night that the Spartans, when informed of the allegations, threatened to not play the game. We laughed it off, only to get verification of it this morning from The Athletic:

“Upon learning of the pending investigation, Michigan State initially warned the Big Ten it might consider not playing Saturday’s game out of concern for health and safety for its players, according to two sources briefed on those conversations. On Thursday morning, MSU confirmed it will play the game. Michigan’s upcoming opponents were notified of the allegations and games are expected to take place as planned, an industry source said Thursday.”

And why wouldn’t they? Sign stealing in itself happens all the time, and it’s not as though it’s a safety issue (the implication seems especially crazy from a program that once embraced ’60 minutes of unnecessary roughness)’. In fact, the rule about in person scouting was changed in 1994 only as a cost-cutting measure, not to prevent stealing of signs (which any coach worth his salt should be trying to do — legally).

That said, if it’s found Michigan was orchestrating mass videotaping sessions while scouting illegally, yeah … there will be repercussions, as there should be. We’ll reserve judgment until we see what transpires with the evidence, etc. But it certainly is a distraction we don’t need.

Congratulations to last week’s staff picks winner. This week’s receives nothing, and will like it. The picks:

CHRIS BALAS: This team doesn’t usually let distraction get in the way of the task at hand, and we doubt the sign stealing allegations will lead to an upset Saturday night. But MSU is still bringing the effort, so the Wolverines will have to do more than show up. We expect a methodical beating. Michigan 34, MSU 13

JOHN BORTON: Michigan has everything in front of it — a possible undefeated regular season, huge showdowns against talented rivals Penn State and Ohio State, a potential third straight Big Ten championship, and whatever comes thereafter. Michigan State has an appeal out to the NCAA to force bowls to accept three-win teams. Also, a desperate search for compromising pictures of Urban Meyer to blackmail him into fulfilling their delusion.

Sure, anything can happen in a purported rivalry game — and has, in this case. But Michigan possesses too much — arguably the best quarterback in the nation, statistically the nation’s best defense, and its 72-38-5 all-time record against the Spartans upon which to build. MSU has basketball, and Little Napoleon providing some sideline dynamite. Michigan 34, MSU 13

CLAYTON SAYFIE: Michigan has reason to seek ‘revenge’ for the unprovoked MSU attacks after the Wolverines beat down the Spartans by 22 points last October. This U-M team just seems so focused on the task at hand, though, and I wouldn’t expect them to be distracted by that factor even if it serves as a small source of motivation. Michigan is a big favorite and should roll Saturday night heading into the bye week. Michigan 36, Michigan State 6

ANTHONY BROOME: Throw out the “anything can happen in the rivalry” take this week. Michigan is one of the elite teams in the country, and MSU simply doesn’t have the coaching or the talent to give themselves a chance to make this a four-quarter game. It would be pretty surprising if they found a way to make it competitive. The Wolverines say they are putting last year’s postgame assaults behind them, but we know they have a long memory.

The Harbaughs remember. Michigan 45, MSU 9

DOUG SKENE: Michigan rolls into a hostile environment with fresh memories of how physical and emotional this game is played every year. On paper and and film, Michigan is the better team. However, past experiences and evidence shows that in order to win in East Lansing, Michigan will have to overcome some poor calls and bad breaks. It is what it is, and Michigan should know this.  

“I look for Michigan to get out of the blocks fast, unlike last week vs Indiana. Michigan simply needs to execute their fundamentals and play within their emotional boundaries. Michigan 38, MSU 14