RIVALS’ SHARED SUCCESS IS RARE
Michigan State, Michigan both could stay elite
The question is simple, though the underlying factors are myriad and somewhat complicated.
Can Michigan State and Michigan be good in football at the same time? Great? Dominant? “Can we coexist?” Spartans coach Mark Dantonio says. “Well, families do that all the time in Michigan, so I guess we can do it. But I think— you know, all I can tell you is this is one game of the week, one game of the year. It’s a very meaningful game, but you still have to win your other football games to be successful.
“So I think both teams can have good football teams, if that’s what you’re asking. It’s been done before, and both teams have gone to big bowls in the past at the same time and things of that nature. So, yeah, it can happen. We can coexist.”
When asked the same question, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh was brief and to the point: “Yes.”
But there’s more to this query than meets the eye. Often with in-state rivals, one is up while the other is down. The seesaw effect happens when two prominent programs are competing for recruits, resources and fans. This has certainly been true in this particular series.
The Michigan-Michigan State rivalry has often been quite streaky. The Spartans have won six of the last seven meetings between the two. Before that, Michigan reeled off six in a row. The Spartans owned the series for much of the 1960s; Michigan won 13 of 14 from 1970 to 1983. The mid-1990s were, really, the only time in recent history when the rivalry went back- and-forth. Both teams were ranked in both 1997 (a Michigan win) and 1999 (a Michigan State win).
There are reasons — despite Dantonio’s and Harbaugh’s assertion that it’s possible for both to be strong at the same time — these two programs largely haven’t been national powers at the same time. Of 63 Big Ten Conference meetings between the rivals, they’ve both been ranked at the time of the matchup 17 times. (The Spartans lead 9-6-1, largely because of Dantonio.)
The last time both had unequivocally great seasons was in 1999; both Michigan and Michigan State ended the season 10-2 and were ranked in the top 10.
“You would think both could be good at the same time — but I don’t think both could be dominant at the same time,” long- time Detroit News sports columnist Bob Wojnowski said. “It hasn’t been a back and forth. I have to believe that it is hard for both to be dominant at the same time, because it’s two Big Ten teams in the same state. It’s not one of those football-rich states, high school-rich states, like Ohio or Florida, whatever, that could contain both. I think from a recruiting standpoint, I think from a perception standpoint ... I will say this, I think right now is the best chance maybe ever for both to be really good for a while.” Why? Their coaches, Wojnowski says. “With Dantonio there, I think the days of Michigan State people thinking, ‘Oh boy, Michigan’s back and now we’re going to
have to take a step back’ — I don’t think they think that anymore,” he says. “I don’t think they should. I think the coaching staff they have there is tremendous, and they have recruited well the past few years. Certainly, even before that. That foundation is laid. I think this particular matchup, with Michigan State being beat up a little, with the way Michigan’s playing — I think that would definitely be concerning for Michigan State people.”
But one loss, if the Spartans were to suffer it Saturday, would not sink the program. The way Michigan State operates under Dantonio is sustainable. He recruits blue-collar kids, a lot of threestar prospects mixed in with a few fourand five-star players, and then he develops the talent he needs to win. That’s sustainable, even if Harbaugh’s recruiting prowess will allow him to pluck some of the state’s or nation’s top talent at the same time. Harbaugh has proved quite effective at developing talent, too.
The slight wrinkle is that the Spartans had their pick of the tough, physical players both programs now want for quite some time. Because of former coach Rich Rodriguez’s spread offense, he wasn’t looking for the same types of players as Dantonio, the kind Harbaugh now wants, too. “That’s why it’s hard to stay dominant at the same time, because you’re picking from the same pool,” Wojnowski says.
But even with some recruiting crossover and despite playing in the same division of the Big Ten as Ohio State, there are reasons this could be an era when both Michigan State and Michigan reach the sport’s upper echelon.
Both programs have the resources, investment and stability to do it. Both have proven winners as coaches. So should they both be able to compete for conference championships and College Football Playoff berths year in and year out?
Perhaps the answer really is quite simple. Yes.
After all, it’s happened on the basketball court, Michigan men’s coach John Beilein notes. “Over the last six years, it’s been virtually a stalemate,” he says. “It’s been very close. (They) had injuries one year; we had injuries another year. It’s going to go back and forth like that. But that’s why I say, wouldn’t it be wonderful for the state of Michigan — and it’s almost happened twice now— that both of us are in the Final Four at the same time? Wouldn’t that be wonderful? ...
“And the same thing in football. I see that happening, just based on my perspective as a non-football coach. Michigan State isn’t going away in football, and Michigan is coming back strong. Why can’t we both be strong?”