Now that the dust has settled following Michigan’s exciting win over No. 5 Nebraska on Tuesday, the Wolverines will quickly need to lock in for their game at Michigan State on Friday night.
The Wolverines are 0-4 against the Spartans the last two seasons, so a win not only would keep Michigan at the top of the rankings, but it could provide another confidence boost for a team that faces a gauntlet over the second half of conference play.
The Spartans are what you would expect from a Ton Izzo-coached
team. They sit at 19-2 overall and 9-1 in Big Ten play, with their only loss being at Nebraska. Four players average double-digit scoring per game, and nine players average 10 or more minutes per game.
With the Spartans ranked No. 7 in the latest AP Poll, and Michigan at No. 3, it will be just the second AP Top-10 matchup between the Wolverines and Michigan State all-time (Feb. 12, 2013). With expectations sky high for this Michigan team, plus the added excitement of a premier matchup between two of the best programs in the country, the Wolverines will need to bring their A-game to leave East Lansing victorious.
“(This rivalry) is number one for me,” Nimari Burnett told the media on Thursday. “I’ve been a part of some great rivalries, one particularly in the SEC, but this one trumps it all. I’m super, super excited for it as I always am. And I’m 0-4 against this team in general, 0-2 at Breslin, but we’re gonna change that tomorrow.”
Outside of Burnett and fifth-year senior Will Tschetter, most of Michigan’s players have not played in East Lansing more than once. While Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. have faced the Spartans with other Big Ten programs, the rivalry is only understood when you are a part of it.
“I didn’t really understand the intensity and the passion that (the rivalry) was until we played it last year,” Roddy Gayle Jr. said. “Obviously being in the Ohio State/Michigan rivalry, that was something that I looked up to, but the Michigan/Michigan State rivalry is so much more. Just the kind of level of intensity you need to bring to that game. The tougher, more physical and more connected team wins, no matter the location.”
Yaxel Lendeborg, Trey McKenney, Mara and Johnson will be playing in the rivalry for the first time. As for Michigan State, all five starters returned from last season, bringing a different kind of intensity and experience that should show up on Friday. But every season brings new challenges and new successes, and the Wolverines are confident if they can control the tempo and execute the way they have been, there should be no reason why they can’t win.
“The team is different (in 2026), so at the end of the day, there’s still a basketball execution that has to happen,” assistant coach Mike Boynton said. “All the other stuff that comes with it — the buildup, the intensity, and every game — that stuff settles three, four, five minutes in. And then who can be composed, who can withstand runs, who can take care of the basketball, who can rebound. The nuts and bolts of basketball doesn’t really change that much, so at the end of the day, whoever can do those things the best, most consistently, will put themselves in the best position to be able to close out, which I expect to be a really, really competitive game.”
While one loss in January does not define your season, losing to your hated in-state rival would be a massive blow for the fanbase, and it could rock the team’s confidence as it takes on Purdue, UCLA and Duke over the next three weeks. But a win would be quite the opposite, and the Wolverines are undefeated on the road this season. Playing on the road is never easy, but Michigan has shown it can beat any team in the country this year.
“When we’re on the road and it’s just us, staff, players, I feel like we just all come together,” Gayle said. “There’s no extra support. We lean on each other a little more than we would at home. We know that we don’t have the crowd from the Maize Rage, so we gotta lean on each other and that’s when we kind of enhance our talk, our leadership, our voices and stuff like that. So I feel like that’s kind of what makes us unique, especially with this program, being able to be player-led, you can see that (especially) on the road.”
With a lot at stake, expect Michigan to come out hungry, competitive, emotional and swinging, looking to break the Spartans’ run and show the country the Wolverines are ready to show up at any moment.
