Michigan Football: 3 reasons Wolverines must beat Michigan State

Beating Wisconsin was great for the Michigan football team, but it won’t mean anything without a follow-up win over Michigan State.

At one point in time, when you asked a Michigan football fan, who the chief rival of the Wolverines was, there would be no doubt about the answer. It was Ohio State and to this day, it still is, overwhelmingly.

However, I would hazard to guess that Michigan State has closed the gap in the last decade, especially with the dominance under head coach Mark Dantonio. Losing to the Buckeyes is painful enough, but falling behind Michigan State, in the state of Michigan, provides Wolverines fans with an entirely different kind of pain.

In the last 10 years, Michigan football has beaten Michigan State only twice. Once in 2012 under Brady Hoke and again in 2016, under Jim Harbaugh. During that same span, Michigan State has won a number of big games between the two programs. It has also won a Big Ten championship.

Both teams were ranked in 2011 and 2015 when the Spartans emerged victoriously. And last season, Michigan State upset a Michigan team that was unbeaten and ranked in the top 10. That loss was maybe the low point of the Jim Harbaugh era.

Yet, fresh off a blowout win over then 15th-ranked Wisconsin, a win over Michigan State Saturday could help make this run a new high point for Harbaugh. A win would also help Michigan greatly in the Big Ten race and keep it in the College Football Playoff conversation.

No matter how you slice it, Michigan needs to beat Michigan State and here are the three most important reasons why.