As far as the biggest rivalries in all of sports go, there are a few that immediately come to mind regardless of where you happen to live: Yankees vs. Red Sox, Auburn vs. Alabama, Duke vs. North Carolina, and of course, Michigan vs. Ohio State (assuming Michigan actually wins another game anytime soon).
But there’s one showcase game each year that “rivals” them all, at least over the past decade, in both basketball and football among many other sports: Michigan vs. Michigan State.
While neither team has won a national title since the Spartans took home their NCAA hoops hardware in 2000 (prior to that the Wolverines won a 1997 football championship), both schools have been ultra-competitive in the two major sports in recent years.
The Wolverines have been to two NCAA title games in basketball over the since 2013 under John Beilein, while the Spartans have made three Final Fours in the past decade under Tom Izzo.
Mark Dantonio’s football Spartans made the college football playoff in 2015-2016, and even Jim Harbaugh, for all of his big game failures with the Wolverines, has managed to contend for college football playoff berths in two seasons before succumbing to the Buckeyes of Ohio State in (does the “JT Was Short” game ring a bell?).
The success of these four programs, and the budding in-state rivalry that propelled them, has gone largely uncovered by the national media.
But the story that has unfolded over the past two decades and beyond is about as juicy as you’ll find in college sports.
It’s a series stacked with unforgettable personalities: Draymond Green’s trademark brashness and intensity, Mike Hart’s mischievious confidence bordering on confidence (the former All-Big Ten running back dropped an infamous “Little Brother” quip that would come to define the current phase of the rivalry), Tom Izzo’s unrelenting fierceness and Jim Harbaugh’s quirkiness.
If you haven’t seen the documentary yet, which premiered on November 14 on Fox Sports 1, you may want to make an appointment to watch it.
As someone who’s been a huge fan of the series for a long time, I can confidently say this movie is must-see TV, whether you’re a fan of Big Ten sports or not.
You can watch a trailer on ‘Divided We Stand’ below, or catch it on Fox Sports 1 in the coming days and weeks. I saw it yesterday and it’s still just now catching on among the Big Ten and Michigan sports crowd.
The documentary us also listed on Fox Sport’s website, but you have to sign up to watch the whole thing.
