A rivalry doesn't mean much when one team repeatedly pounds the other. Great rivalries are usually marked by fierce competition, verbal jabs at the opponent and thrilling finishes.
The MSU-Michigan basketball rivalry hasn't been competitive for a while. When one team was up, the other was down. The year-after-year disparity between the schools somewhat diminished the intensity most rivalries are steeped in.
"It's been a strange rivalry over ten years," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. "First, they blow us out a lot, then we blew them out a lot."
That trend changed last season when U-M beat MSU 60-58 in Ann Arbor. It was the first game between the schools decided by single digits since February 1998.
On Saturday at Breslin Center, MSU (6-7 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) has a chance to avenge that loss and add some strength to the rivalry.
Izzo said the Wolverines (10-3 overall, 1-1) are much better this season than they've been in the past.
"In fact, I think they've got a very, very good team," he said. "So I guess the rivalry is hopefully what everybody's wanted for a very long time, and that's maybe both teams competing with each other on the same level."
Before U-M beat MSU last season, MSU was nothing short of dominant. The Spartans had an eight-game winning streak against U-M, with a 22.5 average margin of victory.
Former MSU coach Jud Heathcote, who coached from 1976-1995, remembers when the rivalry was more potent during his coaching days.
He said too many games were decided at the buzzer to pick a favorite, but one game does stand out.
In January 1986, the Spartans and former senior guard Scott Skiles, who is notoriously competitive, beat U-M 91-79 at Jenison Field House.
After the game, former Wolverine Antoine Joubert had some words for Skiles and the Spartans, saying the Wolverines would win the next game in Ann Arbor later that season.
Skiles took exception to Joubert's guarantee and, looking him up and down, responded with a sharp tongue.
"Skiles said, 'Not unless you lose 20 pounds, fat boy,'" Heathcote recalled.
So does Heathcote prefer the rivalry's old days, filled with last-second shots and trash talk, or the more recent blowout MSU wins?
"You want a healthy rivalry, but you don't want to lose to those bastards either," he said.
A healthy rivalry would suit U-M coach Tommy Amaker just fine. Amaker was hired in March 2001, when U-M's basketball program was in disarray.
Amaker said re-establishing the rivalry is an important step in rebuilding U-M's program as a whole.
"We're trying to become a winning, first-class, elite program ourselves," he said. "(MSU is) a measuring stick for a lot of programs and a lot of people, and we're hoping to strive to become a program such as theirs."
As much respect as Amaker has for the rivalry, not all of his players feel the same way. Sophomore guard Daniel Horton said Saturday's game is important, but not because it's against MSU. Horton said he's more concerned with improving the team's Big Ten record.
"The Michigan, Michigan State rivalry, I mean, it's a basketball game … there's no pressure because we're going to East Lansing," said Horton, who has yet to play at Breslin. "I just expect it to be another tough, hostile arena."
Wolverine freshman guard Dion Harris said Horton, being a Texas native, just isn't familiar with the rivalry. Harris, though, paid close attention to the rivalry, especially in high school at Detroit Redford when he was considering attending both schools.
Harris was at Crisler Arena last year when U-M beat MSU. He had already committed to U-M but said he knew he made the right choice when the Wolverines won.
That was senior center Jason Andreas' first loss to U-M. During his five-year MSU career Andreas has seen the rivalry evolve from MSU's 51-point win in March 2000 to last season's loss.
"The college rivalry is one of the things you come to college for," he said. "You learn about your rival right off the bat. You're not supposed to like your rival.
"We talk about it, our coach talks about it. I think there's a little more for the Michigan game."
