He's not going to start singing "Hail to the Victors" anytime soon, but head coach Tom Izzo says he's not the same coach who let his hatred for Michigan "gnaw" at him earlier in his career.
"I don't like Michigan — who's kidding who?" Izzo said. "But I have respect for both the program and the coach, and when you have respect, that's how you deal with it."
He'll look to beat the Wolverines for the fifth straight time at 8 p.m. today at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor.
Izzo said when he first took over at MSU, he was so obsessed with trying to one-up the Wolverines that it often overshadowed his own team. Now, he says he's only focused on the direction of his program.
"I don't let it gnaw at me," Izzo said. "Before, that hatred overcame any of that. If my dad worked down there, I would have hated him."
The players' perception of the rivalry also has changed, albeit in different ways. Growing up, senior guard Maurice Ager was — gasp — a Wolverines fan.
"I knew about Michigan State, I knew about Shawn Respert and Eric Snow, but I was on the Fab Five, man," Ager said. "Of course, that changed."
It's a different story for senior center Paul Davis.
"I was State everything — football, basketball," Davis said. "The older I got, and the closer I got to committing, I really took a hard interest in it."
And now, Davis helps shape the rivalry.
"Becoming part of it, you have something to do about it," Davis said. "All the alumni, some may not catch all your games except the Michigan game. You're playing for them, too, for everyone who's graduated here, everyone who's going to come here in the future."
No. 11 MSU (15-4 overall, 3-2 Big Ten) has won 12 of its last 13 games against U-M, but that hasn't dampened the matchup, Izzo said.
"I don't think anybody has said it more than I have since the day I came here — if this place isn't Duke-North Carolina with the number of good players in the state, it's the coaches' fault," Izzo said. "I still believe that."
And Izzo said this will likely be the rivalry's most competitive chapter in several years.
The Wolverines (13-3, 3-2) are 9-1 at home this season. They're led in scoring by Daniel Horton, whose career-high 32 points against Minnesota on Saturday bumped his season average up to 16.3 a game.
"They've got everything you need to be a great basketball team," Izzo said. "They have size. They have scorers inside. They have shooters outside. They have a point guard that's playing the best of his career in Horton. They have depth at just about every position."
U-M also will be motivated by its lack of a marquee win. It has lost all three of its games against ranked opponents.
One problem for the Wolverines: They'll likely be without swingman Lester Abram, whose injured left ankle kept him out of practice Monday. Abram is averaging 12 points a game.
Make no mistake, though — Izzo's newfound tolerance of the school down the road doesn't change what he wants to do tonight.
"I respect their program, I respect their coach, I respect their players, and yet, I want to beat their brains in," Izzo said. "That's just the way it works."
