Michigan vs. Michigan State basketball game will take heat off rivalry

Some things are just bigger than sports. That’s a sentiment that has echoed between fans of both Michigan and Michigan State over the past few days following the tragedy in East Lansing. And if that holds true on Saturday, the Michigan vs. Michigan State basketball game should take some serious heat off the rivalry.

As we’ve seen over the past year, or so, the rivalry has gotten a bit ugly. The tunnel incident following the football game was a perfect example.

Both sides spewed hatred and it boiled over.

It felt like it would never cool down and it was only getting worse. Unfortunately, it took a tragedy on Michigan State’s campus to bring everyone together to realize this is just a sports rivalry. It’s not real life. Some things are just bigger.

On Saturday, the Spartans and Wolverines will meet up in Ann Arbor and it’s going to be an intense game, but Michigan will be honoring Michigan State in a multitude of ways and the heat is slowly being turned down in the rivalry.

This is just what it needs.

Michigan State basketball could help the healing process

While Michigan is honoring Michigan State and I’m sure we won’t see a ton of Hunter Dickinson trolling after made buckets given the situation and opponent, it’s up to the Spartans to help the university heal.

A win would go a long way for the school and it would be the perfect way to get everyone’s minds off of what happened on Monday even for a couple of hours. A win would be huge.

No, a win won’t fix things. It won’t even really help the situation, but it would get everyone to think happy thoughts even for a night.

This is going to be an emotional game and we’ll see if Tom Izzo’s Spartans have it in them to pick up a road win against a rival (in a finally non-toxic game) in the same week that these guys were fearing for their lives in a campus shooting.

Either way, Saturday’s game will be a breath of fresh air with the heat turned down on the rivalry.