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Michigan State Football: 3 things you need to know about Michigan

By Scott Tolonen

Oct 25, 2014; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines quarterback Devin Gardner (98) is sacked by Michigan State Spartans defensive end Marcus Rush (44) during the first half of a game at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 25, 2014; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines quarterback Devin Gardner (98) is sacked by Michigan State Spartans defensive end Marcus Rush (44) during the first half of a game at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports /
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It’s officially Hate Week(end) and Michigan comes to town to face Michigan State football on Saturday night for what will surely be a heated game.

What should we all know about Michigan?

1. Statistically, Michigan has a 33 percent chance of winning this game

Yes, the University of Michigan football team has so much more talent than the Spartans, but in the last 15 games between these two teams, the Wolverines have only won five times.

Furthermore, Spartan quarterbacks are 5-3 in their first start against Michigan. Regardless of records, Michigan is 6-9 (nice) in East Lansing since 1993.

Perhaps the most famous occurrence of “throw the records out when these teams play each other” is in 1990, the famous No. 1 vs No One game. The Wolverines were atop the AP poll coming into Week 4 of the season. Michigan State was an abysmal 1-2-1.

By all accounts, Michigan should have rolled but they let the Spartans hang around and take the lead on a Tico Duckett 9-yard run. Michigan stormed down the field to score with six seconds left and went for a two-point conversion to win the game. A dropped pass by Desmond Howard mixed with a generous no-call by the official resulted in an incompletion and a Spartan victory.

Do I think MSU has a chance to win this game? Yes, there’s a non-zero chance but about as close to non-zero as you can get.

Editorial: The odds went from “non-zero” to “around three percent” with the news of the alleged sign-stealing scandal. More on that later.

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