Friday’s Michigan vs Michigan State game is going feature several major storylines, including the obvious which is a battle between two top-10 teams vying for position at the top of the Big Ten standings.
Michigan State will host the Wolverines in one of the most anticipated games in the rivalry’s history, rivaling those 2019 games where Cassius Winston went off on the Wolverines.
Here are the most intriguing storylines entering Friday’s top-10 showdown.
1. Tom Izzo birthday gift?
Michigan State has played eight times before on Tom Izzo’s birthday, and three times were against Michigan (crazy, right?). His record in those games is 7-1 and he’s never lost to the Wolverines on his birthday, so you know that’s going to be the most-talked-about storyline, at least early on. I would give it about two minutes of game time before Gus Johnson mentions his birthday.
The Hall of Fame head coach could celebrate his 71st birthday in style, beating the No. 3 Wolverines in the biggest game of the season as a home underdog.
2. First matchup since last year’s scuffle
Everyone remembers what happened the last time Michigan came to the Breslin Center. Tre Holloman sent the Wolverines home packing with the shove heard ‘round the state. He protected a Michigan State tradition, and Izzo rewarded him with a floor kiss during senior day festivities.
This is the first time these two teams have met since that scuffle, and Dusty May’s “oh I had no idea there was a tradition” quote, so it’ll be interesting to see if there’s still any bad blood.
Obviously there’s the typical rivalry bad blood, but how many shoves and getting in each other’s faces will there be, especially since this is essentially a new Michigan team?
3. Battle of the Big Ten POY candidates
After Tuesday’s games, there was a new favorite to win the Big Ten Player of the Year on KenPom: Jeremy Fears. These sophomore point guard scored 29 points with nine assists in a come-from-behind overtime win over Rutgers. He dominated Maryland the game before that, and he has 46 points and 26 assists over the past two games.
On the other side, Yaxel Lendeborg is considered a top-five contender for the Big Ten Player of the Year award as well. He’s been really good this season, but he’s coming off one of his worst games this month.
Although they won’t be guarding each other, it’ll be fun to watch two of the league’s best duke it out.