The Michigan–Michigan State football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the University of Michigan Wolverines and the Michigan State University Spartans. The teams first played in 1898 and have met 116 times. The game has now been played uninterrupted, every year since 1945. In 1949 Michigan State was accepted into the Big Ten conference, though it was not until 1953 that the rivalry became a Big Ten conference game, due to protests from the University of Michigan administration. Prior to 1958 all but 6 matchups were played in Ann Arbor. The winner of each year's game receives the Paul Bunyan – Governor of Michigan Trophy, a four-foot wooden statue of a lumberjack that was first presented in 1953 to commemorate Michigan State's beginning football competition as a member of the Big Ten Conference.
Thomas Michael Izzo ; born January 30, 1955) is an American college basketball coach who has been the head coach at Michigan State University since 1995. On April 4, 2016, Izzo was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Stanley Heath III is an American basketball coach currently serving as the head coach for Eastern Michigan. Heath formerly served as head coach at the University of South Florida, the University of Arkansas and Kent State University, the latter of whom he led to the Elite Eight of the 2002 NCAA basketball tournament. He led all three programs to at least one NCAA tournament.
The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and white. The university participates in the NCAA's Division I and the Football Bowl Subdivision for football. The Spartans participate as members of the Big Ten Conference in all varsity sports. Michigan State offers 11 varsity sports for men and 12 for women.
The Michigan State Spartans football program represents Michigan State University (MSU) in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. The Spartans are members of the Big Ten Conference. Michigan State claims a total of six national championships, including two from major wire-service: AP Poll and/or Coaches' Poll. The Spartans have also won eleven conference championships, with two in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association and nine in the Big Ten.
Mark Justin Dantonio is an American football coach and player. His most recent head coaching position was at Michigan State University, a position he had held from 2007 to 2019, presiding over one of the most successful eras in the program's history. He led the Michigan State Spartans to three Big Ten Conference championships, and eight victories over archrival Michigan in 13 years. In 2013, he coached Michigan State to its first 13-win season and the program's fifth trip to the Rose Bowl, where they defeated Stanford and finished the season ranked No. 3 in the nation. This was the second time a Big Ten team reached the 13-win mark, the previous being Ohio State's national championship season in 2002, where Dantonio was the defensive coordinator. The 2013 season also marked the first time a Big Ten team won nine conference games each by double digits. In 2015, Dantonio became the first head coach in Big Ten history to achieve at least 11 wins in five of six seasons. On December 6, 2015, Dantonio's Spartans qualified for the College Football Playoff for the first time in the program's history.
Dane Fife is an American former college basketball player and assistant coach. Fife is the former head coach of the Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) Mastodons men's basketball team and a was former college assistant coach at Michigan State University under Tom Izzo for ten years before leaving to become an assistant coach at his alma mater, Indiana University. He was let go by Indiana after one season.
The Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing Michigan State University. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference of NCAA Division I college basketball. The Spartans have won two NCAA championships and 16 Big Ten Championships. Their home games are played at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing, Michigan. Tom Izzo has been the head coach since 1995.
Suzy Merchant most recently served as head basketball coach for the Michigan State University Women's Basketball team. She is married to Gary Rakan and has two sons, Tyler Rakan and Brady Rakan.
The Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey team is the college ice hockey team that represents Michigan State University (MSU). The team plays at the Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing, Michigan, on the MSU campus. The current head coach is Adam Nightingale, who took over coaching duties on May 3, 2022, after Danton Cole was fired. Michigan State currently competes in the Big Ten Conference.
Jacob Boss Jr. is an American baseball coach and former player, who is the current head baseball coach of the Michigan State Spartans. He played college baseball at Alma College for head coach Bill Klenk from 1990 to 1993. He then served as the head coach of the Eastern Michigan Eagles in 2008.
Daniel P. Boisture Jr. was an American football coach. He was the head coach of the Eastern Michigan Eagles football team from 1967 to 1973, compiling a record of 45–20–3.
Ricky Dean Rasnick was an American college football coach. He was the head football coach at Eastern Michigan University from 1995 to 1999. Rasnick's 1995 team was the last Eastern Michigan Eagles football team to finish with a winning record until the 2016 season, 21 years later.
Mark Allen Montgomery is an American college basketball coach for the Michigan State Spartans, currently at his second stint with the university. He previously was the head men's basketball coach at Northern Illinois University. Montgomery replaced Ricardo Patton as head coach of the Huskies on March 24, 2011. Prior to being named the head coach at NIU, he was an assistant to head coach Tom Izzo at Michigan State for 10 seasons, the last four as associate head coach. The Spartans reached the NCAA tournament in each of Montgomery's 10 seasons on the staff, including three Final Four appearances and a trip to the title game in 2009.
Thomas A. Anastos is an American ice hockey coach, former player, and former league administrator. He was most recently the head coach of the Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey team (MSU), a member of the Big Ten Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). He played junior hockey for the Paddock Pool Saints, college hockey for the Michigan State University Spartans and professional hockey for the Sherbrooke Canadiens. He was an ice hockey league administrator most recently serving as commissioner of the original Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), a now defunct NCAA Division I conference, from 1998-2012. Anastos is a member of the Dearborn (Michigan) Sports Hall of Fame, inducted in 2000.
The Michigan State Spartans baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball team of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. The team competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I and are members of the Big Ten Conference.
The 2015–16 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Spartans, led by 21st-year head coach Tom Izzo, played their home games at the Breslin Center and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 29–6, 13–5 in Big Ten play to finish in second place. They defeated Ohio State, Maryland, and Purdue to win the Big Ten tournament. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, their 19th straight NCAA tournament appearance. As the No. 2 seed in the Midwest region, they were upset by No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee in what is considered to be one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history.
Eric Christopher Roof is an American college baseball coach and former catcher. He is the former head baseball coach at Eastern Michigan University. Roof played college baseball at St. Catharine College and at Michigan State University for coaches David Grewe and Jake Boss from 2007 to 2009.
The 2019–20 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Spartans were led by 25th-year head coach Tom Izzo and play their home games at Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan as members of the Big Ten Conference.
The 2021–22 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Spartans were led by 27th-year head coach Tom Izzo and played their home games at Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan as members of the Big Ten Conference. The Spartans finished the season 23–13, 11–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for seventh place. As the No. 7 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they defeated Maryland and Wisconsin to advance to the semifinals where they lost to Purdue. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 7 seed in the West region, marking MSU's 24th straight trip to the NCAA tournament, the second longest active streak. They defeated Davidson in the first round before losing to Duke in the second round.
