The University of Michigan and Michigan State University are decades old rivals. Most of this rivalry comes down to basics. “Which football team do you like better?” But what actually makes them different? U of M and MSU both have their own unique qualities in both sports and academics. These qualities set them apart and give each a very different reputation or legacy.
Sports are a huge part of both schools and the main reason for such a large rivalry. First, football is obviously the main source of this divide. Historically, U of M has won 29 out of the last 44 games against MSU, while MSU has won 16 times against U of M in the last 44 games (msuspartans.com). This record goes all the way from 1898 to present day. However, even with lower wins against U of M, MSU has many unique qualities to its football program. MSU football has won a Rose Bowl in the past beating Ohio State, U of M, and U.S.C (msu.edu). In addition, MSU does win many of their games as a whole. They are generally not a losing team. They’ve won a multitude if championships such as, conference national, and intercollegiate. Now, what is unique about U of M’s program? They have won 969 games and lost 35 in the course of 134 seasons. The team has won 50 Bowls, 43 Conference Championships, and multiple National Championships (sports-reference.com).
As for other sports programs, MSU has a great basketball and baseball team. The MSU’s Men’s Basketball team has had a total of 124 seasons. They have won 16 Conference Championships in the regular season and have been in the Final Four ten times. As for the basketball team, the men have had Four Conference Titles, five NCAA Tournament appearances, and one World Series appearance (msuspartans.com/sports).U of M’s other successful sports programs include men’s ice hockey and women’s field hockey. Not only does the ice hockey team have incredible turnout, but they also have amazing records. They have three Big Ten Tournament Titles, nine NCAA Championship wins, and finished second in the Big Ten four times. Women’s field hockey is equally as successful. These women have been to eleven Big Ten Championships, have eight Big Ten Titles, and went to the NCAA Championships once (mgoblue.com). As you can see, both schools have extremely successful sports teams of different variations
Now, let’s discuss U of M’s and MSU’s academics, what makes them unique, and rankings. U of M medicine is #five in the U.S. and #15 in the world. The school’s graduate program rankings are as following, #1 in Social Work, #three in Pharmaceuticals, #four in Engineering, #nine in Nursing and Law School, and #eight in Education. The school has the #one best Health System n Michigan and #11 in the entire country. U of M has the #one US public university according to QS Word University Rankings. They are #12 in the World’s most innovative universities, according to Reuters (2020.annualreport.umich.edu). The unique things about U of M’s programs, apart from rankings, is the array of degree programs and schools they have. They have 19 schools or colleges and 250 degree programs. On top of this, they offer many study abroad programs, internship opportunities, and hands on learning experiences that every student can enjoy (umich.edu). MSU also has many unique qualities in their many academic programs. They are ranked #60 nationally and #28 out of public universities. They have multiple graduate programs ranked #one including, Elementary and Secondary teacher education, Supply Chain Management, and Curriculum and Instruction. Other graduate programs have great rankings as well. Nuclear Physics is #two, African History is #three, Educational Psychology is #five, Criminal Justice is #nine, and Management is #ten. All of these are ranked nationally. They are #116 globally according to Times Higher Education World University Rankings (London) and #37 in the US (ir.msu.edu/rankings). The school has 400+ academic programs, 300+ educational abroad programs, 35 programs in the top 25, and a sixteen to one ration in majority of classes on campus (msu.edu/about/facts).
Both schools have title winning and entertaining sports. These sports help to build up each school’s community and student/family spirit for the school as well. They also have amazing programs in their academics. Each school is different and successful in different areas. Both schools are better at certain things than the other, but that doesn’t make one a bad school. It just means that their specialties are different and targeted towards certain students. There are unique things about each of the two schools that creates a successful path for students who choose to attend. Vote which school you like the best in the poll!
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/michigan/index.html
https://mgoblue.com/sports/2017/6/16/michigan-field-hockey-year-by-year-results
https://msuspartans.com/sports/2018/7/20/sports-m-basebl-archive-msu-m-basebl-archive-html.aspx
https://2020.annualreport.umich.edu/awards-and-honors/fy-2020-rankings/
https://ir.msu.edu/rankings
https://umich.edu/academics/
https://msu.edu/about/facts
