It’s time to stop scheduling MSU
This “rivalry” is all downside and no upside. MSU routinely tries to deliberately injure our players. When the schedule changes in 2024, likely to a 3-6-6 format, keep OSU as a permanent rival, but let’s have Minnesota and UCLA or USC (or Rutgers!) as our other two.
We’ll still play MSU 50% of the time. That’s enough.
October 30th, 2022 at 3:35 PM ^
In thier place put ND.
October 30th, 2022 at 4:19 PM ^
To hell with ND
October 30th, 2022 at 3:36 PM ^
Da, comrade.
October 30th, 2022 at 3:36 PM ^
How about we demand that Ben Mathers gets fired. Hes the director of football operations and the guy who can be seen running away from the helmet bludgeoning in the tunnel. Also if you watched the game on TV he was the douche who was yelling at the cameraman to BACK UP before msu ran onto the field
October 30th, 2022 at 4:06 PM ^
i remember seeing that before the game and thinking to myself "who the f is this amped up lunatic." Wasn't sure if it was a Michigan Stadium employee, an ABC employee, or someone associated with the MSU team. Probably should have known.
October 30th, 2022 at 4:15 PM ^
I posted elsewhere about that guy: ACTING tough with camera operators, then running away when things got tough.
And as I posted a few entries up, SOOOO much drama, without everyone acting tough.
Perhaps I’ve led a sheltered life but as an MP in the Army and then fighting forest fires, the ones who were genuinely tough didn’t swagger as much as that guy. Or the Sparty players who couldn’t bring it on the field but could gang up on individuals afterward.
October 30th, 2022 at 6:20 PM ^
He's the absolute definition of a self-important coward.
October 31st, 2022 at 2:07 AM ^
When danger reared its ugly head, he bravely turned his tail and fled...
October 30th, 2022 at 3:43 PM ^
Nope. Play MSU every year. That's how it should be.
October 30th, 2022 at 3:48 PM ^
Except they're not "playing." What happened last night had no place in a "game."
MSU needs to go away until they can play in a way that is actually playing and not chest thumping idiot violence.
October 30th, 2022 at 3:47 PM ^
I love the conniption fit that the mere existence of this idea will create on RCMB.
October 30th, 2022 at 4:00 PM ^
I bet most will be proud of it and say it is because we are scared. They are human trash.
October 30th, 2022 at 4:16 PM ^
Another reason to stop playing MSU regularly: it’d drive their fans nuts.
October 30th, 2022 at 3:50 PM ^
I'd rather player ND than that JV prison team.
October 30th, 2022 at 3:58 PM ^
Good lord people.
October 30th, 2022 at 4:05 PM ^
They don't even belong in the conference at this point. They don't bring academic value and they aren't even classy in defeat after 2 years of having Paul Bunyan. They make Ohio St. seem like scholarly gentlemen at this point.
October 30th, 2022 at 4:08 PM ^
It would not bother me if they rolled off of our schedule.
When MSU was pretty good there was talk of moving them to the Big Ten West and moving Purdue to the Big Ten East to give more balance between the divisions. I actually thought that was a pretty good idea.
Of course the trouble with that is that Purdue is now better than MSU so it would accomplish nothing.
October 30th, 2022 at 9:52 PM ^
Maybe Northwestern instead?
October 30th, 2022 at 10:16 PM ^
The Big Ten West idea was the worst of both worlds. They would’ve remained an annual game (State would never willingly give that up), yet they would no longer play OSU annually (giving them an easier path to Indy).
October 30th, 2022 at 4:13 PM ^
I think it's time for leadership to make sure that this kind of stuff stops now. Needs decisive action against whomever is found to be a wrongdoer, strong institutional statements that this won't be tolerated, and people figuring out how to get back to the way post-games have been treated for the vast majority of the HUNDRED YEARS we've been playing here and using that tunnel. Part of being an educational institution is educating. For certain there needs to be and, I expect, will be punishment. But don't scrap this rivalry because grownups operating in good faith can't figure out how to fix it.
October 30th, 2022 at 4:20 PM ^
It’s not just about what happened this year. It’s about decades of MSU players trying to deliberately injure M players after the whistles.
October 30th, 2022 at 9:51 PM ^
A couple years off would be a good idea, and reasonable to think a break would be good for the rivalry.
Right now it's become toxic, it's time to separate. Get back together in a few years, see if the time off helps things cool off a bit and get on a more even keel.
October 30th, 2022 at 11:08 PM ^
Amen, we’ve been in the denial phase of our family dysfunction with MSU for a long time now….little brother clearly has narcissistic tendencies and needs to be separated from his emotionally mature older brother.
like seriously, the defending from MSU fans and writers on Twitter of MSU players actions because McBurrows was skipping into the tunnel, and maybe talking trash, legitimizes their assaulting of him. That is textbook narcissistic enablement and reasons for a separation from them for several years. Maybe in 2 or 3 years we can a civil game and shake hands like men and go in tunnel separately.
October 30th, 2022 at 4:19 PM ^
this is foolish.
October 30th, 2022 at 4:25 PM ^
When our team sucked and they were pummeling us on the football field, we went overboard to appear respectful. I came to the realization that I don't have any respect for their program. They're horrible sports when they win and worse when they lose. Their fans don't care about any level of malfeasance as long as they win. They have the biggest inferiority complex in the country. Michigan Agricultural College never should have been established. It was a redundancy that has allowed Ohio to have more dominance then they should have had. Fuck the entire MSU institution.
October 30th, 2022 at 4:31 PM ^
I agree. I don’t have much to add to the discussion. It’s fairly clear MSU players, on multiple occasions, assaulted UM players. That shit boils my blood.
October 30th, 2022 at 4:51 PM ^
I agree. This is now more harm than good with MSU. That trash ass team fanbase defending that jump beating. After that second clip coming out and seeing (rumors) of that presumed director of player personnel just running away further shows a change is needed. Absolutely ridiculous for anyone with a moral compass to not step in. I hope UM stops the scheduling
October 30th, 2022 at 4:55 PM ^
So tired of this “rivalry” . I don’t even get happy about beating them just happy that we get move on
October 30th, 2022 at 5:17 PM ^
Like almost everyone else here I agree. This is not a rivalry, it can't be allowed to go on. Public safety has to come into play at some point. How many other "rivalries" around the country where assaults like this happen with the fans regularly. They cause property damage every time the game is in AA.
We can still play them every other year or whatever, that's more than enough.
October 30th, 2022 at 10:20 PM ^
It really isn't a rivalry. It's a one-way obsession that is really unhealthy.
October 30th, 2022 at 5:23 PM ^
My God what hyperbole.
October 30th, 2022 at 5:26 PM ^
They need us on their schedule to have a reason to exist as a football team. We don't need MSU for shit.
October 30th, 2022 at 6:27 PM ^
This, this, THIS!!!!
October 30th, 2022 at 5:27 PM ^
Never would have considered this before but they're just a trash program continually led by trash coaches instilling trash ethics in order to play "the tough underdog".
It has devolved into a gross rivalry that I'd be totally ok with setting aside for a while. Permanently? No. A few years? Yes.
If these teams meet back up and this kind of BS can't be avoided then it's better to avoid them totally/AMAP.
October 30th, 2022 at 6:06 PM ^
If you know your history you know that MSU is only in the Big Ten because Michigan's then primary rivals in Minneapolis and Columbus wanted Michigan to have a strong in-state rival to compete against for recruits, resources etc. It was a calculated strategic move to weaken Michigan.
That's why the rest of the conference wouldn't ever want MSU out of the conference and why the conference would want to keep Michigan/MSU being played every year as well. In truth, the animosity also makes for good business ("I want more meaningless games with less passion and emotion involved." said no TV executive ever) So yeah it's not going away.
October 30th, 2022 at 6:26 PM ^
We have a say in this too, though. If we went to the conference with an ultimatum of either ditch MSU or we’re bailing for the SEC, they’d be gone by the close of business that day.
October 30th, 2022 at 6:41 PM ^
Well think about this for one second - can you possibly imagine a Michigan official ever even pursuing this line of argument in a conversation with the conference? Michigan barely ever even throws its weight around in routine scheduling questions.
October 30th, 2022 at 7:35 PM ^
Santa Ono has only been on the job for a month. Perhaps he’ll have a different perspective than past presidents.
For the most part, I’ve appreciated Michigan’s refusal to throw its weight around. They could act like Texas and OU, but they don’t. But this may be the time to remind everyone that there about three reasons that they’re all getting a hundred million a year in the next TV contract, and two of those reasons are willing to walk out the door. (OSU hates Michigan but would absolutely jump conferences in a second to preserve The Game).
October 30th, 2022 at 8:22 PM ^
I’m all for trying to drop MSU from the schedule but the scenario you just laid out wouldn’t happen. We’d simply never give the conference such an ultimatum.
October 30th, 2022 at 9:04 PM ^
Perhaps we could volunteer to go to the West, after all, we are the Champions of the West. Except that might screw up the OSU game. So maybe shift MSU to the west and the east gets Northwestern.
October 30th, 2022 at 6:15 PM ^
I agree 100%. At this point MSU football is nothing but a long-running troll of Michigan. Best thing to do with trolls is stop engaging. When is the last time anyone thought this BS was fun? Look at how their fans and reporters are reacting to this. The whole culture there is broken beyond repair and it won't be fixed anytime soon.
October 30th, 2022 at 10:29 PM ^
I've had long conversations with a friend about how this is the one game that is absolutely no fun in any way at all. I hate it with a passion.
October 30th, 2022 at 6:24 PM ^
Or send MSU packing to the MAC and we play them…never. Our lives will not be impacted in the least; improved even.
October 30th, 2022 at 9:26 PM ^
Or the Big East with Miami and FSU. Seems like a good fit.
October 30th, 2022 at 11:28 PM ^
Let them be in isolation and revel in their false sense of independence and make them an independent team….it’s what you do with narcissism, then they become exposed for the codependent people they actually are.
October 30th, 2022 at 6:43 PM ^
Maybe I am too old school but it is important Michigan plays MSU every year. I agree with most of the negative sentiment and points made. Just because of all of the incidents that has happened and they are in the hundreds over the past 30-40 years doesn't mean we skip a number of years.
For one, there would be so much negative press against Michigan mainly by saying they are too afraid to play the spartans. Next, certain things needs to be cleaned up like the home team remaining on the playing field after the game ends and the visiting team gets ALL of their players in their locker-room. This means there should be no pregame stuff as well.
I just don't see where not scheduling MSU every year is a zero sum game. It's a tough game to win more often than not, so is OSU. Sometimes the trend is lopsided, like losing to the Buckeyes but we must play them every year and find a way to win and therefor elevate our program. I have as much disrespect for the MSU football program and what it stands for as much as any other fan.
October 30th, 2022 at 8:42 PM ^
The problem is at some point you have to protect your players. There have been clear on field incidents of MSU players trying to injure UM players most notably Gholston trying to break Denard's neck. MSU's response to that was their DC pretty much admitting he wanted his guys to play dirty. Now we have this incident escalating things even further. This is no longer just about football for MSU, they have elevated the hatred to unhealthy levels. It is perfectly fair to ask whether this game should be played anymore unless MSU gets it through their tiny brains that at the end of the day is it just a damn football game. Nobody killed anyone parents here or anything. Like chill the fuck out if you want to continue this series.
October 30th, 2022 at 9:25 PM ^
Agreed. My #1 concern going into the game was their players injuring ours intentionally, like a cheap shot on JJ or Corum.
The MSU game now is just something to get past, hoping the thugs don't get loose. Imagine if that had been JJ or Corum they had done that to, would people feel different?
October 30th, 2022 at 6:53 PM ^
Why doesn’t the Gov make a statement ? It’s her alma mater.