Be careful, very careful, in viewing the Michigan-Michigan State sports rivalry through 2015’s prism.
History is deep. Michigan still holds a long edge over Michigan State in all-time records (68-34-5 in football, 97-79 in basketball).
But, as two football teams with powerful reconstructive stories prepare to duel Saturday at Michigan Stadium, it is the visitors and, yes, enemies from East Lansing whose twin status as modern giants in football and basketball have seized glory that in earlier eras most often was Ann Arbor’s province.
Coach Mark Dantonio is architect of a Spartans football renaissance that has seen his team, unbeaten and ranked seventh in national polls, storm to a 33-3 run.