Michigan State played 100 minutes against Michigan in football and Duke in basketball in a span of less than 72 hours. The Spartans were underdogs in both games - and yet they never trailed for even a second.
On Saturday night, Michigan State beat Michigan 15–6 in Ann Arbor and brought Paul Bunyan home for the first time since 2021. On Tuesday night, the Spartans beat No. 2 Duke 79–73 at the Champions Classic in Chicago.
Obviously, the common thread shows up in the the athletic director's office: the Dan Bartholomae era is in full effect. Michigan State’s new AD is undefeated against Michigan in football and undefeated against Duke in basketball.
His pitch to donors just got easier, too.
Spartans Illustrated’s Dr Green and White estimated a 6.1% chance that Michigan State would win both games, assuming independent outcomes. He put the football team's chances at 17% against Michigan, based on a 13.5-point spread, and the basketball team's chances at 36% against Duke, based on KenPom’s projection of roughly a 3.6-point margin. That’s about a 1-in-16 chance of winning both. The odds of doing it without ever falling behind would be slimmer still.
The football win came after six consecutive losses and weeks of injuries that had tested Pat Fitzgerald’s team. When the Wolverines left the field Saturday night, the Spartans stayed and celebrated. Some of the seniors had spent their entire Michigan State careers waiting for that moment.
Tom Izzo had seen those players in a different setting. After the losses to Illinois and Northwestern, he stood in a corner of the football locker room and watched how they handled difficult losses. He saw tears, hugs, and teammates rallying around one another. He took what he saw back to his basketball team.
By Tuesday, Izzo’s players had a chance to show something about themselves. They came to Chicago ranked No. 5, with two comfortable wins behind them and an imposing Duke team in front of them.
When the Blue Devils cut the lead to single digits late, the Spartans answered. They left the United Center with a 3–0 record on the young season, and with a win that gave substance to the expectations they carried into the season.
Bartholomae has made roster investment a priority and said he wants Michigan State to rank in the upper third of the Big Ten in resources. In football, that means giving Fitzgerald the means to build a roster that can withstand the kind of injuries the Spartans have dealt with this fall. In basketball, it means giving Izzo the resources to keep together a team capable of beating Duke and to put another one like it on the floor.
Those are conversations Bartholomae was going to have this fall anyway. He gets to have them now while donors are taking pictures with Paul Bunyan and regaling each other about what they saw in Chicago on the basketball court.
All photos by Spartans Illustrated's Marvin Hall:
