Game Prediction: No. 6 Michigan Wolverines at No. 8 Michigan State Spartans

Beyond being a rivalry game, both teams are looking desperately for a big win to add to their resumes before the first College Football Playoff rankings are released this week.

You could make the argument this game will have more eyeballs than any other non-Ohio State game in the Big Ten this fall. Two storied programs that are off to awesome starts to the season and both have legitimate College Football Playoff aspirations.

Michigan is 7-0 for just the second time in the last 15 years (2016), but they've had a mediocre record late in the year under Jim Harbaugh. Michigan is 15-14 after November 1 during his tenure (yes, Saturday is still only October 30 - the point is they have struggled to win consistently down the stretch of the year). And of course, Michigan's last road win over a top-10 team in the country came way back in 2006 against Notre Dame, losing a whopping 17 games in a row in hostile territory against the nation's premier teams.

Here's how the BuckeyesNow staff thinks this one will go:

MICHIGAN at MICHIGAN STATE – Saturday, 12:00 p.m.
Spread: Michigan (-4.0)
O/U Total: 50

Brendan Gulick: Michigan State 31, Michigan 24

This game means everything to these two programs right now. Even though their is still some considerable time remaining in the regular season, I think this game might serve as a Rose Bowl elimination game. I think both schools have really good teams, but I don't think either of them are going to beat Ohio State.

Jim Harbaugh has made it a point to refer to Michigan State as his rival far more than he makes that reference about the Buckeyes. Considering what happened on Halloween last year, I think this might be the biggest non-Ohio State game he's coached in as the leader of the Michigan program.

Two very good defenses, two good rushing attacks, a potential top-5 national ranking on the line and a chance to make a GREAT impression before the College Football Playoff committee comes out with the first rankings of the year this coming Tuesday ... this has all the makings of a big time game.

I'm going to take Kenneth Walker and Michigan State because they're at home and because of Coach Harbaugh's record of struggling against top-10 teams. 

Andrew Lind: Michigan State 27, Michigan 20

With both teams coming into Saturday’s game undefeated, I can’t say I recall a battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy with more on the line. The winner will walk away as the biggest threat to end Ohio State’s run of four straight Big Ten titles.

Michigan and Michigan State both excellent in the run and their defenses are among the best in the conference at stopping the run. The difference in this game will be the Spartans’ wide receivers, with Jalen Nailor making a play late to win the game.

Ryan Day’s Message To Recruits Attending Saturday's Game Against Penn State: “You Come To Ohio State For Games Like This”

Brett Hiltbrand: Michigan 27, Michigan State 24

This is probably the lowest over/under in a Top 10 matchup in quite some time (50.5 right now) and I lowkey love those games. I want to look at Sparty here and give them the edge but I'm just not ready to trust them just yet. Normally, we'd make a Harbaugh joke here but I'm really liking what he's done so far and he deserves credit for that. Same for Mel Tucker and Sparty. 

Caleb Spinner: Michigan 28, Michigan State 25

I have to believe every college football fan has had this game marked on their calendars since the schedules were first announced. The Wolverines have impressed me with their ability to recover from disaster since the loss of running back Ronnie Bell (ACL). Running backs Blake Corum and Hassan Haskins have filled the void tremendously in Bell’s absence, and have been the main force behind a Michigan offense ranked second in the Big Ten conference. 

Michigan State on the other hand has rallied behind their quarterback Payton Thorne, who is currently sporting a 1,701 passing yards and a 15:4 touchdown-to-interception ratio. It will be interesting to see if Thorne can perform to this level against Michigan, the top-ranked defense in the Big Ten. The Spartans and the Wolverines are both undefeated, but only one can remain come Saturday’s end. I’m picking that team to be the Wolverines, due to their talent on both sides of the ball.

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