Best college hockey rivalry: #3

Due to the mere hour-long drive separating Ann Arbor and East Lansing, the schools have always had a natural antagonism. But Michigan vs Michigan State is an odd rivalry, because, while the Wolverines are undoubtedly the Spartans’ biggest rival, Michigan’s biggest rival is generally Ohio State. Of course, the Wolverines always want to beat the Spartans — living in Michigan, you know plenty of people who attended the other institution who will be more than happy to gloat over their team’s victory — but beating the Buckeyes generally takes on a greater significance for Michigan. Michigan calls State its “little brother” for this reason, to the Spartans’ eternal chagrin. In hockey, though, Ohio State’s program is much weaker than both teams’, and so Michigan State has risen to the top of Michigan’s rival list on the ice. 

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The rivalry traces its roots to before Michigan State was even Michigan State. Michigan Agricultural College first played Michigan in 1922 in its very first game in program history. They lost, 5-1. Officially, the Michigan State-Michigan rivalry began in 1925 when MAC changed its name to Michigan State College. It wasn’t much of a rivalry at first, though, as Michigan went 37-2-1 in the first 40 contests between 1925 and 1958. That was the year the Spartans finally achieved a winning season, winning a Big Ten Championship and making the NCAA Tournament for the first time. By that point, the Wolverines already had six national championships. State won their first title in 1966 and would win another one in 1986 during the Wolverines’ dark age that spanned from 1973 until Red Berenson was hired in 1984.

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Berenson’s revival of Michigan heralded the return of the rivalry as he and MSU coach Ron Mason clashed throughout the 90s, followed by Berenson battling Rick Comley in the 2000s. Duel in the D, the annual game (formerly games, but it’s just one per year now) held first at Joe Louis Arena and now Little Caesars, was founded in 1991, which poured gasoline on the fire. The second-ever Duel in the D on Feb. 16, 1991, featured a bench-clearing brawl and a goalie fight to boot. 

Twice, the teams have taken the battle outdoors. The first time was in 2001 at Spartan Stadium, termed “The Cold War.” At the time, it was the largest outdoor hockey game ever played. That record would be surpassed in 2010 by “The Big Chill at the Big House,” which was held at Michigan Stadium, the largest stadium in North America. That game still holds the record for largest attendance at a college hockey game at 104,173 attendees; the largest crowd for a hockey game was set four years later at Michigan Stadium in the Winter Classic between the Red Wings and the Maple Leafs. 

That fan attendance speaks to the importance of this rivalry to hockey fans in the state. Duel in the D is one of the most anticipated games on the calendars of both the Children of Yost and the Munnsters. While the Children might have stolen most of their chants from Cornell, the Munnsters appear to have forgotten to steal any, as they’ve only really got “Go Green! Go White!” Michigan’s response to that typically is “Can’t read! Can’t write!” Wolverines fans have an entire song to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It” that insults MSU students, MSU hockey, the MSU coaching staff and the referees in various verses. Old versions suggested shooting oneself if you didn’t get into State, but now the verse tells you to burn a couch instead. State has nothing of the sort, which you really need in a good rivalry. As strong of a name as “Munnsters” is, they desperately need to elevate their chant game.

To be fair to the Munnsters, in the late 2010s, they didn’t have much reason to practice any chanting as Michigan State was dreadful. Meanwhile, Michigan was still competitive in the Big Ten, if not always nationally. The Spartans finally bottomed out in the spring of 2022 when they were demolished 8-0 in the B10 Tournament quarterfinals by Michigan. That’s when current head coach Adam Nightingale was brought in to helm the program. In August of 2022, Brandon Naurato was elevated to head coach after then-coach Mel Pearson was found to be a truly terrible person and was fired.

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Simultaneously, both programs were reborn. There’s a strange synchronicity to the Nightingale/Naurato era because of it, and also because they were friends and coworkers before this while with the Detroit Red Wings. Both were returning to their alma maters to coach; they actually only missed playing against each other by six months, as Nightingale’s career at State ended in the spring of 2005 while Naurato’s career with the Wolverines began in the fall of that year. Nightingale’s job was to resuscitate a bottom-feeding Michigan State program, while Naurato’s role was to stabilize the Wolverines after the chaos of Pearson’s departure and the COVID years. 

The rivalry was revived as the Spartans immediately improved, and the antagonism escalated quickly. In February of 2023, in a Friday night battle at East Lansing the night before Duel in the D, the game turned ugly. In the culmination of a scrum- and penalty-filled game, Michigan forward Adam Fantilli and Spartan defenseman Nash Nienhuis actually dropped the gloves — an incredible rarity in college hockey, and particularly the night before a game that both teams eagerly await each season. It’s far from the worst thing players in this rivalry have done — MSU’s Corey Tropp hitting already-seriously injured Steve Kampfer in 2009 comes to mind — but Naurato was aggravated, and he said something postgame that made the headlines: “They can’t play with us, unless they goon it up.” 

Skip to 46 seconds for the fight. 

It was a moment of frustration from Naurato (that was also taken out of context, according to some), but it ended the friendship pretty swiftly. The two paths have diverged since, running parallel in constant competition with each other. 

The quote also gave Nightingale the perfect fuel for his players. The next season, Michigan State won not only Duel in the D and the regular season championship, but also the Big Ten Championship on home ice at Munn in overtime. I waited in line for five hours to get tickets to this game and it was one of the best games I’ve ever watched, but it was a heartbreaker. Michigan had lost Fantilli and star defenseman Luke Hughes in the offseason and hadn’t replaced them with any superstars, but the team found a way to get to the Big Ten final anyway only to lose. 

“[‘Unless they goon it up’] showed what Naurato really thought,” Connor Earegood wrote for The Michigan Daily. “He thinks Michigan is better, and Michigan State is worse. By that logic, his program should be the best in the state, and the best players in Michigan should play for him. Every coach feels this way about an in-state rivalry. But ever since Naurato made those feelings public, since he gave the Spartans all the bulletin board material they need, the rivalry has shifted. Michigan State is 4-1-1 since that interview, with all the hardware to show for it.”

But Naurato got the last laugh with the one achievement he can still lord over Nightingale: his postseason record. In the most difficult regional of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, the Wolverines defeated North Dakota and the Spartans beat Western Michigan to meet one last time that year in the regional final. Michigan wiped the floor with Michigan State, defeating them 5-2 and returning to the Frozen Four, where they were bested, 4-0, by Boston College. 

This year was the closest the two teams have been in decades – though it wasn’t expected to be. The teams battled in the recruiting wars all summer for different players, including highly-skilled winger Gavin McKenna, who ultimately went to Penn State. MSU emerged with seemingly the better class. A bitter defeat at the hands of Cornell in the regional semifinal ended a roaring success of a session the year prior, and the Spartans wanted both to keep their Big Ten Tournament Champion streak alive and reach the Frozen Four. By contrast, Michigan was expected to finish in the middle of the Big Ten with its young roster, still rebuilding after a disastrous 2024 campaign. 

Instead, the Wolverines flew to the top of the NCAA, becoming the highest-scoring offense in the country and bolstered by a deep roster, and the race was on for which Michigan team would control the Big Ten. The teams split the first series in December, and the Wolverines overtook the Spartans in the rankings because of it. 

Michigan head coach Brandon Naurato talks to players at a timeout against Michigan State during the second period of Duel in the D at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, February 7, 2026. Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

State struck back in the second series. While Michigan defeated them on Friday night at Yost in a thrilling third-comeback topped with an overtime win, the Wolverines came out flat on Saturday and were run out of the building by the Spartans in the first two periods of Duel in the D. A third-period comeback was too little, too late. Michigan fell to second in the national rankings, but it also lost its chance for a Big Ten regular season title, which it badly wanted, as State passed them. The Spartans also maintained their iron grip on the Iron D, winning it for the third year in a row. 

Michigan State players celebrate with the Iron D trophy after 5-2 win over Michigan at the Duel in the D at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, February 7, 2026. Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Still, the postseason awaited. Everyone expected a rematch between the two schools, the clear best in the conference, in the finals, which would be at Munn. All both teams needed to do was get there. Michigan easily made it with strong wins over Notre Dame and Penn State. MSU had a bye as the regular season champions, and entered in the second round against Ohio State. 

Shockingly, the Spartans lost in overtime. In the new single-elimination format, there would be no chance at redemption. Michigan inherited home-ice advantage and won the Big Ten Tournament on home ice for the first time off the back of a four-goal third period. They also reclaimed first in the country, though the votes were very divided, as they headed into the NCAA tournament. State was off to Worcester, while Michigan headed to Albany. If they both won, it opened the possibility they could meet in the championship. But while Michigan punched their ticket with wins over Bentley and  Minnesota Duluth, the Spartans defeated Dartmouth only to fall to Wisconsin on a blue-line wrister in overtime. 

In four years, Nightingale has yet to reach the Frozen Four. It is the one achievement that Michigan still has over State; No matter how many recruits the Spartans sway or how the regular season battles go, the Wolverines have been closer. But, State will contend, what is that with no championships to show for it? Michigan lost again in the semifinal as they have each time they’ve reached the Frozen Four under Naurato. In that sense, both teams are equally far from winning it all. 

Neither program will be taking a step back anytime soon. Both rosters are absolutely loaded for next year with first-round picks, and they’re once again locked in a recruiting battle over the prize of the class: defenseman Landon DuPont, the projected first overall pick of the 2027 draft. Michigan is currently the frontrunner to land him, but whether they do or not almost doesn’t matter because it won’t change the stakes of a single game between these two. This rivalry will be top three for many years to come.

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