When Michigan hired Jim Harbaugh as its next head football coach in December 2014, the overwhelming belief among the Wolverine fanbase was that U-M would immediately retake the in-state rivalry from Michigan State.
The Spartans and then-head coach Mark Dantonio had other ideas, winning two of the first three against Harbaugh and the Wolverines. Even Mel Tucker, with all of his flaws, went 2-1 against Michigan before being fired. In fact, this rivalry is as even as its been since the 1990s, when U-M won six of 10 games. Harbaugh finishes his tenure in Ann Arbor with a 5-4 record against MSU — a winning mark, but not the landslide Wolverine fans expected.
Despite the recent competitiveness, this series has a way of swinging hard in one direction and staying there for a while, and coaching changes are often the start of a new swing. Before Harbaugh arrived at Michigan, this rivalry was owned by Dantonio and the Spartans. Michigan State won six of seven games in the series from 2008-14 and outscored the Wolverines 197-101 during that stretch. Conversely, prior to MSU hiring Dantonio, Michigan had won five consecutive in the series and six of the previous seven.