The Michigan–Michigan State soccer rivalry is an American

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

rivalry between the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Wolverines and

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

Spartans Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred t ...

History

The winner of each year's game receives the Big Bear Trophy. The first game was played October 13, 1956, which saw the Spartans defeat the Wolverine club team 3-1 in East Lansing. The Spartans played Michigan's club team 24 times between 1956 and 1991, amassing a 18–1–5 record. In 2000, Michigan added

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

as a Varsity sport and on October 15, 2000, the rivalry between the varsity club officially began with the Spartans winning 2–1 in double overtime in East Lansing. The trophy originated in 2000 when Michigan head coach Steve Burns purchased the wooden-bear sculpture to commemorate the revival of the rivalry. Burns said that he and Michigan State head coach Joe Baum collaborated on a trophy game because they "wanted to have some kind of trophy for this rivalry that the teams can pass back and forth. We hope that it takes a life on its own." In the Spring of 2021, the restructured Big Ten soccer season saw the two teams matched up twice in the regular season for the first time, however neither game would contest the Big Bear trophy. Rfefdfesceefeefe

Game results

:''See footnotes'' Michigan State leads the varsity series, 15–12–3. The Big Bear trophy series is solely a result of the regular season meeting, excluding NCAA and Big Ten postseason games. In the trophy series, Michigan State leads, 13–6–3 through the 2022 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michigan-Michigan State men's soccer rivalry College soccer rivalries in the United States Big Ten Conference rivalries Michigan Wolverines men's soccer Michigan State Spartans men's soccer Awards established in 2000 1956 establishments in Michigan

History

Game results

See also

References