The No. 15 Michigan Wolverines (10-7-3) are set to begin the most important four-game stretch of their season tonight against rival No. 7 Michigan State (15-4-3).
The Spartans, ranked No. 3 in Pairwise, provide the perfect opportunity for the Wolverines to bolster their position in the Big Ten conference standings and solidify their NCAA Tournament resume. However, this is not the Michigan State team of old. Since taking over last season, head coach Adam Nightingale has led the Spartans to a 33-22-5 record and transformed the program into an NCAA title contender in less than two years.