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It took a couple of years, but once John Beilein got going at Michigan, he managed to come close to evening the score of a lopsided rivalry.
Though his predecessor, Tommy Amaker, had managed to beat rival Michigan State in his penultimate regular-season game as the head coach of the Wolverines, it took Beilein until he got his first win against Tom Izzo’s Spartans. Then, he rattled off three-straight, and the contest became much closer to even. Beilein may have only won 9-of-23, but given that that game was usually an automatic loss in the decade before, it changed the culture of the rivalry.
Izzo lost his first five to Michigan before rattling off eight-straight wins over the Wolverines, having also won 14-of-17 from 1998 until Beilein arrived in 2007. But then, the rivalry became much more even. And Izzo told Beilein on BTN’s Huddle Up that his inclusion into the matchup made him not only a better coach but made him not hate his rival the way he had before.
“I think when you came to Michigan — I always laugh, because you’ve gotta hate your rival,” Izzo said. “But I always respected — and with you, I couldn’t even hate my rival anymore. You made me better, because you came in here, beat us a few times, then we did there. Once you look at it, it was a pretty even run once we got going.
“And you know what — you said it, and I think Juwan will do a good job and everything — but if you would have stayed a few more years, we would have caught that Duke-North Carolina rivalry.”
Michigan leads the all-time series 94-85, and Beilein famously noted that the rivalry was very similar to the aforementioned ACC rivalry.
Izzo credits the former Wolverines coach for helping elevate the game to national status, as the duo agrees that the final contest of the regular season should always be played between the maize and blue and green and white.
“It was special, you helped made it special, but I think the best part is there was great respect,” Izzo said. “Because we were both doing it the right way. We both maybe did it different ways, but it was the right way in a sport that’s done the wrong way a lot. And for that, I will always respect, admire (you).”
Watch below:
https://www.facebook.com/46198039021/videos/460540672013138
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