# Michigan–Michigan State men's soccer rivalry

The Michigan–Michigan State soccer rivalry is an American college soccer rivalry between the University of Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State University Spartans.

## 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 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. If the Big bear game ends in a tie the trophy stays with the team that has it last.

## Game results

    See footnotes
Michigan State leads the varsity series, 15–12–5. 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, 13–6–5 through the 2023 season.
| Michigan victories | Michigan State victories | Tie games |
| No. | Date | Location | Winner | Score |
| 1 | October 15, 2000 | East Lansing, MI | Michigan State | 2–1$^{2OT}$ |
| 2 | October 14, 2001 | East Lansing, MI | Michigan State | 4–2 |
| 3 | October 13, 2002 | Ann Arbor, MI | Michigan State | 2–1 |
| 4 | November 15, 2002 | Bloomington, IN | Michigan | 1–0 |
| 5 | October 12, 2003 | East Lansing, MI | Michigan | 4–2 |
| 6 | October 17, 2004 | Ann Arbor, MI | Michigan State | 3–2$^{OT}$ |
| 7 | October 16, 2005 | East Lansing, MI | Michigan State | 2–0 |
| 8 | November 10, 2005 | Evanston, IL | Michigan State | 1–0 |
| 9 | October 8, 2006 | Ann Arbor, MI | Tie | 1–1 |
| 10 | October 14, 2007 | East Lansing, MI | Michigan State | 5–0 |
| 11 | October 18, 2008 | Ann Arbor, MI | Michigan State | 1–0 |
| 12 | October 25, 2009 | East Lansing, MI | Michigan State | 2–1 |
| 13 | October 30, 2010 | Ann Arbor, MI | Michigan | 3–2$^{OT}$ |
| 14 | November 11, 2010 | Ann Arbor, MI | Michigan | 2–1 |
| 15 | October 30, 2011 | East Lansing, MI | Michigan State | 1–0 |
| 16 | November 3, 2012 | Ann Arbor, MI | Michigan | 1–0 |
| 17 | November 11, 2012 | Evanston, IL | Michigan State | 2–1$^{OT}$ |
| No. | Date | Location | Winner | Score |
| 18 | November 9, 2013 | East Lansing, MI | No. 18 Michigan State | 2–0 |
| 19 | November 2, 2014 | East Lansing, MI | Michigan | 3–2 |
| 20 | October 31, 2015 | Ann Arbor, MI | Michigan | 1–0 |
| 21 | September 18, 2016 | East Lansing, MI | Michigan State | 1–0 |
| 22 | September 17, 2017 | Ann Arbor, MI | No. 6 Michigan State | 1–0$^{OT}$ |
| 23 | October 23, 2018 | East Lansing, MI | Tie | 1–1 |
| 24 | October 29, 2019 | Ann Arbor, MI | Michigan | 2–0 |
| 25 | November 10, 2019 | Ann Arbor, MI | Michigan | 2–1 |
| 26 | February 23, 2021 | Brighton, MI | Michigan | 1–0 |
| 27 | March 23, 2021 | East Lansing, MI | No. 11 Michigan | 2–1$^{OT}$ |
| 28 | April 10, 2021 | Ann Arbor, MI | No. 20 Michigan | 1–0 |
| 29 | October 5, 2021 | Ann Arbor, MI | Tie | 2–2 |
| 30 | September 27, 2022 | East Lansing, MI | Michigan State | 2–0 |
| 31 | October 10, 2023 | Ann Arbor, MI | Tie | 0–0 |
| 32 | October 22, 2024 | East Lansing, MI | Tie | 0–0 |
| Series: Michigan State leads 15–12–5 |||||