The MSU-UM game is important for the standard reasons. The winner: beats a top rival, takes command of the Legends division, shoots up in the national polls. But this game has some longer-term repercussions that I think make this game ridiculously important, especially for MSU.
First, the winner discovers that they are a very good team that will quite likely go on to win the Legends division. UM would move to 7-0 and would be able to claim a road victory over a tough opponent. This would indicate that they are good enough to win all the games remaining on their schedule, except perhaps the inaugural B1G championship where they would likely face Wisconsin. Perhaps most disconcerting, this victory would establish Michigan as the dominant program in the state. The bottom line, folks, is that MSU is more talented than UM at this time, UM is somewhat burdened by a period of transition, and MSU has home field advantage. If the UM coaching staff is good enough to win this game, I hate to ponder what future games will be like, when UM has finished transitioning and when they have brought in top-ranked recruiting classes. I just don't want to think about it.
If MSU wins, they defeat a UM team that is probably not a top-12 team, as the polls suggest, but that probably will finish the season ranked in the top 25. This victory would be a clear signal that the Spartans are good enough to beat every team left on their schedule, save Wisconsin -- in my mind, Wisconsin is showing no weaknesses, and perhaps the only reason to hope that MSU could beat them is that Wisconsin struggles when they play in East Lansing (more on that next week). Now, being good enough to win games and winning games are two different things. The Spartans will have to play well the rest of the way. But I think this game would give them the momentum to finish strong.
If the Spartans do finish strong, winning perhaps 11 games, that would give the Spartans 2 great seasons in a row. This would signal, that Dantonio has turned MSU into a top-tier program. If they win their bowl game, and consequently finish 12-2, I would say Dantonio is actually an elite coach. At that point, I would even allow myself to believe that they could legitimately contend for the national championship next year. But let's obsess about that possibility when we get to it.
A second and closely related set of repercussions for this game have to do with recruiting. A victory in this game could affect recruiting more than any other single victory I can remember. Of immediate consequence, one of the Spartans' biggest recruiting targets, Ohio defensive end Adolphus Washington, will be at the game on an official visit. Washington is regarded by some as the top recruit in Ohio and one of the top recruits in the country. He has narrowed his choices down to Alabama, Kentucky, Miami of Florida, Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State. He has indicated that he is intrigued by the idea of playing with Se'von Pittman, who is another Ohio defense end and MSU's highest ranked recruit for 2012. An MSU victory could help secure Washington's commitment, and a commitment from Washington could help turn MSU's D-line into one of if not THE best in the country.
If a victory over UM does give the Spartans the momentum to go on to win 11 games this season, then we can expect MSU's recruiting to take a quantum leap. They may still not get an elite class this year, considering that they only have 4 spots left to fill; but a good season would very likely produce a great recruiting class for 2013.
The upshot: this is a big game, in which MSU has more at stake.
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