A new era of the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry will begin Saturday night in Ann Arbor.

Both programs are 4-3 this season with first-year head coaches, although Michigan’s Sherrone Moore has been a part of the rivalry as an assistant coach for the previous six years.

Jonathan Smith and his Spartans snapped a three-game losing streak with a resounding 32-20 victory against Iowa last week and will look to carry that momentum into the Big House.

Meanwhile, the Wolverines are trying to snap a two-game skid where they have been outscored by Washington and Illinois 48-24 with a minus-4 turnover margin.

Aaron McMann

I see two programs with identical records heading in different directions. If MSU plays like it does last week against Iowa and limits the turnovers, there’s a good chance the Spartans come out victorious. Michigan desperately needs Will Johnson to play and disrupt Aidan Chiles’ rhythm. Meanwhile, I don’t anticipate the Wolverines suddenly figuring it out on offense.

Ryan Zuke

Let me preface my prediction by saying this is the least confident I have felt picking the Wolverines in a long time. They are 1-6 against the spread this season, which isn’t that surprising given what we’ve seen from their lowly passing attack and the costly turnovers that have plagued the team all year.

Andrew Kahn

This Michigan team has a fatal flaw that sort of makes its other issues irrelevant. The quarterback play has been poor, and that’s why Michigan’s ceiling is severely limited. The Wolverines aren’t going to be able to beat the really good teams on their schedule, but that shouldn’t stop them from handling Michigan State.

The Spartans, like the four teams Michigan has already defeated, are just OK. They don’t have the run defense to make Michigan one dimensional nor the offensive playmakers to exploit a vulnerable secondary.

Matt Wenzel

A lot of people saw this game as an automatic L for the Spartans coming into the season but plenty has changed in two months. The defending national champions are scuffling under Moore while Smith appears to be on track in year one of a rebuild.