Lots of talk around the 'sphere about whether you, as a Michigan fan, should have been...or should be...pulling for Michigan State during their run in the NCAA tournament. The simple answer is: you can do whatever you want. I'm not your dad, so if you want to get all teary-eyed when you recreate memories of the Flint-Stones, bump chests with your buddy over the dominating play of war-torn Bosnia survivor Goran Suton, embrace ESPN's assessment of Michigan State as the team that saved the state of Michigan and the city of Detroit, or even name your first kid Mateen...I really don't care. If you want to play the Big Ten unity card, that's awfully nice of you. GO BIG TEN! Wooo hooo! In the end, what you are really asking is if being a fan of Michigan State basketball, or rooting for them in some capacity, makes you less of a Michigan fan.

Yes, it does.

You can slice it any way you want to, you sleep with the enemy. Pardon the old joke, but you should have three favorite teams: Michigan, the team playing Michigan State, and the team playing Ohio State. And if the Big Ten sucks, or the perception of it sucks, there is a simple solution...you root for YOUR OWN TEAM to win more games. You don't root for Sparty or the Buckeyes to make it better. And when Sparty and the Buckeyes take the field, court, wrestling mat, or ping pong table to play each other...you root for injuries and recruiting violations.

Pulling for Michigan State is the easy thing to do. It's exciting, this Final Four. And it's right down the street. The word "Michigan" is in the name of their school! But Michigan is not there. And you shouldn't be either, unless you've got UCONN gear on.

From Genuinely Sarcastic:

In the end, it's all equal. There is strong dislike on both sides for the other, and personally, I think it's an abomination for a Michigan fan to cheer for Michigan State to get to the Final Four. Not because of anything that may come of this in recruiting, but because MSU fans aren't going to do the same for UM. I cheered for Kansas, I cheered for Louisville, and I'll be cheering for Connecticut. I'm a Michigan fan, not a Big Ten fan,and a Michigan fan doesn't cheer for Michigan State.

This debate covered en masse and other stuff from the internets...