If College GameDay was airing in the visiting locker room at Michigan Stadium on Saturday, Michigan State might’ve heard enough from the ESPN pregame crew to get a little added motivation. There weren’t many positive things said about the Spartans.

The Paul Bunyan Trophy is on the line on Saturday in Ann Arbor, as No. 15 Michigan (7-2) hosts Michigan State (4-5). The College GameDay crew is expecting a Wolverines victory, but there was also some shade thrown the way of the Spartans.

“This is probably No. 3 behind Ohio State and Notre Dame,” Desmond Howard said when talking about where MSU falls on UM’s priority rivalry list. “You do respect Sparty, because they’re a team you know you’re going to get their best effort…Sparty is a wounded animal right now.”

Michigan State started the year well, getting off to a 4-1 start. But it has dropped its last four games to Ohio State, Wisconsin, Penn State and Illinois to fall below .500 for the first time all season.

Kirk Herbstreit doesn’t just expect a Michigan win, he expects the Wolverines to win in impressive fashion.

“What I see today is Brian Lewerke in 3rd-and-7, 3rd-and-9 and running for his life. This one will not only be a Michigan win, this is going to be a blowout. Michigan kills Michigan State today”

Michigan has won two of the last three meetings in the head-to-head series, but hasn’t won in Ann Arbor since 2012. Kickoff between the in-state rivals is scheduled for noon ET.