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Michigan State vs Syracuse Timeline

Explore every documented meeting, final score and season in the recorded history between Michigan State and Syracuse.

PROGRAM ONEMichigan State9 recorded wins
HEAD TO HEAD9–3–1WINS · LOSSES · TIES
PROGRAM TWOSyracuse3 recorded wins
13Recorded meetings
1917Earliest documented
1990Most recent season
1Tied games
THE RIVALRY THROUGH TIME

Head-to-head timeline

Meetings are listed oldest first. Scores and dates reflect the available historical records.

13 games
  1. 1917
    Michigan State7 — 21Syracuse
    Nov 24, 1917Syracuse won
  2. 1931
    Michigan State10 — 15Syracuse
    Oct 31, 1931Syracuse won
  3. 1932
    Michigan State27 — 13Syracuse
    Oct 29, 1932Michigan State won
  4. 1933
    Michigan State27 — 3Syracuse
    Oct 28, 1933Michigan State won
  5. 1934
    Michigan State0 — 10Syracuse
    Nov 10, 1934Syracuse won
  6. 1938
    Michigan State19 — 12Syracuse
    Oct 22, 1938Michigan State won
  7. 1939
    Michigan State14 — 3Syracuse
    Nov 4, 1939Michigan State won
  8. 1952
    Michigan State48 — 7Syracuse
    Oct 18, 1952Michigan State won
  9. 1968
    Michigan State14 — 10Syracuse
    Sep 21, 1968Michigan State won
  10. 1973
    Michigan State14 — 8Syracuse
    Sep 22, 1973Michigan State won
  11. 1974
    Michigan State19 — 0Syracuse
    Sep 21, 1974Michigan State won
  12. 1978
    Michigan State49 — 21Syracuse
    Sep 23, 1978Michigan State won
  13. 1990
    Michigan State23 — 23Syracuse
    Sep 15, 1990Tie
THE COMPLETE SCOREBOOK

All recorded results

The latest documented meeting appears first.

SeasonMatchupScoreOutcome
1990Michigan State vs Syracuse23–23Tie
1978Michigan State vs Syracuse49–21Michigan State won
1974Michigan State vs Syracuse19–0Michigan State won
1973Michigan State vs Syracuse14–8Michigan State won
1968Michigan State vs Syracuse14–10Michigan State won
1952Michigan State vs Syracuse48–7Michigan State won
1939Michigan State vs Syracuse14–3Michigan State won
1938Michigan State vs Syracuse19–12Michigan State won
1934Michigan State vs Syracuse0–10Syracuse won
1933Michigan State vs Syracuse27–3Michigan State won
1932Michigan State vs Syracuse27–13Michigan State won
1931Michigan State vs Syracuse10–15Syracuse won
1917Michigan State vs Syracuse7–21Syracuse won
OUR DATA STANDARD

Sources and historical coverage

These results are compiled from season-by-season records imported from CollegeFootballData. Only games with both final scores are counted. Older seasons and some lower-division records may be incomplete; the earliest documented year is not necessarily the first meeting ever played.

Page updated November 7, 2026 · Historical records are subject to correction.