Because we are physical like them. Teams with similar talent as MSU usually gets out muscle because they aren't willing to go body to body. We may not be good but we play hard every play
We also match up well with Wisconsin. 2-2 against them, including a win when they were #4, and one loss in OT when they were #15. A few more teams I think we can match up against this year .. OSU, NW, Illinois and Iowa are a couple