Are Michigan State’s alums more famous than their Redbox Bowl opponent Oregon?

The RedBox Bowl: It's one, 60-minute game featuring 50-something players on two sides of one field. Some of these student-athletes will go on to professional sports, while some may find success in business, the arts, maybe even politics.

These celebrities are already a step ahead of them, but which university's alumni are more famous?

Magic Johnson or Steve Prefontaine?

Born in Lansing, Johnson led the Spartans men's basketball team to victory in the NCAA championship game in 1979 against Indiana State and Larry Bird his sophomore season. He entered the NBA draft the following season, going onto to win championships during a Hall of Fame career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

After basketball, his success continued into business, including buying the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012 (he's not the only Spartan to own a pro sports team. Keep reading). As of 2017, the MSU Alum had accumulated a net worth of more than $500 million. 

Prefontaine never lost a race while wearing the Ducks uniform, a program he joined in order to train under Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman (more on him later).

He competed in the 1972 Olympics in Munich, coming up just short of a medal in the 5,000-meter race. He continued his Olympic training after graduation, but in 1975, he died in a single-vehicle car wreck in Eugene at just 24-years-old. He is considered one of the most influential American runner of modern times.

3 other famous athletes:

Nick Foles, Kevin Willis, Draymond Green (MSU)

Ben Hogan, John Madden, Marcus Mariota (Oregon)

James Caan or Ty Burrell?

Caan spent just one year at Michigan State, playing quarterback on a 1956 team that shutout Michigan and defeated Notre Dame. The next year he headed to New York City to study drama at Hofstra University.

While there, he met Francis Ford Coppola, who he would later work with in the "The Godfather." Caan was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of Sonny Corleone in the film, and went onto star in movies like "Thief, "Misery, and "Elf."

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Burrell, an Oregon native, majored in theatre after playing football throughout high school. He transferred to Southern Oregon University to finish his degree but remains a loyal Duck fan. 

He's best known for his role on 'Modern Family," but has lent his voice to movies like "Finding Dory," and "Storks" and his acting chops to movies like "Dawn of the Dead" and "Rough Night."

3 other famous actors, artists, and journalists:

Jemelle Hill, Tom Sizemore, Paul Stokey (MSU)

Ann Curry, Kaitlin Olson, Chuck Palahinkour (Oregon)

Dan Gilbert or Phil Knight?

Gilbert hit the ground running after graduating from MSU in the 1980s, founding what would evolve to become one of the nation's largest online retail home lenders, Quicken Loans, Inc., after graduating. The business owns the naming rights to the arena the Cleveland Cavaliers play in, a team Gilbert bought in 2005.

He's also invested in the revitalizing of downtown Detroit through the purchase of several buildings and wants to bring an MLS franchise to the city. He donated $15 million to his alma mater in 2016. Forbes reports he has a net worth of $6.5 billion, number 71 on their list of 400 wealthiest Americans in 2018.

Knight attended Oregon in the late 1950s, competing as a middle distance runner under track coach Bill Bowerman. Years later, Bowerman ordered shoes Knight was distributing from Japan and became a partner in the company, named Blue Ribbon Sports. The business' name was changed to Nike in 1971.

His success at Nike has secured him a net worth of $30.7 billion, number 16 on Forbes' 400 list, making him the richest person in his home state. He's donated more than $2 billion in his lifetime, including hundreds of millions to academics and athletics at his alma mater.

3 other famous business people:

Eli Broad, Tom Gores, Julie Aigner-Clark (MSU)

Bill Bowerman, Michael Jones, Lila Acheson Wallace (Oregon)

Gretchen Whitmer or Ryan Zinke

Whitmer, born in Lansing to lawyer parents, earned a bachelors degree and then a law degree from MSU in the 1990s. Her career in politics began shortly thereafter when she was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 2000. She also later served in the state senate.

After time in the state senate, she became Ingham County Prosecutor for six months in 2016, following charges related to prostitution forced Stuart Dunnings III to step down. In 2017, she announced plans to run for governor. The following year, she defeated Republican Bill Schuette to win the office. Her term begins on Jan. 1, 2019.

Zinke attended Oregon on a football scholarship in 1980s, majoring in geology. He never entered the field, instead, he served for more than 20 years as a U.S. Navy Seal.

Following his military career, he represented his home district in the Montana State Senate. In 2014, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Zinke vacated his congressional seat following Donald Trump's presidential election when he was nominated to be Secretary of the Interior. He announced his intent to leave the position by the end of 2018 in the face of several investigations.

3 other famous politicians and activists:

Kwame Kilpatrick, Debbie Stabenow, James Hoffa (MSU)

Ron Wyden, Ellen Rosenblum, Minoru Yasui (Oregon)

Gameday:$33 Redbox Bowl tickets are available, but will Spartan fans show up?

Nate Chute is a producer for the USA Today Network. Follow him on Twitter at @nchute