2012 NCAA Tournament

When Beilein Has a Week to Prepare…

A wise man once said, When John Beilein has a week to prepare, there will be subs and it will be crazy. And looking at Michigan’s past games, that’s not really how the games go. Below, I take a look at how Michigan has performed against quality opponents with 4-7 days rest and prep-time. I have removed teams such as Long Beach State and Coppin State because it really does us no good to quantify.

2014 Non-Conference Games

Iowa State on the road with five days rest. Michigan loses 77-70.

Duke on the road with four days rest. Michigan loses 79-69

Arizona at home with seven days rest. Michigan loses 72-70.

Stanford at a neutral site with seven days rest. Michigan wins 68-65.

For those of you keeping score at home, that’s 1-3 in games after significant rest. However, we know that wasn’t the same Michigan team. Also, two road games and three contests versus the remaining Sweet 16 in which Michigan was 1-2.

2014 Conference Games

At Minnesota with five days rest, Michigan wins 63-60

At Nebraska with four days rest, Michigan wins 71-70

At home vs. Penn State with four days rest, Michigan wins 80-67

At Wisconsin with four days rest, Michigan wins 77-70

At home vs. Iowa with four days rest, Michigan wins 85-67

At home vs. Purdue with five days rest, Michigan wins 75-66

Against Wisconsin on four days rest, Michigan loses 75-62

At home against MSU on seven days rest, Michigan wins 79-70

At home vs. Indiana on four days rest, Michigan wins 84-80

Nuetral site vs. Illinois on six days rest,  Michigan wins 64-63.

For those of you keeping score at home, Michigan went 9-1 in conference when they had four or more days of rest. Overall, Michigan was 10-4 this season when having four or more days of rest, with a record of  4-2 vs. teams that remain in the Sweet 16 and 5-3 against teams that have made the tournament.

At this point the results are pretty inconclusive. While Michigan tends to win more often than not when they have extra rest, they’ve also won more games in general this year. There have also been outliers this year such as Duke and Wisconsin where the team has had significant rest and looked bad and quick turnarounds vs. MSU where the team has looked good.

Let’s look at some other games to see if we can note any more trends.

Previous tournament games under coach Beilein:

2014 vs. Wofford on five days rest, Michigan wins by 17

2013 vs. North Dakota State on 5+ days rest, Michigan wins by 13

2013 vs. Kansas on six days rest, Michigan wins in OT by two.

2013 vs. Syracuse on five days rest, Michigan wins by two

2012 vs. Ohio on 5+ days rest, Michigan loses

2011 vs. Tennessee on 5+ days rest, Michigan wins by 30

2009 vs. Clemson on 5+days rest, Michigan wins by 3

Again, we find Michigan with a winning record in tournament games with significant rest. Here, Michigan has gone 6-1 in the NCAA Tournament under coach Beilein when they have had a few extra days to prepare. However, there are once again outliers where Michigan doesn’t perform well such as there game against Ohio. On the other hand, there are games on minimal rest such as last year’s contests vs. VCU and Florida where Michigan rolls.

Moreover, when Michigan beats Kansas by two after a furious comeback, is that a win because John Beilein has prepared well? Or rather because Kansas faltered and Trey Burke hit a wild shot? One can make the argument that Michigan stayed close because of great gameplanning by the coaches. It is all up to interpretation.

And while these results are a bit inconclusive because of the varying factors involved in such analysis (road games, top-ranked opponents, injuries, etc.) the results do favor Michigan’s chances a bit when they have extra time to prepare. Overall Michigan is 16-5 this season and in the NCAA tournament over many years under John Beilein when they have significant rest. While 16-5 isn’t a sure bet to win, that’s damn good considering the teams that were played. Wofford may be the only cupcake on that list. And for every South Dakota State, there are a few blue bloods.

Needless to say, Michigan with an extra day this week (six days off vs. Tennessee’s five) certainly favors Michigan but having a good coach favors them a bit more.

Well, I know the NCAA Tournament has lost a bit of its luster now that our beloved Wolverines are no longer in the running, but there are still games to be played and brackets to be (further) ruined.

Today's slate:

1 SYR 75 - 9 KSU 59
2 OSU vs 7 Gonzaga - Just started
3 Marq vs 6 Murray St - 5:15pm
4 Wisc vs 5 Vandy - 6:10pm
4 Ind vs 12 VCU - 7:10pm
1 UK vs 8 ISU - 7:45pm
3 Baylor vs 8 Colorado - 8:40pm
4 Louisville vs 5 New Mex - 9:40pm

Anyone see any potential upsets today?  I think the best shot at an upset would be New Mexico over Louisville.  Plus, if you agree with the analysts, Wisconsin winning would be an "upset".  Baylor could potentially lay an egg today too - they didn't look all that great on Thursday.  I was really hoping KSU would give Syracuse more of a fight.

March Madness has us all in its grips, squeezing the picks out of us.  Every year I sweat and swear as I fill out my bracket, knowing all along that my first round picks will be decent and then my bracket will go to sh-t.  Its all I can do to have even just one team in the damn Final Four.  So I was wondering if you all have any interesting ways of picking "toss up" games or filling out your backets in general.

One interesting tidbit I found on Yahoo is this"

Make difficult picks using the "mascot fight" theory

Two of the hardest games to pick in last year's first round were UCLA-Michigan State and Vanderbilt-Richmond.  They were veritable toss-ups. But looking at these games in retrospect, they were all too easy to pick. Bruins vs. Spartans?  Hmm, a vicious bear or a person who shuns the conveniences of modern living?  I saw "Grizzly Man."  I know how that story ends.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/fill-2012-ncaa-tournament-bracket-024636059.html

(I deleted the reference to "Friends" in that blurb because, well, "Friends" and NCAA basketball should never be uttered in the same discussion.)

Fork over your secrets!