Indiana

Does anyone know of a bus company that will charter people for the away games?  I saw quite a few charters at the Notre Dame game and figured that there would be one for Indiana, Purdue, Penn State or Ohio State.  Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Without giving too much boring information, I live in South Carolina and my parents are big Clemson fans. I miraculously became a Michigan fan after seeing Desmond strike the pose in 1991. I was 6. I've been obsessed ever since.

I've seen the 1979 highlights countless times but growing up in SC and not being able to attend my first Michigan game until 2006, I don't get to talk Michigan football history with many people, aside from MGoBlog, forums, etc.

Was there anything significant about the Indiana game of 1979? I realize how ridiculously awesome Wangler to Carter is by itself but is there any storyline behind that game? I've just always wondered if that game had more context or if it was simply a great moment in Michigan football history. Can anyone help?

Michigan doesn't play today, but they'll take the highest seed of the two teams winning. Game 1 is half way through with Iowa tying it up 4-4. The big surprise in this game is Purdue's coach Doug Schreiber starting their #2 starter and saving ace Matt Bischoff for game two. Well, despite a solid start from #2 Matt Morgan, he's been removed from the game after a Hawkeye 4-run 5th.

It's vital for a team to avoid the loser's bracket, especially those that don't get a bye. They'll have to win 6(!) games in a row to finish the tournament. That's 7 games in 5 days. No way any team has the arms to do that. By saving Bischoff for a potential winner's bracket game, Scheiber has essentially said we're winning it in 3 games or bust.

Indiana and Northwestern are due to start at 3:30pm ET. Both the current game and the 3:30pm are both being shown, as all games in the tournament, on BTN live.

Side Note: Derek Dennis's status is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.

With half of the Big Ten regular season complete, it's time to take a look at the conference to see where Michigan is and what it will take to get a good seed in the Big Ten Tournament. In this post, we'll walk through the series we've already completed and then look at the opponents we still have on the schedule.

So, for all you late comers to the baseball season, here's what you need to know.

Where We've Been

While not much has changed in terms of outlook, Indiana hasn't turned out just as good as I expected either. They've been quite inconsistent, with their top hitters going ice cold the weak after they torched us. That freeze of course happened against Ohio State, giving the Buckeyes a pretty easy 2-1 series victory. They did sweep Iowa, though, something Michigan couldn't do.

The loss to Bischoff is still nothing to worry about. It really would have helped for Michigan to get a sweep. Ohio State isn't on their schedule, but I'm not sure if that helps or hurts us. Purdue may be able to steal a game from the Buckeyes, or they may get blown out in all three.

Things haven't changed much here in a week. Illinois lost 2 of 3 at Michigan State, which means the Spartans are just keeping pace with us.

That happened. Nothing has happened in our season and it still stings. I can't wait for this weekend to come so I can get it out of my head. Plus, the Buckeyes did us a favor losing a home series to Penn State just so we could keep pace.

After the jump, we look at the present and then haphazardly predict the future.

The BuckeyeNine interviewed Indiana's Tracy Smith in build up to their series this weekend. The last question had to do with the oversigning problem that Rich Maloney also laments about constantly, and the response is definitely worth a link.

Now, I do believe the Big Ten recognized this as a huge disadvantage for our league and instituted a rule change this year that allows schools to over sign up to one scholarship spread over two players.

It does help, but when other schools are over signing by 6-8 scholarships, the playing field is not even close to being even. The part that drives me nuts is nobody talks about this issue. Everyone wants to talk about weather, and huge stadiums, etc., as being the things the hold our conference back, but it’s not. The issue of over-signing is the real problem.

My friends who coach at southern schools laugh when I tell them that we can’t over-sign kids until our underclassmen physically sign a contact. They are like, “how in the heck do you guys recruit?” I have my response down to a science now, I put my hands behind my back and say, “like this.”

Big Ten coaches in baseball haven't been able to sign players until their players who leave early for the draft actually sign their pro contracts in June-August. That leaves them potentially 2 months before school starts to find talent to replace their draft picks. So pretty much, they're left with no options as nearly everyone signs either in the fall or spring. What kid with talent is going to wait until after their summer season is over to decide to go to a school? Yeah, no one.

Couple other good questions, including Smith recruiting his own son to graduate early and play an immediate role in the IU baseball team. Pretty interesting if you can put up with reading white and red text on a black background. I just typed this whole post while still blind.

LaMarre back on the field, picture by Aaron Ferguson, IU Athletics

Michigan went into Bloomington this weekend for a three game set to open conference play. The first two games were high intensity with plenty of drama, the last game was a huge let down. Despite that let down, Michigan currently sits tied for first place with 4 other Big Ten teams as we emerge 2-1 on the weekend.  That's more important than how badly the team face planted on Sunday.

So for full recap, take the jump. My thoughts on the series come after the individual game recaps.