Michigan a 7 seed in Lunardi's initial projection
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology
also, he has us trending downward.
December 15th, 2011 at 4:35 PM ^
We have Brackets this early?!?
December 15th, 2011 at 4:37 PM ^
There was a bracket in early November. It's not that much more ridiculous than preseason rankings.
December 15th, 2011 at 4:36 PM ^
This is quite worthless on this mid-December day.
December 15th, 2011 at 5:49 PM ^
I like being cynical on a cold winter's day. This thread helps.
December 15th, 2011 at 4:36 PM ^
Q: How can we be trending down in an initial bracket?
A: It's not the first bracket, there was a preseason bracket.
December 15th, 2011 at 4:37 PM ^
I know that MSU has played a tough schedule, but them as a 4 seed seems crazy. UM is probably a 7 seed at best, unless Burke and the rest of the guards improve. Also think Lunardi may be sleeping on Murray St. a bit, but list doesn't look egregiously bad for this earliy in the season.
December 15th, 2011 at 5:32 PM ^
We can do better than a 7 seed, especially with the respect the Big Ten is going to get in tourney time this year.
Burke is the last guy who needs to improve. We need our shooters (Douglass, Vogrich, Novak) to be shooters, not "shooters."
December 15th, 2011 at 6:27 PM ^
You're asking a lot from a kid who has played like an all B1G guard from the start of his freshman season!
Now, the other guys. . .
December 15th, 2011 at 7:04 PM ^
Turnovers...
December 15th, 2011 at 7:48 PM ^
I think Burke looks great so far, but he might still be victim to the dreaded "wall" that freshmen tend to hit, usually around February or so...
December 16th, 2011 at 1:59 PM ^
Funny because February is when Hardaway started playing his best basketball of the season last year.
December 15th, 2011 at 4:41 PM ^
I wouldn't be surprised if we were a 7-seed this year. Every Big Ten game is going to be a battle (except for Iowa and Nebraska).
21-8 is a realistic expectation, and that record generally gets you a seed between 5 and 8
December 15th, 2011 at 4:46 PM ^
You left off Penn State. They're terrible, might go winless in the league.
December 15th, 2011 at 4:51 PM ^
I'm guessing they could have used Burke this year.
December 15th, 2011 at 4:48 PM ^
He also has Tommy Amaker's squad as a 7 seed.
December 15th, 2011 at 4:48 PM ^
I think we beat Cleveland State
December 15th, 2011 at 4:48 PM ^
The Big Ten has recently become the best NCAA basketball conference so it definitely will be a tough in conference schedule. That being said, this will really help our tournament seeding because i think we stack up well with most other teams in our conference. Should help us get to 4 or 5 seed in the tournament
December 15th, 2011 at 4:51 PM ^
if we go 8-10 or 9-9 in conference. It should definitely help us get in, but the conference is a murderer's row this year and finishing in the top half of the conference is going to be an insane battle.
December 15th, 2011 at 4:49 PM ^
I'd rather be a 7 seed than a 5. the 5-12 seed match up is always a trap game and usually the 12 seed comes through with the 'W' I think we'll have a good B1G season and could move up from this initial ranking.
December 15th, 2011 at 4:53 PM ^
5 seeds win more often than 12 seeds.
December 15th, 2011 at 5:50 PM ^
I'd much rather play the 4 seed in the second round, rather than the 2 seed...
December 15th, 2011 at 5:50 PM ^
I'd much rather play the 4 seed in the second round, rather than the 2 seed...o
December 15th, 2011 at 6:26 PM ^
way more often then the 7. The goal should be to get to the Final Four as often as possible and at least the sweet 16 every year. This is Michigan Fergodsakes!
December 15th, 2011 at 4:51 PM ^
The current year's brackets will be projected first during March Madness of the previous season. Still, it's early in the season and I think we're better than a 7th seed in the West right now.
December 15th, 2011 at 4:52 PM ^
RealtimeRPI has us 29th, which would translate to a 7 or 8 seed as well. The loss to Virginia seems to have hurt us a lot, whereas the loss to Duke is no big deal since they're #1 in the RPI.
December 15th, 2011 at 4:54 PM ^
wish we wouldn't have sat hardaway for 15 minutes in the first half.
December 15th, 2011 at 6:54 PM ^
But wasn't the game lost in the second half, when he was out there?
December 15th, 2011 at 4:54 PM ^
7 seed could happen, but we have to get a lot better, in my mind, we're 1-2 against real teams (Memphis, Duke, UVa), Duke is excusable, UVa was a close game where hardwaway didn't play a half...we should make the tournament, but to get the wins for a 7 seed, improvement across the board has to happen
December 15th, 2011 at 4:58 PM ^
I submit to you and predict that by the end of the year, the UVA loss will also be considered quite excusable.
December 15th, 2011 at 5:13 PM ^
I was just saying I would feel a lot better about a high seed if that was a win for Blue, the Big Ten will be brutal and we're going to need all the OOC wins possible
December 15th, 2011 at 5:57 PM ^
Wahooooo... Maybe true, Lundari has UVA as a 7 as well.
December 15th, 2011 at 5:07 PM ^
So I figure that will put us at around 4-7 seed
December 15th, 2011 at 5:10 PM ^
We haven't lost for 2.5 weeks. How can we be trending downward?
December 15th, 2011 at 5:17 PM ^
who cares~
December 15th, 2011 at 5:24 PM ^
We have an aboslutely brutal stretch of the schedule in late January. It's important to get as many wins in the next few weeks as possible.
Starting Jan 17th:
MSU
At Arkansas
At Purdue
At Ohio
Indiana
At MSU
Arkansas doesn't seem that bad, but right after the MSU game, and the beginning of a brutal away stretch...
December 15th, 2011 at 6:03 PM ^
Yes, but we also get some small breaks, like playing Minne (home), Wisky (home) and Purdue once.
December 15th, 2011 at 7:36 PM ^
You're not the first person to make this mistake, but Michigan will be playing Purdue twice. They'll be playing them at home on either Feb. 25 or 26 (see mgoblue.com schedule). The schedule at ESPN doesn't list that game apparently because the date hasn't been finalized yet.
December 15th, 2011 at 6:40 PM ^
to 20 wins may be a struggle. Need more consistent play from the likes of Smotrycz, and contributions from one or two more bench players if M is going to break even or better in Big Ten play.
December 15th, 2011 at 6:39 PM ^
I will care about Michigan's basketball seeding in late February.
December 15th, 2011 at 6:40 PM ^
OMGZ.
December 15th, 2011 at 7:06 PM ^
Seems about right. Although it's a fairly arbitary projection at this point considering that we're less than 1/3 of the way through the season and resumes have barely begun to take shape. So basically what I'm saying is that it's pointless.
December 16th, 2011 at 9:44 AM ^
So did you guys know that the reason Chris Allen transferred to Iowa St. was because he got Durrell Summers' girlfriend pregnant? Wow.
December 16th, 2011 at 4:53 PM ^
So we're playing Duke in the Elite8?