LSAClassOf2000

March 15th, 2015 at 9:43 AM ^

It's still fun to think about that run and how special that was on so many levels. No matter what happens today, if by some stretch we end up on the fringes of the NIT or simply calling it a season, we do have this and all of its highs and lows. Thanks for sharing this. 

I still remember very clearly going from zero to ecstatic the moment Trey's Trey fell in. My wife only remembers it because she was trying to sleep and shouted, "Will you shut the fuck up out there?" (small-ish house, you see)

Marley Nowell

March 15th, 2015 at 10:45 AM ^

I was in a bar in BBQ Harlem. I had pretty much given up on winning the game and was already reflecting positively on how great the season had been. When Burke hit the 3 the entire bar if random and many non-sports fans went crazy. I was literally in shock.

victors2000

March 15th, 2015 at 11:02 AM ^

Definitely one of the longest in the air. Kansas must have been besides themselves; we never went away and died. So many times during that game a 'normal' team would have folded their tents knowing they simply didn't have the talent to keep up with the Jayhawks but even half dead our guys gave it their all. Amazing game.

AFWolverine

March 15th, 2015 at 11:20 AM ^

I was at a military awards banquet and the timing was just right. Someone had just been announced as an award winner, and even though I had no clue who they were I cheered with much gusto. Granted I was looking at my phone watching on the free NCAA tourney app, but hey I was cheering.

M-Dog

March 15th, 2015 at 1:51 PM ^

I was in Playa Del Carmen in Mexico.  It was not on any of the hotel TVs.  Finally found a sports bar with it on with about 5 mins left.  Just a few people watching.  Everyone else just walking around, oblivious to an American college basketball game.

But when Trey's shot went in, I heard loud shouts from up and down the entire street.  Somebody was paying attention. 

My seven year-old daughter was watching with me, cheering on Daddy's Wolverines.  When we won, I hoisted her on my shoulders and took her for "Elite Eight Ice Cream".  She loved it.  We had it last year too. 

bacon

March 15th, 2015 at 10:53 AM ^

I have never understood the ncaa tourney selection process. There are 68 teams, but Michigan doesn't qualify? It was a relatively awful season for Michigan, but we played a challenging schedule that included two projected #1 seeds and two projected #2 seeds. We also didn't lose most of those games by much. Michigan is definitely one of the top 68 teams. You put us in the tourney as team 68, we'd crush number 67, or at least take it to OT. Might bring more interest to the play-in game.

jcouz

March 15th, 2015 at 11:02 AM ^

take some of the subjectivity out of it by making sure all conference champs are represented. I love that the tournament does this. As far as the top 68 teams go, you are right that not all are represented. That is fine by me. What is the point of putting the top 68 teams in when the top 32 (not even) are the only legit shots to win it anyway? This way, no matter how small, or what conference affiliation, any team has an objective opportunity to play for a championship. NCAA bball tournament is damn near perfect and should no be messed with IMO.

gwkrlghl

March 15th, 2015 at 1:41 PM ^

  1. FBS is only 130ish teams so 68 team tournaments would be insane
  2. Football is a lot more wearing on players so you need to keep the playoffs shorter

However, I am a really big proponent of giving all your conference champions in football access to a playoff or at least giving the champion with the highest ranking a spot

bronxblue

March 15th, 2015 at 11:19 AM ^

But it's never been about the top 68 teams; it's about some notion of promoting "fairness" for all of the crappy conferences to keep paying into the notion of amateurism.  Sure there are non-AQ teams that are incredibly competitive, but for every Gonzaga or Wichita St., there are dozens of teams from the SWAC or Big South that are still part of the NCAA and need to feel their membership means something (and to justify the money they put forth as a member institution), so they get a chance to be sacrificed to Arizona every couple of years.

And to be honest, Michigan would still be a fringe team.  Maybe they'd pull and upset here or there, but this team is kind of mediocre.  Of course, it's mediocre with unheralded freshmen and numerous injuries, so it's damn impressive they are .500, but I don't have a problem with the system looking at Michigan and passing on them even if it was a "fair" seeding for all teams.

bronxblue

March 15th, 2015 at 2:03 PM ^

That's my point.  You need those teams to keep playing along with the idea that college basketball is still governed by amateurism and not the billions of dollars in advertising and revenue generated by a relatively small percentage of big-time programs.  If they actually ranked and seeded teams according to the metrics used by, say, Bracket Matrix, then only a handful of smaller programs would get bids and a not-insignificat number of D1 programs would have virtually no light at the end of the tunnel to sell to recruits.

victors2000

March 15th, 2015 at 11:14 AM ^

8:30 pm tonight on ESPNU and online at WatchESPN. It would be such a bummer for a team that has the potential to get in the field of 16 in the NCAA tournament not get an invite to at least play in the NIT.

mGrowOld

March 15th, 2015 at 11:19 AM ^

For years this was my favorite week of the year.  Starting today, worrying about where Michigan was going to get placed and how hight they'd be seeded.  And taking Thursday afternoon and all day Friday off work and holing up in my basement with beer, food and a remote control to watch basketball from tipoff noon Thursday through the last game on Sunday. It was fantastic.

But sometime between 1998 and 2008 I stopped doing that.  It just wasnt the same with Michigan not playing.  The last few years I brought that tradition back (just as awesome as ever) but this year Thursday at noon will be just another day at work.  I'm bummed.

I feel an atheist's kid on Christmas morning.  All my buddies are getting presents and I'm not.

jmblue

March 15th, 2015 at 11:59 AM ^

Are there non-religious people who refuse to celebrate Christmas?  That hasn't been my observation.  Obviously, they wouldn't go to church that day, but I think they pretty much all still give presents.

I think the only people I've met in this country who don't celebrate Christmas at all have been Jewish or very devout Muslims.

 

 

lilpenny1316

March 15th, 2015 at 12:01 PM ^

who don't celebrate Christmas because of the ties to Jesus.  

On the flipside, I know plenty of Christians who don't celebrate Christmas because it's not actually the day of this birth and it's origins aren't exactly Bible-based.  On another flipside, if possible, I know atheists and agnostics who celebrate Christmas because they look at it as just a gift giving holiday and agree with those who say Christmas' origins are not Bible-based.  

umumum

March 15th, 2015 at 12:29 PM ^

the concept of gift-giving at Christmas has little or no connection to celebrating the "birth of Jesus".   In this country, the concept of Santa Claus doesn't surface until the 19th century, and Santa the gift-giver only dates from around the 1920s.  So, yes, Christmas is celebrated by most (Christian raised) non-believers because it is not really deemed religious, but rather an annual celebration of the Winter season--akin to Summer Solstice.

Tkriz

March 15th, 2015 at 12:02 PM ^

I'm with you. In addition to what you wrote, age and other responsibilities also reduce the importance of what used to be hugely important. That said, it was refreshing when the wife and I jumped in the car on a Friday night a few years ago to head down to the final 4 in Atlanta and left the 4 kids at home. As for this year, I'll watch the tourney a bit as I want to expose my 6 year old boy to it, but I don't care what happens. Actually, I'd like to see uk complete the undefeated season as it'd be cool to see and I have a family member that works in the athletic department.




Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

M-Dog

March 15th, 2015 at 1:58 PM ^

My wife is a Dukie.  So I get to watch the Selection show for the drama of whether Duke gets a #1 or #2 seed.  After that, I get to sneak off and watch the NIT selection show (which I did not know was even a thing) to see if Michigan even gets in.

Not my proudest moment.

 

Wolverine Devotee

March 15th, 2015 at 11:19 AM ^

Big big results last night dor Michigan.

Wyoming amd Harvard who were NIT teams stole NCAA bids so Michigan has been bumped up to a 6 seed in NYC Buckets.

One important game left. We want Georgia State to win. Game is at 1.

It looks like Michigan is in regardless due to teams in front of them losing and getting NCAA bids, but Ga State winning would be the icing on the cake.