Drake

November 30th, 2009 at 3:35 PM ^

With 2 losses to Alabama and Marquette, and barely beating Creighton, this is probably where they should be ranked atm.

double blue

November 30th, 2009 at 3:36 PM ^

While wins and a shot up the rankings would have been nice there is plenty of season left and games to make their mark in (uconn and kansas). It's why it's easier to be a bball fan than a football fan- true panic takes longer to set in in bball.

Wes Mantooth

November 30th, 2009 at 3:37 PM ^

#36 is right where we finished off last season and I think that's a realistic spot for this team to be in this early in the year. We should crack the top 25 again as the team gets their issues corrected, but a #15 ranking was definitely too high.

Tater

November 30th, 2009 at 4:10 PM ^

...to rank them at #15. This is a good spot for the team, and they will improve throughout the season. I think they will be in the top 25 by the end of the season and should get a decent seed in the tournament.

footbox

November 30th, 2009 at 4:24 PM ^

I was a little bit shocked when I saw them at 15 to start the season anyway. If you haev watched any of their games this weekend, you could tell that they don't have a large bench and they need to be more productive on the offeensive end. The 1-3-1 defense michigan played created a lot of turn overs the first game but the more athletic teams ate it up. Also the offensive did not look good in half court sets, most of the time it was the Manny Harris show with everyone else just standing around watching. Michigan needs some bench players like morris and gibson to be more producitve on the offensive end. But the upside is the freshmen should get better as the season goes on so i think by march they are going to ba a much better team than they are now.

scottcha

November 30th, 2009 at 4:30 PM ^

No surprise there. Threes weren't falling, D looked anemic at times, and Manny was carrying most of, if not all of the load. Good thing is: it's only November.

thevictors85

November 30th, 2009 at 4:53 PM ^

call me crazy but we need to win three of these four out-of-conference games (or two if it is @KU and CT). BC @UT @KU CT if that doesn't happen, i really think that even a 10-8 conference record would put us squarely on the bubble and a 9-9 conference record would have us on the wrong side of the bubble... remember the 10-8 penn state last year that was left out bc of a poor RPI and no signature out of conference win... i know its early in the season, and i have confidence that the team will get things on track; especially with a game in the friendly confines of crisler this week ...

scottcha

December 1st, 2009 at 12:45 AM ^

You're crazy! Well, sort of. I don't know if we need 3 of 4, as a win over UCONN or KU would be a very nice signature win by itself, especially if said team runs through its respective games and helps pump up Michigan's RPI. Along with at least one of the other two, I can see making the tourney with a 2-2 record against the teams mentioned and a good showing in a tough Big Ten. With that said, March is an eternity from now and its really tough to make these kind of assumptions. A win over any one of these teams may not seem nearly as impressive come selection time...

MichiganStudent

November 30th, 2009 at 5:21 PM ^

Unsurprising. That being said, I think this team has the chance to be really good if we can knock down that 3 ball.

fleetwood

November 30th, 2009 at 5:41 PM ^

This year is a lot different than last. Not just in the expectations but they way the team plays. We played zone for all three of the tournament games and got torched. Also we aren't getting any open threes when last year that is all we had. I say we drop into man for about half the game with Novak on the PF and Sims on the C.

Hoken's Heroes

December 1st, 2009 at 12:47 AM ^

...and as one columnist suggested, plug the holes that have exposed this team. Success during Big 10 play will be crucial as we all know. The bottom line is doing well enough to get to the tourney. That's all that matters.