What win would be most important for Michigan Saturday?
- Hockey getting a banner.
- Women's hoops avoiding a major upset and keeping up their chances for a deep run.
- Men's hoops getting to Sweet 16.
If we could only have one, my personal preference would be for the men to get to the Sweet 16. From an objective standpoint, it probably is the least important.
[edit: Thread title tweaked to read "Saturday" rather than "today". -rob f]
Today, would be DeVonte Jones getting cleared. Tomorrow, I’ll vote for a clean sweep.
(men’s basketball would be the biggest win, ladies losing would be the most disappointing loss.)
Hockey is one win from a banner, but selfishly, if they lose, they play in Albany and I already have my tix.
A loss by the ladies would be pretty deflating and kind of take away from the great success they've had all year since no banners go up for 2022 and for Hillmon and those SRs
The men are big dogs, but an upset to get to the S16 is a pretty epic situation.
Tough call.
Redacted.
I'll edit your thread title to read "Saturday" rather than "today".
Appreciate that. I guess I should avoid posting before the morning coffee.
Other things to avoid before having a cup of coffee in the morning:
1. Everything
We’ll none of them play today so not sure how much you follow UM sports.
My fingers woke up quicker than my brain this morning. I deserve good-natured grief for that. That said, the pursuit of "likes" isn't a valid excuse to challenge my fandom. Most reasonable people would recognize my comment as a faux pas. We are all on the same side after all. For the record, I am actually taking my daughter to the women's game and I wasn't planning on skipping work today to make it. Have a nice weekend!
March 18th, 2022 at 11:40 AM ^
I messed around with the Pairwise Predictor on USCHO.com and it seems like the only way UM gets the top overall seed is if MN State loses tomorrow. Winning or beating MN doesn't actually change us from the number 2 overall slot. But let's hang a banner anyway.
Hockey win and the banner. Championships trump “not losing” early in a tournament
I agree with you on #1 being a Hockey victory, but as big a hockey fan as I am, this still isn't/wasn't an easy slam-dunk answer.
While getting a Championship banner and trophy 🏆 being the determining factor here in favor of hockey, Saturday is also huge for Women's basketball. These are two programs looking for a breakthrough moment (Hockey their first Big Ten Championship ever and WBB looking to move to the next level at long last).
Sure, Michigan Hockey still has a playoff slot guaranteed for another even bigger quest: a National Championship, so losing Saturday doesn't end the season, but for the upperclassmen on this team who have had two consecutive very promising seasons derailed by covid, this championship opportunity is especially meaningful.
And WBB? Snake-bit by crucial injuries at times yet good enough to have already beaten some damn good programs this season, this Big Dance is a program-defining moment. Finally healthy, if they play at the level they did earlier in the season when they beat perennial power Baylor and demolished Maryland, the sky is the limit. And no Michigan athlete I can think of is individually more deserving of success than Naz Hillmon. Minimally, this program is in need of at least a spot in the elite eight, and Final Four or better would be awesome!
For MBB, no denying it has the biggest fan base of these 3 sports at Michigan, but I really think any additional victories from this point forward will be a nice feel-good bonus but neither program-defining nor essential. Our basketball program (despite all the frequent complaining in these parts) is in good hands and won't take a dip if the season ends this weekend.
I agree. Tough call. The tangible and lasting nature of championships is undeniable. But as you say, there is a lot of history and importance to all three. The S16 streak is kind of a thing and number of S16 in March is often discussed historically. Tourney wins all mean something in March. Certainly, the WBB accomplishments have been historical and to continue the "program best" accomplishments is huge. Fun hypothetical, but let's just win them all.
Is there a way to add a poll to the board? To add another degree of consideration, you could include a National Championship for Wrestling.
That would be awesome!!
Feels like a natty trumps everything regardless of sport. Though, both BB teams can't win one without a Saturday victory so there's that.
As an alum, I'd pick wrestling. Our non-alum fan base dwarfs the alums though. I suspect that to the general fan, success of non revenue sports is nice to see but not something to get overly excited about. I'd be curious to see how the board members would vote.
I really don't know if there is that capability on MGoBlog Version 3.0, but if handled well it could be a fun feature, IMO.
I may be wrong, but I think I read something in a thread long ago, posted either by Seth or one of the previous moderators and discussed briefly, of the capability being there. If true, why it was never deployed is something I have no direct knowledge of.
March 18th, 2022 at 12:17 PM ^
Hockey can get a banner, yes, but winning the BTT isn't as impressive as the regular season title or reaching the Final/Frozen Four.
In both sports, the NCAA tournament largely makes or breaks your season. The regular season conference title is the only thing that can compete with that. The BTT alone is nice but if the rest of your season (including NCAAs) is disappointing, it feels more like a consolation prize.
I'd go with the Sweet 16.
Basketball.
If you put a javelin missile to my head and told me to pick only one, I’d have to say advancing to the sweet 16 with a win over Tennessee.
The reality is that college hockey is regional. Vast majority of people only follow and care about college basketball or football. As they say, follow the money.
Hockey banner.
You don't get anything tangible for a sweet 16 and, though I love the bball teams, I don't see them making deep runs this year.
Out of the three I only watch the men’s basketball team so to me it is #3.
Hockey would be most important because it's for a championship and likely the overall #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. While the Sweet 16 in Bball is nice, the Final Four is what matters and it's hard to picture this team winning 4 straight games to get there.
Everyone who picked hockey is correct. I'm planning to watch all 3. What a great day for Michigan athletics!
I will be most happy/sad pending the outcome of the game against Tennessee.
March 18th, 2022 at 12:25 PM ^
The problem with being #1 overall seed is that as it stands now would mean also having and Duluth and Notre Dame in the same draw. They would play each other first, but i's really a draw that UM wants to avoid. People talk about Jeff Jackson, but the Duluth coach, Scott Sandlein is probably the best in the country. 3 NCs, two runner-ups, they will be a tough out. Right now as a 2-seed UM gets Quinnipiac and SCSU winner, both are good teams of course. Note that a win over Minnesota would get UM the #1 seed, regardless of what Minn State does.
My vote would be the women's team advancing.
I would say hockey winning the Big Ten would be most important. This kind of roster is a once-in-history type of event, and it would be a little sad to see them not have a big ten banner of any kind. Additionally, it also brings the chance to grab the number one overall seed for the NCAA tournament. But also, don't forget about women's gymnastics competing for a Big Ten tournament championship. What a great day for UM athletics!
And don't forget the wrestling team competing in Detroit for possibly their first NCAA championship after winning the B1G two weeks ago!
This should be added to the OP - a national championship in any sport beats the other options.
Men's Hoops. The sweet 16 is an important and objective standard for the 2nd most relevant sport in college athletics - all due respect to the other sports.
This is like asking which of your three children do you love the most.
the kid named "hockey title" is the one i love the most .....
March 18th, 2022 at 10:57 AM ^
Children of Yost?
"My children, I love you, I love all of you. You're so talented and cordial and beautiful and handsome. However, I love one of you just a little bit more than the other two. All right, have a great day at school!"
Which of your 3 kids do you love the most?
March 18th, 2022 at 11:48 AM ^
I only have one kid, so it's not a question I have to ponder.
Choice #4 - The wrestling team winning a national championship. While not as high profile as even the hockey team, this is the best shot they’ve had since 2005, and would be a first for the university.
I guess you're are not a Buick customer.
Hanging a B1G hockey tournament champs banner is like winning the NIT in basketball. These guys have much bigger goals, it would be nice but in the big picture doesn’t really mean anything.
A sweet 16 in MBB after the struggles all year would be quite the accomplishment and be huge for coach Howard on the national stage.
Banners win out in the end
4. A wrestling national championship. I've waited my whole life for this.
username checks out
I’m a massive hockey fan.
I want Michigan to win the national title in hockey.
Neither basketball team is likely to win a title this year.
But the hockey team’s performance Saturday will not impact much; just some NCAA tournament seeding. Selfishly, I’ll be there, so I want to see them win in front of the Minnesota crowd.
But the narrative impact on their respective seasons is bigger for women’s and men’s basketball. Hockey will be judged on what happens beginning next weekend. But SS berths for either basketball team will be significant accomplishments.
Still, I’ll take all three.
1.Wrestling championship
2. Sweet 16
3. Women's Hoops NCAAs
4. Women's swim team NCAAs
5. Hockey (lest negative consequence since they are in the big dance)
Hockey. Getting a banner is always job #1.
Sweet 16. Nobody cares if hockey beats Minnesota if they don't do work in the Frozen Four next anyway.
Sorry to bust your bubble but there's a ton of people who care about beating Minnesota.
Not making it to the F4 with a banner is better than not making it to the F4 without one.
but that isnt the choice laid out. a W or L from the hockey team has no impact on the F4 (arguable that it helps or hurts).. but all things can still happen.
An L from either bball team ends it. A blowout loss to tennessee reconfirms what everyone thinks about how mediocre this team is... a W changes the narrative a bit.
An L on the women's just shows we're not quite "there" yet..
Getting to the Sweet 16 and beyond!!
Hockey is a banner.
Men's BBall is an upset special.
WBBall is expected.
So probably that order.
Hard to believe this is even a choice. Winning the banner all the way. That's the aspiration.