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St. John's

I don't think anybody is seriously talking about them as a 4/5. They've been a 6/7 wherever I've looked, which is about right. Saying they have a "couple" of big-name wins is laughably dismissive. Georgetown, Notre Dame, Duke, UConn, Pitt? That's 5 teams that have spent much (or all) of the season in the top 10. Add to that road wins over bubble teams Cincinnati, West Virginia and Marquette and the fact that the committee weights how a team is playing later in the season, and it's not hard to see them on a 6/7 line.

Also, while the Fordham/St. Bonaventure losses happened, a lot can be attributed to the growing pains of a coaching change with 10 seniors. It's telling that their only freshman Dwayne Polee, who was one of their best players in the non-conference schedule, has disappeared as the seniors have adjusted.

The reason why the Big East gets so much love every year is because even though a team like West Virginia only played Vanderbilt, Minnesota, Duqesene, Cleveland St and Purdue...well that's a bad example I guess, because that's a legit schedule, tougher than Michigan's Kansas-Clemson-Syracuse and nobody else.

The Big East gets love because its good teams play ridiculously tough OOC schedules, which gives the middle-of-the-pack teams (which play tougher schedules than their counterparts in other conferences) an extra boost when they beat those teams.

As for the larger point, the advanced metrics fail to take into account the human element. Sure, a team that wins a lot of close games is not as statistically dominant, but they still had to win those games. There are always teams that consistently find a way to win the close one's, and there is something to be said for having the resolve to play through adverstiy that can't be quanitfied.

Tyler is a legend...

but I've actually liked Darke more. If i had to equate him with an American announcer it would be Sean McDonough. He obviously knows the game and isn't afraid to share his opinion. He toes the line between getting excited and the right time and being too excitable almost flawlessly. Also, and this obviously doesnt apply only to him, the different way they use the language (talking about a "plot" between Donovan and I think Bradley on a free kick) is interesting to me.

Brian, I think you mean

Worcester, not Worchester.

Pronounced Wusster

Butler

When he said he'd be doing a whole lot of nothing, I took it to mean that his season would be over because Michigan wouldn't be in the Final Four with a hypothetical redshirt junior Butler. I don't think there's anything disrespectful about that.

[Editor's note: UMHoops

[Editor's note: UMHoops pointed this out about the refereeing: DeShawn Sims says he complained to the refs about his game-tying three and the ref said he would have called a foul if he had missed, which just goes to show that every conspiracy theory you've ever had about basketball refereeing is true. Bastards.]

That's actually a fairly commonplace procedure. If a player gets bumped but the shot isn't affected much, the ref waits to see if it goes in. If it does, no harm no foul (literally) and if it doesn't the whistle gets blown.

Sounds unfair, but it reduces cheap fouls and three point plays.

Pure shooters are not really

Pure shooters are not really affected by moving the line back a foot.

Scorers (Sims, Harris) who shoot 3s are affected more.

As for the people we thought were shooters, like Douglass and LLP, well I don't know to be honest.

No reason for him to be

No reason for him to be ejected.

Harris shouldn't have been ejected last year. Two wrongs don't make a right.

Perry was hounding him defensively. A misplaced elbow is dangerous, but it is what it is--misplaced. It's a part of basketball

I compare this team's tourney

I compare this team's tourney prospects to Kentucky's two years ago. They started 5-6 and ended 18-12 and squeaked into the tourney as a 12 seed despite a loss to Georgia in the first round of the SEC tournament (IIRC)

Defense

is mostly about effort, especially factoring in who they've played, as they haven't been at a significant athletic disadvantage so far this year.

The 1-3-1 lends itself to more steals, as well as more open looks, but Michigan is not in the 1-3-1 all the time.

At the game I went to against Houston Baptist, they looked lazy, esp. in transition.

I've seen the same things in other games as well.

aargh

When I saw the headline in my feed reader, I thought it was going to be something along the lines of "Donovan Warren (aka 1/2 of our defense last year) is coming back."

and it's Terrelle, not Terell

and it's Terrelle, not Terell or Terrell

I really liked Troy

I really liked Troy Woolfork's play this year.

In addition, I wish we still had Adrian Harrington.

Don't you think our most improved lineman was David Mossman?

When he wasn't hurt, Brandon Minor was MAJOR! LOL

Uh, yeah

He was going to leave. He came to the AD with an offer from the Saints and told them he was going to take it unless they opened up their pocketbooks.

Or so I've heard.

Notre Dame couldn't afford to call his bluff if he was indeed bluffing.

FWIW, I think that these

FWIW, I think that these predictions taken right after the season are the most rational and accurate.

After RR was hired, we all said, "If Mallett transfers and we don't get Pryor, we're gonna suck."

But after both those things happened, we rationalized why we would be good, leading Brian (among others) to predict 8-4.

At the end of the season, we said "We'll be lucky to make a bowl game next year." Then, as the offseason went on, our expectations crept up until most of us expected no less than a bowl game by the beginning of the season.

Uh...

The Red Sox won the World Series 3 times between when it opened and the selling of Babe Ruth.

How does the Titanic reference apply?

I'm from MA

...and that comment has been made on facebook in all seriousness.

No coach is perfect. Belichick's tragic flaw has always been arrogance, esp. when it comes to offense.

bronxblue

After seeing Notre Dame last night, I agree with you there.

Iowa has beaten Penn State the last two years; They have the same record overall, won head-to-head, and put up a better fight than PSU against the bucks.

The point wasn't to say that the teams in the 2nd half were worse, just that they weren't better (or at least noticeably so), as people are using the argument that "our schedule got harder."

Tim highlighted in the

Tim highlighted in the presser notes that RR said there wasn't a lot of time for halftime adjustments during halftime.

While I generally give him the benefit of the doubt, I call bull on this one. 20 minutes is plenty of time to make adjustments, IMO.

The "better teams later in the season" issue also falls apart.

Iowa > Penn State
Notre Dame = Wisconsin
Michigan State > Purdue
Indiana >/= Illinois

With that being said, I tend to agree with Michelin's (purely observational) theory. It would be interesting if somebody could study this more in-depth

Tim, your deltas are fine
top

Tim, your deltas are fine

top 3 haven't moved

Cincinnati - 4 This week, 5 Last week, Delta + 1...correct
TCU - 5 TW, 8 LW, D +3....correct
Boise State - 6 TW, 7 LW, D +1....correct
Georgia Tech - 7 TW, 10 LW, D + 3....correct
Pittsburgh - 8 TW, 14 LW, D + 6....correct
Iowa - 9 TW, 4 LW, D -5....correct
Oregon - 10 TW, 6 LW, D -4....correct

That's the top 10. The rest of the top 25 is correct as well. I don't seem to see the problem.

Obviously it was a typo, but

Obviously it was a typo, but can we call him Beilein Beielein from now on?

His name/coaching style is so nice we have to say it twice, right?

mgovictors

They might not have a team left if they do that

Msybe it's just me, but I

Msybe it's just me, but I feel like the pointing to God runs counter to Christian principles.

Pointing to God screams, "Look at me! I made a great play, now I'm going to show you how good of a person I am!"

There are exceptions of course, but I think the point to God has gotten away from its original message.

Originally it was just an NFL

Originally it was just an NFL rule. Now it's expanded.

Just to clarify:
As soon as a

Just to clarify:

As soon as a player plays ONE PLAY in any game, whether it's offense, defense or special teams, they are not eligible for a redshirt.

A player can get a medical redshirt if they have played in 30% or less of their team's games. 4 games "rounds down" so to speak, so functionally it's 33%

Lost in the hubbub of the bands is this gem

"Michigan punched a baby seal until it was unconscious and then brought in its six-year-old brother to continue punching the baby seal because he's got to execute the playbook and every play in it is 'punch baby seal,'"

One of the better lines from Mr. Cook in recent memory.

And I c+p'ed that MacArthur

And I c+p'ed that MacArthur quote into Google. This thread was the first result.

To paraphrase: I played

To paraphrase:

I played hockey in high school so when I say the Red Wings are in trouble, I'm right and you're wrong, no matter what your level of hockey knowledge is.

EDIT: Since your political ideology agrees with President Obama's, you are a virgin.

Did I get the gist of it?

Yankee Stadium does this as

Yankee Stadium does this as well, and they do put song lyrics up, FWIW.

"He might have even been

"He might have even been kicking too well"

the emperor knows no limits

turd sandwich

who negged this?!??

Actually I think the conflict

Actually I think the conflict is with Scout and Rivals. One of the Scout guys (forgive me for forgetting who) said that the rankings were inflated for people in the north to get more subscribers. The thinking was that if all the 5 stars were in Florida and Texas it would deaden the interest of the midwest and northeast. This was said to allay some concerns about the 3* types we were getting from the south.

So may it be possible that ESPN is ignoring geography when figuring out their rankings?

they're on tv every week, and

they're on tv every week, and espn almost every week, why would they mic them up today?

I like the all "name" schools

I like the all "name" schools that are really overrated
So Notre Dame (obvs)
Georgia
Florida State
and a BXII school like Nebraska, Ok State

Captains are leaders, whether

Captains are leaders, whether they play or not.

Conover probably works hard in practice, does everything right off the field and has the respect of his teammates.

Minor's comments

If the players get more fired up to piped in music, shouldn't that settle it? Aren't we there to watch them?

Southern Cal should not be

Southern Cal should not be number 1. Period. Ohio State is not a great team. Michigan is really lucky that Pryor didn't come here. I truly believe that. He choked last year against PSU, and he choked Saturday. He didn't have a great game against Navy, and was bad against SC. Their whole offense is merely average; their defense is not as good as in years past, when they had Laurinatis (sp?) and Jenkins and the like.

Even with all that, SC needed McKnight to take over in the final moments to steal a victory. Don't forget about the near pick-six Pryor threw in the first quarter. Without that, who knows how the game would have ended up.

Don't believe the hype about "Barkley's poise." His "poise" on the final drive consisted mostly of turning around and handing to McKnight. They would have scored on the final drive even if Sheridan was their quarterback (I'm exaggerating, but you get my point).

The point I'm trying to make is that while I understand that you are trying to vote based on actual results, the truth is USC, maybe for the first time in years, is not the best team in the country. I would take Florida over them 7 times out of 10.

Seymour was overrated. He was

Seymour was overrated. He was probably the third best d-lineman they had, after Wilfork and Warren. Another shrewd move by Belichick.

yeah what the hell happened

yeah what the hell happened to nc state? they were rolling at the end of last year i figured it would carry over....

"• Rodriguez announced the

"• Rodriguez announced the team's game captains for the opener: superback Carlos Brown, left tackle Mark Ortmann, defensive end Brandon Graham and punter Zoltan Mesko."

superback? Am I the only one who hasn't heard that before?

Aside from the adidas logo, I

Aside from the adidas logo, I definitely see what you mean.

One team whose identity

One team whose identity escapes me (maybe the Patriots, I'm not sure) has the quarterback lift his leg when he's ready for the snap. The center then scans the defense, and snaps it when he's ready. It works for them

and the Hartford Civic Center

and the Hartford Civic Center is now the XL center. I'm nitpicking.

But chitown is right on the money.

Impressive

36 comments and nothing about the "educated Michigan State fans" typo.

A Celtics Fan's .02

Ben Gordon is not the type of player you want to lead your team every night in the regular season. He is too erratic and, as many have said, can only do one thing well

HOWEVA, he IS the type of player you want in the playoffs, the kind that can go shot for shot with almost anyone. He went back and forth with Ray Allen, who at the time was having the series of his life.

He's a joy to watch at times and can take over a game or even a series, but it's better if he were a second option than your go to guy night in and night out.

If that makes sense

I like the College Hoops 2K8

I like the College Hoops 2K8 ideal: For every scholarship offered, there must be a spot open, and the scholarship of a player who transfers/leaves the team/goes pro won't be open until the year after he leaves.

In addition to cutting down the practices that Calipari has been doing, it will provide more of a risk to take a potential one-and-done.

Agreed. Remember at the end

Agreed. Remember at the end of the LSU-tOSU NC game when the LSU fans started chanting S-E-C? I don't get that at all. If M and Penn St won the title back to back years would we be chanting Big Ten? I don't think so.

In regards to the OP, I couldn't disagree with you more. What about in The Game of the Century in 06? Was the magnitude less because the loser still went to the Rose Bowl? Not at all.

In 2007, the 9th Big Ten team

In 2007, the 9th Big Ten team finished 3-5. I expect M to go 3-5 in conference, 3-1 out to get to 6-6. Rittenberg's ranking is a little low, but nothing too drastic.

I think you were kidding

but Holliday and Harvin were both 98s in speeed in '09.

Also, no QB was near 95 (except maybe Pat White).

Maybe I'm getting him mixed up with somebody else...

...but McFarlin seems to be pretty dumb. Am I wrong?

I get you TIMMMAAY...

...and I agree. Newsome's stock dropped like a rock after people really started noticing his poor mechanics.

It was wise for Gardner to show off all that he could do rather than what he had trouble with. Or he was just screwing around.