When they first announced this, we all just thought about football. But when you think about basketball, think about the new Big 10 tournament. The bottom 4 teams can play a wild card round. And then the 2 winners join the top 14 in a 16 team tournament, where the top 16 all play the first round. this will do away with top 4 byes.
So what does this foretell for the rest of this season? Ohio and Notre Dame sure losses? Penn State on the road and Michigan State look like losses now. Iowa looks iffy and Indiana and Maryland look like toss ups? what do we predict for a season record?
seems Illinois and Rutgers are bad enough we can get to 4 wins. Can we get to 5? 6?
now. seven wins looks daunting.
can our defense play better at home vs weaker opponents to make 6 or 7 wins look possible??
i was raised in the town of Niles (MI not IL) to a dad who graduated in 1961 and indoctrinated me into all things Michigan. We listened to Michigan games in the 70s on the radio in a time where M was not on TV every week. Maybe 2 or 3 games a year? I bled Maize and Blue. in 76 i moved to LA as dads job transferred him west. We watched from afar.
When Wisconsin happened to us Saturday I stared at the screen numbly. saying only to myself. FML. Where to go from here? When Jim Harbaugh was hired. i looked at his track record at Stanford ( they routinely beat USC!) and the 49ers ( they routinely went to the NFC championship games!) Now i am in purgatory.
i hated the Hoke hire, i loved the Rodriguez hire.
Can we be wrong about Harbaugh?
i honestly dont know.
these are college kids. sometimes your talent graduates or leaves early for the NFL and the kids who replace them are not as good. at least for a year. sometimes two.
Shea Patterson was supposed to be our savior when he transferred. Clearly he is not.
the OL is troubling. it has not gotten good. not in 3 years? 4? i have lost track
Preseason we heard from pundits Michigan is a top ten team. they are a playoff contender. ESPN's own FPI predicted based on their computer simulations said Michigan will go 12-0! we thought then that Patterson would thrive under the new Gattis offense. The OL returned 4 starters or 5 and would be better!! the receivers are the best in the nation or in the top 5 in the nation! the defense was young but Don Brown is a great coach and the Defense would be stout. We have Sparty Iowa Notre Dame and Ohio at home! this is the national contender season!
Patterson has not looked sharp or moved the team consisitently. The turnovers are a huge problem. The OL was a disaster vs their first really good opponent on the road. The DL looks small and ineffective vs Wisconsin. the LBs looked terrible vs Wisconsin. The receivers are not a huge factor. Charbonnet was great vs middle Tennessee State and Army. but got hurt and was no factor in Madison.
In the liveblog on game day Saturday we went from expecting a 11-1 or 10-2 season to 6-6 or 7-5. Games vs Ohio St, Notre Dame, Michigan State, look daunting. Iowa looks much much harder now. and the trip to Happy Valley to face the Nittany Lions looks almost as scary as the trip we just made.
I dont expect a loss at home to Rutgers this weekend but can we actually finish 6-6? I dont see a strength on this team yet. cept for maybe our punter as someone on the liveblog said.
my guess is to try Dylan McCaffery at QB i mean once he is properly healed from his concussion. Thank you dirty Wisconsin DB's! hope Zach is healthy soon.
i dont know why our OL never gets good. we need a good OL
Michigan was boring under Lloyd Carr but we could block on the OL and we could run the ball. Let us start somewhere.
23-7 with the last game at Maryland to come. Moving solidly towards a 5 seed.
I am greedy. i want that win at Maryland Though its on the road, we have a shot at that 4 seed. Nebraska can lose to Penn State.
Even if we get the 5, we have a weak game vs the Iowa/Minnesota winner, then can get revenge vs Nebraska in the Quarters.
A win vs the Huskers gives us a Michigan State rematch in the Semi Finals!! that would be tough as they want revenge for our win in Breslin.
That would be a great game in advance of the NCAA Tourney.
I like a 5 seed, and I dont know if a 4 is possible.
after our 4th Big Ten game, at 3-1 i looked at the schedule and predicted we could go 24-7. i cant believe a win at Maryland and i will be on it!
Go Blue, Gonna be a Fun march. Lets try to make the Sweet Sixteen!!
Now can someone do an article on MGoBlog on what happened to Charles Matthews? is it just a new kid adjusting roughly to the BIg Ten season and having a drop off from the preseason?
we need Matthews to do better. 3 of 10 from the field, 3 TO's. I think it was a baptism by fire lesson on the road for the young man. I know he can do much better. he will improve and this was a good lesson for him. He was great on defense! We need him more
I am excited about this team. Livers, Poole, Matthews, Simpson, Teske, along with vets Mo and MAAR. We are going to the tournament. Maybe a 6 seed too! if we get on a run make them consider us for a 5 seed!
Our tougest remaining home game is with Ohio State, for whom we want revenge from the away tilt.
We need to beat Maryland Rutgers Northwestern, Minnesota, Iowa and Ohio State at Crisler, do that and we have ten conference wins.
We have road games at Nebraska, at Purdue our toughest remaining road game by far, at Northwestern, at Wisconsin, at Penn State, and at Maryland. If we can win four of six on the road thats fourteen conference wins. 13 wins if we go 3-3 with the assumed winning out at home.
given our schedule and the state of the Big Ten we should look at 13-5 as a minium, 14-4 as possible.
13-5 in the Big Ten means a season record of 24-7.
Lets do this! Only Purdue at Lafayette scares me now. and Ohio at home makes me a little nervous. Time to take advantage of Wisconsin's down year in Madison this year, take care of the Terps and the Wildcats too.
i really hated Tom Crean as Hoosiers HC. But now hes just a member of the Harbaugh family to me. I liked it in the first half of the game when he talked about what a rough weekend it was for the Harbaughs. Man wasnt it? Ravens throwing away a playoff berth in the last 2 minutes of the game Sunday. then the Michigan 2nd half meltdown to blow a 16 point lead in the Outback Bowl. Now i see Tom as Jim's brother in law. so hes all right with me now.
Looking at the schedule, Michigan has 2 sure losses AT Sparty and AT Purdue.
if we can beat Purdue in Ann Arbor, Michigan can win 12 or 13 conference games.
they can win all their home conference games, the hardest are Purdue and Maryland.
They can win at Nebraska and at Penn State
They should win at home vs Illinois, vs Maryland, vs Rutgers, vs Northwestern, vs Minnesota, vs Iowa, vs Ohio State, and they have a decent shot to upset Purdue in Ann Arbor.
with a home Purdue win thats 12 B1G wins. Then you can get to 13 IF you can pull a road win over EITHER Northwestern OR at Wisconsin OR at Maryland. The last two are definitely tough places to play.
This is a down B1G year and only Michigan State terrifies you. This Wolverine team can go 12-6 or 13-5. If they don t blow a home game they can even reach 14-4. They will probably blow a home game but 12 wins or 13 is doable. With that they are in the tournament and can finish 3rd or 4th in the B1G conference.
So basically because the LB is late into coverage due to PA, Gentry is running free and open to deep on the right side.
If Michigan had a more competent healthy QB say Speight or Peters, thats a TD in the 4th quarter when Michigan is down by 3.
A good read and throw to Gentry, Michigan scores and takes a lead in the 4th and can play defense with good field position (assuming good kickoff return coverage)
The coaches must watch post game film and cry.
Who knows what happens if we take the lead. it just has to make the HC and offensive staff cry.
Those idiots who go on about Harbaugh not good enough and 1-5 vs rivals should watch the film and not blame Harbaugh.
If only we had luck with injuries at QB we had a chance to go 10-2 for Gods sake, as we could have or should have ( with better QB play) vs MSU and OSU.
and dont forget that 1-5 record includes the Horror (that O'Neill fumbled snap) and the Mark (the generous ball mark on 4th down for Barrett) how close we could be to 5-1.
Aren't Sean Miller's days at Arizona numbered? His asst and team are in the FBI probe of Pay to Play athletes with Adidas, like Rick Pitino at Louisville. Isnt it just a matter of time?
Perhaps Archie is not big enough a coach to follow his brother into 100 grand recruit payouts?
I dont know if we have a tournament team. perhaps we can get in.
if this is an audition for our competitiveness in the tournament, we failed.
when your 3rd leading scorer is Livers, at 9.
your 4th leading scorer is Watson at 7.
three of your starters combine for nine points.
Not competitive. Not ready for the Big Time College basketball
Duncan Robinson in his 3rd year is embarrassing.
Not one of the PG look ready for the big time.
This is the UNC team that lost, though at a neutral site, by 18 to Michigan State!!
oh boy, do we need work, A LOT of work before March.
I never want to give up hope on the team. I dont know where the offense and defense to a top 5-6 finish in the Big 10 is coming from. Its down year in conference, maybe after Michigan State, Minnesota, and Purdue.
I dont know if we have a tournament team. perhaps we can get in.
if this is an audition for our competitiveness in the tournament, we failed.
when your 3rd leading scorer is Livers, at 9.
your 4th leading scorer is Watson at 7.
three of your starters combine for nine points.
Not competitive. Not ready for the Big Time College basketball
Duncan Robinson in his 3rd year is embarrassing.
Not one of the PG look ready for the big time.
This is the UNC team that lost, though at a neutral site, by 18 to Michigan State!!
oh boy, do we need work, A LOT of work before March.
I never want to give up hope on the team. I dont know where the offense and defense to a top 5-6 finish in the Big 10 is coming from. Its down year in conference, maybe after Michigan State, Minnesota, and Purdue.
BUT i thought Spreight would improve over last season. I didnt expect him to get hurt. Thought OKorn would be a capable backup. Didnt expect anything from Peters this year.
Thought the OL would be improved, well better than last year and better than expected.
So that didnt go as well as i had hoped.
Still given all that went wrong, 8-4 is not a disaster,
we will be much better next year.
Lets hope Newsome recovers and the OL gets better. I think the defense will be even better. i think the kid receivers will be better
I do not get all the criticisms of Coach Harbaugh.
With this OL and the level of QB play and the injuries, what was he supposed to do?
Yes, Hoke left the OL cupboard bare. Sure, perhaps Drevno should have done better,
but this expectation that Harbaugh should be 12-0 or 11-1 despite a mediocre to terrible OL, and poor QB play is ridiculous, just because this is year 3.
Michigan will compete for B1G titles and playoff berths once Harbaugh has a very good QB with experience and a solid OL. Stanford has been known for its OL since Harbaugh started there. When Harbaugh ruled the Pac 12 it was not as competitive as the B1G is now. it was mainly just USC year in and year out. and Oregon who could never deal defensively with power running games.
GIve Coach time to build his QB and his line. Hoke was really that bad and never should have been HC of Michigan.
I guess the criticism is borne mostly out of frustration. we were all excited when Jim Harbaugh took the job and we are all tired of the losses during both Rodriguez and Hoke to Sparty and Ohio State and wanted revenge, yesterday.
we all need to be patient, This Saturday will be most likely humiliating. It will be hard to imagine our offense scoring with OKorn at QB even at home.
Recruiting and coaching will turn this around. If Drevno cannot handle the OL coaching duties, i am sure Harbaugh will see it and make changes next off season.
"...There are two ways to proceed from here. One is to point out the colossal failure of Brady Hoke's offensive line recruiting and the Grant Newsome injury, which is currently in its second year. Michigan had barely enough dudes to field a good OL and a cliff after, and then the least replaceable guy went out, etc...."
Isnt the most ironic thing that before being named Michigan's head coach Brady Hoke was most known for being an offensive line coach?
Michigan this year was 13-19-1 with 6 wins in the Big Ten out of 20.
they were nowhere near the NCAA playoffs. We are a worse team than Union, Providence, Air Force, Harvard, Michigan Tech, and Minnesota-Duluth. This isnt just about Boston, BC, Minnesota and North Dakota anymore.
So if Red wants to coach till 82 and give us 5 more season of 10-13 win seasons, while recruits go elsewhere. and Mel Pearson continues to win at Michigan Tech and aging to 63, you are okay with it?
He's earned the right to do that. To Michigan?
No. hes not Bo Schembechler, and Bo would not even do that to Michigan.
If you posted that your big concern is who would we hire who is a good coach, then you have not watched Michigan hockey closely and you have not read the posts on MGoBlog on hockey and i understand. At Michigan Hockey is 3rd behind Football and Basketball, though not as nationally competitive as Softball for 10 years.
We have a great coach in waiting. Michigan Tech head coach Mel Pearson, who coached UNDER Red from 1988 to 2011. thats 23 years!! now hes a head coach for six years, and hes done great. He was Red's right hand man.
Tech knows they are not Michigan. IF Michigan comes to Mel Pearson and offers him the HC job he will say yes and Tech would understand.
So its not that dont know if we encourage Red to retire because we do not know if we can get a great coach? No!! We have a great coach ready to take over in Mel Pearson. Hes 58 now. its time for him to take over. You will see dramatic improvement and the players would love it.
There is no reason for Red at 77 to hang on for another year. He should have retired last year at least.
i love Michigan. I love Michigan hockey! but we are miserable and Reds time has passed. He has had a great career with great numbers but Michigans program has fallen into disrepair, a valley of mediocrity. They were unwatchable.
The story in the News today was sad. He speaks like maybe he should stay unless its bad for the program. Unless? you can t see? it is bad for the program. Dont keep hanging on.
We need Mel Pearson. We need him now. Will he come now if we call now?
Red you groomed Mel, you taught Mel. You made Mel ready for this job.
let Mel take over as its his time to succeed you.
Please dont subject all of Michigans fans to another year of this.
We arent State. Do not take us down any further. Its time for Pearson to coach this team
Please, Red we are begging you. Its time. Retire. For the Team!
I was shocked by the CBS announcers I like Kevin Harlan, but i saw Moe was hurt on that fall to the floor he was clearly holding his wrist. then he left the game holding his wrist, and they never mentioned it once. One of starters missed most the 2nd half, a 6-10 fwd, replaced by a 6-8 G/F three-pt shooter and they never discuss it. It was a big moment in the game and CBS just missed it!
in addition to the FT disparity, i hated that late in game stat showed Minny outscoring Michigan 18-0 in 2nd chance points. 18 point difference!! thats huge. and its not just the -12 rebounding difference. yes Lynch was great and better than anyone on our roster
What i find interesting in the KenPom projections is that all eight remaining games are projected close 1 to 5 point games, three wins by 4, 4, and 1. Five losses by 4, 2, 4, 3, 5. We could win all 8 or lose all 8, but likely to win 4 and lose 4. We all know Michigan needs to win 5 or 6 games for the tourney chances.
If we lose BOTH games this week we are definitely DONE for the Tourney. Its such a compliment to Northwesterns year, that our KenPom win probability for the game with them is only 32%.
You do realize in all this talk about firing John Beilein that he is SEVEN, count them, seven wins from becoming Michigans ALL-TIME winningest coach in basketball? Johnny Orr won 209 games, Beilein has won 203 games.
Imagine the ceremony, Congratulations Coach you have won more games than any Michigan coach!! Oh, and you're fired.
Watching the OSU game on ESPN another frustrating thing to see and hear. OSUs best shooter was Loving, and hearing and seeing Calhoun point out that Michigans defense continually left Loving completely alone to go cover someone else. the biggest insult to M's defense was when one M player, was it MAAR? ran away from Loving when he had the ball on the 3 pt line to go cover a free man in the corner. but that left Loving WITH the ball open to shoot and of course make a three. No communication Calhoun pointed out. Why are we uncapable of playing even average B1G defense?
wouldnt this be the same as if we lost every B1G game in hoops by 15-20 points, even to Northwestern Illinois Penn State, and lost by 25-30 pts to Michigan State, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Purdue? we dont have enough talent and cant compete, and lets remember the B1G league is down!! MSU is pathetic, Minny and WIscy not the national powerhouses they have been in the past!
I love Red for all he's done over his career. Hes won the National Championship and built a national power. Well we arent anymore, Brian's right. he has stayed on too long and we are in a full decline. This was recognized at the end of last season!! To top it off, we have a natural, tailor-made, ready to take over sucessor in Tech's Mel Pearson, and he would take his "dream job" the Continuity would be assured. Step down and retire Red. You have done a great career but sadly each year you hang on just tarnishes it further. Please, for the love of God and the school you love, step aside, rest and let Mel take over next year!
i never would have believed before the game that if zak irvin and muhammed ali abdur-rahkman each scored 3 Pts that we could have won the game. Donnel chipped in 0 pts as well. its amazing we won with just four players-primarily scoring. Its a game we need for a tournament resume.
I dont like our chances to stay within 15 at UCLA one of the best teams in the country.
Still we can make the tournament if we are +.500 in the Big 10 conference.
Dan Dakich seems to believe we will be much better later in the year.
DJ Wilson and Moe Wagner are important to us. We need not to bog down on offense we need to drive the lane more and go to the post more. Irvin and Walton need to lead the offense better.
Alabama is favored over Washington by 14.5 pts by Vegas. I would bet Michigan would be a much smaller underdog. saw on Sportscenter OSU would be a 7.5 pt dog to Bama. If Vegas picked the top four teams you know Michigan would be in. Ah well we arent a conference Champion. That Iowa loss stings a hella lot more than the double OT loss at Ohio, a game we dominated cept for Spreights fumble, Spreights interception, and Spreights interception.
I saw that replay 6 or 7 times. It seems to me Barrett reached the 15 before falling back after hitting his OL's backside. Certainly the replay is not conclusive one way or the other, and the ref spotted it on the 15 before replay. nothing to overrule.
when the liveblog went crazy on the spot i thought they were all looking at it through maize-colored glasses.
how about the Samuel run on 3rd down when how many Michigan defenders could have taken him down 5 yards behind the LOS or more? That was ridiculous.
Speight kept OSU in the game, but i cant hate on him if hes playing with a broken collarbone.
Tough sad outcome, we got to 17-7 and only needed 3 more pts to win and couldnt get it.
Meyer should be branded forever an idiot for the fake punt call, but will it be forgotten in history because they won?
Michigan Man here, like I have to say that? Class of '88
I thought Mark US R gave an honest assessment. Ohio is hard to beat at home, their offense is their strength.
Both teams will stock the box trying to stop the run. Our LB outside of Peppers are NOT super fast LBs, on this level. Ohio has superior athletes esp at the skill positions.
JT Barrett can be an iffy inconsistent passer so can Spreight when 100% and also OKorn. Both D's will do all they can to stuff the run. Make the opposing QB Beat them.
It will be all about the lines and being the most physical. this Buckeye team is not as intimidating at the one the last four years, still they are potent. We must win at the line and get the running game to average 4.0 YPC.
we must hit some passes over 10 yds to Butt, Chesson and Darboh.
its an uphill battle that is why Las Vegas impartially has Michigan a 6-1/2 point underdog
Its fair.
I want Michigan to win badly, it would be our first B1G championship game, and our first CFB Playoff. But i dont think we should all go commenting with arrogance that we WILL win no matter what. Its a huge challenge.
Harbaugh is building a special program and we will continue to get better and contend for National Championships. but this is a game at the Horseshoe, Our record under Rodriguez and Hoke was deplorable. We must respect the Bucks talent and know this will be a war, most likely within 7 pts either way.
Special teams could be the difference. GO Blue, But lets not get on each other if any of us predicts a loss.
As Michigan continues to improve in the future and recruiting classes go up consistently in national rankings, dont you think more 4- and 5-stars will commit earlier out of competition?
I mean the kids can sense a program on the rise, a growing national power and will want to get in on it. but Michigan, like Alabama will be able to pick and choose from the best recruits, the only disadvantage being for kids from the SEC footprint who want to stay close to home.
Sure Irvin's and Walton's 2nd half shooing woes hurt,
but listen to Beiein's halftime interview. in the first half, the team was playing great defense, and then they just stopped,.
we should have won. We needed to shut down ONE Player. You can let Auguste get his points. the ONE guy we obviously needed to shut down was V.J. Beachem. We should have shadowed him and SHUT him down. look back at the tapes. I saw one play where Robinson was on him and left him to drift over to the lane with the ball on the strong side. Why? i dont know, there was no reason to be an extra body in the lane. Beachem was on fire and killing us. we had to never leave him. he was the difference. Farrell did nothing but dish to open guys for shots. Notre Dame only played 5 guys for 20+ and Colson for 18. you can let Jackson and Auguste get their pts if you shut down Beachem you win. We didnt do it.
and we lost... our players do not play defense.
maybe LaVert hid that more when he was playing in December because hes a pretty good defender.
Recent Comments
the game is on PEACOCK, while the preview lists it as being on CBS.
When they first announced this, we all just thought about football. But when you think about basketball, think about the new Big 10 tournament. The bottom 4 teams can play a wild card round. And then the 2 winners join the top 14 in a 16 team tournament, where the top 16 all play the first round. this will do away with top 4 byes.
why is Hunter Dickinson leaving us?
Pump it up!!
we are going to need you to sit out the Tennessee game on Saturday, thank you from all of us. Go Blue!
I love it!! keep going inside and wear Roddy down!
So what does this foretell for the rest of this season? Ohio and Notre Dame sure losses? Penn State on the road and Michigan State look like losses now. Iowa looks iffy and Indiana and Maryland look like toss ups? what do we predict for a season record?
seems Illinois and Rutgers are bad enough we can get to 4 wins. Can we get to 5? 6?
now. seven wins looks daunting.
can our defense play better at home vs weaker opponents to make 6 or 7 wins look possible??
i was raised in the town of Niles (MI not IL) to a dad who graduated in 1961 and indoctrinated me into all things Michigan. We listened to Michigan games in the 70s on the radio in a time where M was not on TV every week. Maybe 2 or 3 games a year? I bled Maize and Blue. in 76 i moved to LA as dads job transferred him west. We watched from afar.
When Wisconsin happened to us Saturday I stared at the screen numbly. saying only to myself. FML. Where to go from here? When Jim Harbaugh was hired. i looked at his track record at Stanford ( they routinely beat USC!) and the 49ers ( they routinely went to the NFC championship games!) Now i am in purgatory.
i hated the Hoke hire, i loved the Rodriguez hire.
Can we be wrong about Harbaugh?
i honestly dont know.
these are college kids. sometimes your talent graduates or leaves early for the NFL and the kids who replace them are not as good. at least for a year. sometimes two.
Shea Patterson was supposed to be our savior when he transferred. Clearly he is not.
the OL is troubling. it has not gotten good. not in 3 years? 4? i have lost track
Preseason we heard from pundits Michigan is a top ten team. they are a playoff contender. ESPN's own FPI predicted based on their computer simulations said Michigan will go 12-0! we thought then that Patterson would thrive under the new Gattis offense. The OL returned 4 starters or 5 and would be better!! the receivers are the best in the nation or in the top 5 in the nation! the defense was young but Don Brown is a great coach and the Defense would be stout. We have Sparty Iowa Notre Dame and Ohio at home! this is the national contender season!
Patterson has not looked sharp or moved the team consisitently. The turnovers are a huge problem. The OL was a disaster vs their first really good opponent on the road. The DL looks small and ineffective vs Wisconsin. the LBs looked terrible vs Wisconsin. The receivers are not a huge factor. Charbonnet was great vs middle Tennessee State and Army. but got hurt and was no factor in Madison.
In the liveblog on game day Saturday we went from expecting a 11-1 or 10-2 season to 6-6 or 7-5. Games vs Ohio St, Notre Dame, Michigan State, look daunting. Iowa looks much much harder now. and the trip to Happy Valley to face the Nittany Lions looks almost as scary as the trip we just made.
I dont expect a loss at home to Rutgers this weekend but can we actually finish 6-6? I dont see a strength on this team yet. cept for maybe our punter as someone on the liveblog said.
my guess is to try Dylan McCaffery at QB i mean once he is properly healed from his concussion. Thank you dirty Wisconsin DB's! hope Zach is healthy soon.
i dont know why our OL never gets good. we need a good OL
Michigan was boring under Lloyd Carr but we could block on the OL and we could run the ball. Let us start somewhere.
23-7 with the last game at Maryland to come. Moving solidly towards a 5 seed.
I am greedy. i want that win at Maryland Though its on the road, we have a shot at that 4 seed. Nebraska can lose to Penn State.
Even if we get the 5, we have a weak game vs the Iowa/Minnesota winner, then can get revenge vs Nebraska in the Quarters.
A win vs the Huskers gives us a Michigan State rematch in the Semi Finals!! that would be tough as they want revenge for our win in Breslin.
That would be a great game in advance of the NCAA Tourney.
I like a 5 seed, and I dont know if a 4 is possible.
after our 4th Big Ten game, at 3-1 i looked at the schedule and predicted we could go 24-7. i cant believe a win at Maryland and i will be on it!
Go Blue, Gonna be a Fun march. Lets try to make the Sweet Sixteen!!
Now can someone do an article on MGoBlog on what happened to Charles Matthews? is it just a new kid adjusting roughly to the BIg Ten season and having a drop off from the preseason?
we need Matthews to do better. 3 of 10 from the field, 3 TO's. I think it was a baptism by fire lesson on the road for the young man. I know he can do much better. he will improve and this was a good lesson for him. He was great on defense! We need him more
I am excited about this team. Livers, Poole, Matthews, Simpson, Teske, along with vets Mo and MAAR. We are going to the tournament. Maybe a 6 seed too! if we get on a run make them consider us for a 5 seed!
hello Voters?
we are 15-4! can we finally get ranked now? we beat number 4 on the road, lost to number 5 at home by 1.
we belong. how about throwing us some votes?
Our tougest remaining home game is with Ohio State, for whom we want revenge from the away tilt.
We need to beat Maryland Rutgers Northwestern, Minnesota, Iowa and Ohio State at Crisler, do that and we have ten conference wins.
We have road games at Nebraska, at Purdue our toughest remaining road game by far, at Northwestern, at Wisconsin, at Penn State, and at Maryland. If we can win four of six on the road thats fourteen conference wins. 13 wins if we go 3-3 with the assumed winning out at home.
given our schedule and the state of the Big Ten we should look at 13-5 as a minium, 14-4 as possible.
13-5 in the Big Ten means a season record of 24-7.
Lets do this! Only Purdue at Lafayette scares me now. and Ohio at home makes me a little nervous. Time to take advantage of Wisconsin's down year in Madison this year, take care of the Terps and the Wildcats too.
in the Big Ten of the 1930's, Purdue was like the 60s Boston Celtics.
Big Ten Champions in 1930, 1932, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1938. 1940
Is there a reason found in analyzing film as to why Duncan is such a poor defender?
is it laziness? a lack of thinking quickly on his feet on defense? is it a lack of atheleticism? A lack of effort?
Can we pinpoint a reason why Robinson never gets any better on the defensive end?
i really hated Tom Crean as Hoosiers HC. But now hes just a member of the Harbaugh family to me. I liked it in the first half of the game when he talked about what a rough weekend it was for the Harbaughs. Man wasnt it? Ravens throwing away a playoff berth in the last 2 minutes of the game Sunday. then the Michigan 2nd half meltdown to blow a 16 point lead in the Outback Bowl. Now i see Tom as Jim's brother in law. so hes all right with me now.
Looking at the schedule, Michigan has 2 sure losses AT Sparty and AT Purdue.
if we can beat Purdue in Ann Arbor, Michigan can win 12 or 13 conference games.
they can win all their home conference games, the hardest are Purdue and Maryland.
They can win at Nebraska and at Penn State
They should win at home vs Illinois, vs Maryland, vs Rutgers, vs Northwestern, vs Minnesota, vs Iowa, vs Ohio State, and they have a decent shot to upset Purdue in Ann Arbor.
with a home Purdue win thats 12 B1G wins. Then you can get to 13 IF you can pull a road win over EITHER Northwestern OR at Wisconsin OR at Maryland. The last two are definitely tough places to play.
This is a down B1G year and only Michigan State terrifies you. This Wolverine team can go 12-6 or 13-5. If they don t blow a home game they can even reach 14-4. They will probably blow a home game but 12 wins or 13 is doable. With that they are in the tournament and can finish 3rd or 4th in the B1G conference.
So basically because the LB is late into coverage due to PA, Gentry is running free and open to deep on the right side.
If Michigan had a more competent healthy QB say Speight or Peters, thats a TD in the 4th quarter when Michigan is down by 3.
A good read and throw to Gentry, Michigan scores and takes a lead in the 4th and can play defense with good field position (assuming good kickoff return coverage)
The coaches must watch post game film and cry.
Who knows what happens if we take the lead. it just has to make the HC and offensive staff cry.
Those idiots who go on about Harbaugh not good enough and 1-5 vs rivals should watch the film and not blame Harbaugh.
If only we had luck with injuries at QB we had a chance to go 10-2 for Gods sake, as we could have or should have ( with better QB play) vs MSU and OSU.
and dont forget that 1-5 record includes the Horror (that O'Neill fumbled snap) and the Mark (the generous ball mark on 4th down for Barrett) how close we could be to 5-1.
Where is the liveblog,
we do it for football games, why not for basketball games?
is it because its December? or because only football games have enough followers?
Will liveblog for basketball resume in January?
Where is the liveblog,
we do it for football games, why not for basketball games?
is it because its December? or because only football games have enough followers?
Will liveblog for basketball resume in January?
Where is the liveblog,
we do it for football games, why not for basketball games?
is it because its December? or because only football games have enough followers?
Will liveblog for basketball resume in January?
Where is the liveblog,
we do it for football games, why not for basketball games?
is it because its December? or because only football games have enough followers?
Will liveblog for basketball resume in January?
Aren't Sean Miller's days at Arizona numbered? His asst and team are in the FBI probe of Pay to Play athletes with Adidas, like Rick Pitino at Louisville. Isnt it just a matter of time?
Perhaps Archie is not big enough a coach to follow his brother into 100 grand recruit payouts?
I dont know if we have a tournament team. perhaps we can get in.
if this is an audition for our competitiveness in the tournament, we failed.
when your 3rd leading scorer is Livers, at 9.
your 4th leading scorer is Watson at 7.
three of your starters combine for nine points.
Not competitive. Not ready for the Big Time College basketball
Duncan Robinson in his 3rd year is embarrassing.
Not one of the PG look ready for the big time.
This is the UNC team that lost, though at a neutral site, by 18 to Michigan State!!
oh boy, do we need work, A LOT of work before March.
I never want to give up hope on the team. I dont know where the offense and defense to a top 5-6 finish in the Big 10 is coming from. Its down year in conference, maybe after Michigan State, Minnesota, and Purdue.
I dont know if we have a tournament team. perhaps we can get in.
if this is an audition for our competitiveness in the tournament, we failed.
when your 3rd leading scorer is Livers, at 9.
your 4th leading scorer is Watson at 7.
three of your starters combine for nine points.
Not competitive. Not ready for the Big Time College basketball
Duncan Robinson in his 3rd year is embarrassing.
Not one of the PG look ready for the big time.
This is the UNC team that lost, though at a neutral site, by 18 to Michigan State!!
oh boy, do we need work, A LOT of work before March.
I never want to give up hope on the team. I dont know where the offense and defense to a top 5-6 finish in the Big 10 is coming from. Its down year in conference, maybe after Michigan State, Minnesota, and Purdue.
i thought we would lose to PSU, Wisky and OSU.
and beat MSU
BUT i thought Spreight would improve over last season. I didnt expect him to get hurt. Thought OKorn would be a capable backup. Didnt expect anything from Peters this year.
Thought the OL would be improved, well better than last year and better than expected.
So that didnt go as well as i had hoped.
Still given all that went wrong, 8-4 is not a disaster,
we will be much better next year.
Lets hope Newsome recovers and the OL gets better. I think the defense will be even better. i think the kid receivers will be better
Pitt had a talented freshman who could run and make plays.
we have John OKorn, you can make... well he can crumble into a ball as 2 DE's come in at him from opposite sides.
When JOK throws off his back foot in a panic, the OSU secondary is talented and can return INTs
Ohio State 41, Michigan 6.
if we get a PICK-6 off Barrett, then OSU 41, U of M 13.
Duncan Robinson is a poor defender? why?
is it mental or physical or effort?
why cant he learn to be a better defender?
does he just refuse to work harder at it? is he athletically limited to play defense well?
what is the answer for Duncan to be less a liability on defense?
GIve Coach time to build his QB and his line. Hoke was really that bad and never should have been HC of Michigan.
"...There are two ways to proceed from here. One is to point out the colossal failure of Brady Hoke's offensive line recruiting and the Grant Newsome injury, which is currently in its second year. Michigan had barely enough dudes to field a good OL and a cliff after, and then the least replaceable guy went out, etc...."
Isnt the most ironic thing that before being named Michigan's head coach Brady Hoke was most known for being an offensive line coach?
Yes!! Chauncey Gardner!! when he leaves Florida, will he run for President! hes so wise! i think he could be President.
Michigan this year was 13-19-1 with 6 wins in the Big Ten out of 20.
they were nowhere near the NCAA playoffs. We are a worse team than Union, Providence, Air Force, Harvard, Michigan Tech, and Minnesota-Duluth. This isnt just about Boston, BC, Minnesota and North Dakota anymore.
So if Red wants to coach till 82 and give us 5 more season of 10-13 win seasons, while recruits go elsewhere. and Mel Pearson continues to win at Michigan Tech and aging to 63, you are okay with it?
He's earned the right to do that. To Michigan?
No. hes not Bo Schembechler, and Bo would not even do that to Michigan.
If you posted that your big concern is who would we hire who is a good coach, then you have not watched Michigan hockey closely and you have not read the posts on MGoBlog on hockey and i understand. At Michigan Hockey is 3rd behind Football and Basketball, though not as nationally competitive as Softball for 10 years.
We have a great coach in waiting. Michigan Tech head coach Mel Pearson, who coached UNDER Red from 1988 to 2011. thats 23 years!! now hes a head coach for six years, and hes done great. He was Red's right hand man.
Tech knows they are not Michigan. IF Michigan comes to Mel Pearson and offers him the HC job he will say yes and Tech would understand.
So its not that dont know if we encourage Red to retire because we do not know if we can get a great coach? No!! We have a great coach ready to take over in Mel Pearson. Hes 58 now. its time for him to take over. You will see dramatic improvement and the players would love it.
There is no reason for Red at 77 to hang on for another year. He should have retired last year at least.
http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/mel-pearson-why-michigan-hockey-was-great
i love Michigan. I love Michigan hockey! but we are miserable and Reds time has passed. He has had a great career with great numbers but Michigans program has fallen into disrepair, a valley of mediocrity. They were unwatchable.
The story in the News today was sad. He speaks like maybe he should stay unless its bad for the program. Unless? you can t see? it is bad for the program. Dont keep hanging on.
We need Mel Pearson. We need him now. Will he come now if we call now?
Red you groomed Mel, you taught Mel. You made Mel ready for this job.
let Mel take over as its his time to succeed you.
Please dont subject all of Michigans fans to another year of this.
We arent State. Do not take us down any further. Its time for Pearson to coach this team
Please, Red we are begging you. Its time. Retire. For the Team!
Wagner
I was shocked by the CBS announcers I like Kevin Harlan, but i saw Moe was hurt on that fall to the floor he was clearly holding his wrist. then he left the game holding his wrist, and they never mentioned it once. One of starters missed most the 2nd half, a 6-10 fwd, replaced by a 6-8 G/F three-pt shooter and they never discuss it. It was a big moment in the game and CBS just missed it!
Locally have they said anything about his wrist?
Forget it Gettys, it's Chinatown.
in addition to the FT disparity, i hated that late in game stat showed Minny outscoring Michigan 18-0 in 2nd chance points. 18 point difference!! thats huge. and its not just the -12 rebounding difference. yes Lynch was great and better than anyone on our roster
What i find interesting in the KenPom projections is that all eight remaining games are projected close 1 to 5 point games, three wins by 4, 4, and 1. Five losses by 4, 2, 4, 3, 5. We could win all 8 or lose all 8, but likely to win 4 and lose 4. We all know Michigan needs to win 5 or 6 games for the tourney chances.
If we lose BOTH games this week we are definitely DONE for the Tourney. Its such a compliment to Northwesterns year, that our KenPom win probability for the game with them is only 32%.
You do realize in all this talk about firing John Beilein that he is SEVEN, count them, seven wins from becoming Michigans ALL-TIME winningest coach in basketball? Johnny Orr won 209 games, Beilein has won 203 games.
Imagine the ceremony, Congratulations Coach you have won more games than any Michigan coach!! Oh, and you're fired.
Watching the OSU game on ESPN another frustrating thing to see and hear. OSUs best shooter was Loving, and hearing and seeing Calhoun point out that Michigans defense continually left Loving completely alone to go cover someone else. the biggest insult to M's defense was when one M player, was it MAAR? ran away from Loving when he had the ball on the 3 pt line to go cover a free man in the corner. but that left Loving WITH the ball open to shoot and of course make a three. No communication Calhoun pointed out. Why are we uncapable of playing even average B1G defense?
Zak Irvin 0 for 8 ( 0 for 2 3-pt ) 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 turnovers, 0 points,
what were you doing all day Zak? you were invisible.
Walton Jr shot 4 of 12, Wilson shot 4 of 12,
Team shooting 34%, shooting 3-pt at 27%
wouldnt this be the same as if we lost every B1G game in hoops by 15-20 points, even to Northwestern Illinois Penn State, and lost by 25-30 pts to Michigan State, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Purdue? we dont have enough talent and cant compete, and lets remember the B1G league is down!! MSU is pathetic, Minny and WIscy not the national powerhouses they have been in the past!
I love Red for all he's done over his career. Hes won the National Championship and built a national power. Well we arent anymore, Brian's right. he has stayed on too long and we are in a full decline. This was recognized at the end of last season!! To top it off, we have a natural, tailor-made, ready to take over sucessor in Tech's Mel Pearson, and he would take his "dream job" the Continuity would be assured. Step down and retire Red. You have done a great career but sadly each year you hang on just tarnishes it further. Please, for the love of God and the school you love, step aside, rest and let Mel take over next year!
can we call him Dr. DJ?
i never would have believed before the game that if zak irvin and muhammed ali abdur-rahkman each scored 3 Pts that we could have won the game. Donnel chipped in 0 pts as well. its amazing we won with just four players-primarily scoring. Its a game we need for a tournament resume.
I dont like our chances to stay within 15 at UCLA one of the best teams in the country.
Still we can make the tournament if we are +.500 in the Big 10 conference.
Dan Dakich seems to believe we will be much better later in the year.
DJ Wilson and Moe Wagner are important to us. We need not to bog down on offense we need to drive the lane more and go to the post more. Irvin and Walton need to lead the offense better.
Amazing to think we won a game when Irvin and Abdur-Rahkman each swored three!!
Alabama is favored over Washington by 14.5 pts by Vegas. I would bet Michigan would be a much smaller underdog. saw on Sportscenter OSU would be a 7.5 pt dog to Bama. If Vegas picked the top four teams you know Michigan would be in. Ah well we arent a conference Champion. That Iowa loss stings a hella lot more than the double OT loss at Ohio, a game we dominated cept for Spreights fumble, Spreights interception, and Spreights interception.
I saw that replay 6 or 7 times. It seems to me Barrett reached the 15 before falling back after hitting his OL's backside. Certainly the replay is not conclusive one way or the other, and the ref spotted it on the 15 before replay. nothing to overrule.
when the liveblog went crazy on the spot i thought they were all looking at it through maize-colored glasses.
how about the Samuel run on 3rd down when how many Michigan defenders could have taken him down 5 yards behind the LOS or more? That was ridiculous.
Speight kept OSU in the game, but i cant hate on him if hes playing with a broken collarbone.
Tough sad outcome, we got to 17-7 and only needed 3 more pts to win and couldnt get it.
Meyer should be branded forever an idiot for the fake punt call, but will it be forgotten in history because they won?
Michigan Man here, like I have to say that? Class of '88
I thought Mark US R gave an honest assessment. Ohio is hard to beat at home, their offense is their strength.
Both teams will stock the box trying to stop the run. Our LB outside of Peppers are NOT super fast LBs, on this level. Ohio has superior athletes esp at the skill positions.
JT Barrett can be an iffy inconsistent passer so can Spreight when 100% and also OKorn. Both D's will do all they can to stuff the run. Make the opposing QB Beat them.
It will be all about the lines and being the most physical. this Buckeye team is not as intimidating at the one the last four years, still they are potent. We must win at the line and get the running game to average 4.0 YPC.
we must hit some passes over 10 yds to Butt, Chesson and Darboh.
its an uphill battle that is why Las Vegas impartially has Michigan a 6-1/2 point underdog
Its fair.
I want Michigan to win badly, it would be our first B1G championship game, and our first CFB Playoff. But i dont think we should all go commenting with arrogance that we WILL win no matter what. Its a huge challenge.
Harbaugh is building a special program and we will continue to get better and contend for National Championships. but this is a game at the Horseshoe, Our record under Rodriguez and Hoke was deplorable. We must respect the Bucks talent and know this will be a war, most likely within 7 pts either way.
Special teams could be the difference. GO Blue, But lets not get on each other if any of us predicts a loss.
As Michigan continues to improve in the future and recruiting classes go up consistently in national rankings, dont you think more 4- and 5-stars will commit earlier out of competition?
I mean the kids can sense a program on the rise, a growing national power and will want to get in on it. but Michigan, like Alabama will be able to pick and choose from the best recruits, the only disadvantage being for kids from the SEC footprint who want to stay close to home.
Sure Irvin's and Walton's 2nd half shooing woes hurt,
but listen to Beiein's halftime interview. in the first half, the team was playing great defense, and then they just stopped,.
we should have won. We needed to shut down ONE Player. You can let Auguste get his points. the ONE guy we obviously needed to shut down was V.J. Beachem. We should have shadowed him and SHUT him down. look back at the tapes. I saw one play where Robinson was on him and left him to drift over to the lane with the ball on the strong side. Why? i dont know, there was no reason to be an extra body in the lane. Beachem was on fire and killing us. we had to never leave him. he was the difference. Farrell did nothing but dish to open guys for shots. Notre Dame only played 5 guys for 20+ and Colson for 18. you can let Jackson and Auguste get their pts if you shut down Beachem you win. We didnt do it.
and we lost... our players do not play defense.
maybe LaVert hid that more when he was playing in December because hes a pretty good defender.