2018 season preview

MGoRadio 4.0: Back at the Little Bo Tique

1 hour and 13 minutes

The Sponsors

We can do this because people support us. You should support them too so they’ll want to do it again next year! The show is presented by UGP & The Bo Store, and if it wasn’t for Rishi and Ryan you’d have to deal with the fact that Eleven Warriors is the only large independent single-team sports blog on the internet that someone can do for a job.

Our other sponsors are also key to all of this: HomeSure Lending, Peak Wealth Management, Ann Arbor Elder Law, the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, the University of Michigan Alumni Association, Michigan Law Grad,Human Element, Lantana Hummus and debuting this year, The Ann Arbor District Library

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1. Bringing Back the Notre Dame Rivalry and ND Offense Preview

starts at 1:00

It feels good to play Notre Dame. Why don't we do this? Swarbrick? It's not money, because people are throwing $500 at this thing. Their running game graduated, except the quarterback, who can't throw.

2. Notre Dame: The Defense

starts at 25:46

Brian has a great name for the Bo Store. Seth is flabbergasted by a 5-star who's not a 5-star but anyway he's huge and from Louisiana and not at offensive tackle. On knife-style linebackers.

3. Michigan Feelings: The Sad Part

starts at 49:01

When was the last punter Michigan had?

4. Michigan Preview: The Happy Part

starts at 1:04:24

Brian forgets my last name but doesn't call me Dave. How does this Michigan team compare to previous teams? Defense is unprecedented. Offense has that one hole. WHY? Why must we have a hole?

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MUSIC:

If you or a friend made some good tunes and don't have a label out scrubbing for them we'd be happy to feature you. Featured tonight: Color Tour, all from their album "On the Line."

“Cityscape"—Color Tour
“Steve the Argonian”—Color Tour
“Road of Reoccurrence”—Color Tour
“Across 110th Street”

THE USUAL LINKS:

MGoPodcast 10.0-c: The Exotic Toxic Cultures of the Big Ten East

Seth •

1 hour and 12 minutes

This is the third—the Big Ten/schedule preview—of three we recorded as this year's gigantic preview podcast at the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown.

We Couldn’t Have One Without the Other

We can do this because people support us. You should support them too so they’ll want to do it again next year! The show is presented by UGP & The Bo Store, and if it wasn’t for Rishi and Ryan there wouldn't have been a season 5 let alone 10.

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1. Maryland, Ohio State, the others…What do we do?

starts at 1:00

Maryland's bully culture got a player killed. Ohio State kept Zach Smith for a decade of spousal abuse, lied about it, and destroyed evidence, then did somersaults to not fire him. How many things flew under Joe Rexrode's nose at MSU? Favorite thing about Iowa is they'll periodically drop MSU shade over Chris Rucker playing right after they got out of jail. Indiana fired Kevin Wilson because Indiana has integrity. Please institute the DeBord Rule.

We need a new NCAA. We need to empower the players. We need some kind of standard for who gets to be a strength coach.

2. The Big Ten East

starts at 38:32

OTHER THAN THAT Mrs. Lincoln, how's the division? Indiana Al Borges'd themselves, Penn State lost a looot of guys but has the Heisman candidate at QB, Michigan State wasn't as bad as 2016 or as good as 2017 but might be better by 2018. Maryland collapses. Ohio State skates.

3. The Big Ten West

starts at 52:13

Wisconsin has the top six offensive linemen in the conference, a perfect nose, two more years of Jonathan Taylor, Hornibrook, and possibly some serious wide receiver problems. Northwestern is a front seven. Nebraska is in Year Zero. Purdue is interesting but not good. Iowa?

4. On the Line

starts at 1:07:40

Staff picks for wins/losses on the season. At Ohio State is a clearly troubling prospect now that they got to keep the guy who should have been fired. At Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Penn State, at Northwestern are the losable game.

MUSIC

In case you didn't notice this morning our season preview gives tribute to the Queen.

"Chain of Fools"—Aretha Franklin
"Today I Sing the Blues"—Aretha Franklin
"The Long and Winding Road"—Aretha Franklin
“Across 110th Street”

THE USUAL LINKS

Thank you Zach Smith; you ruin everything you touch.

MGoPodcast 10.0-b: Hips Don't Lie

Seth •

1 hour and 12 minutes

This is the second of three we recorded as this year's gigantic preview podcast at the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, our gracious hosts and yours this fall if you act fast enough.

We Couldn’t Have One Without the Other

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1. Defensive Line

starts at 1:00

Wheeee! Let's start with the TFL machine who never comes off the field, then the #1 overall player in his class who's a potential #1 overall pick, and the five-star defensive tackle about to blow up, and the guy getting more hype then all of them. Backups? Trust Don Brown to pull a guy out of Rhode Island, but the rest are eh, not that the starters come off the field.

2. Linebackers

starts at 25:03

Let's talk about the best hybrid space player in the country, unless you mean the middle linebacker. Josh Uche is a special player about to have a much greater impact, and oh man are there some new guys jumping into the fray. Rabid squirrels and doom.

3. Secondary

starts at 41:47

It's just not fair: Michigan has four or maybe five guys who might start for any team in the country, including perhaps the top two cornerbacks in the country. That Detroit-style cornerback pipeline means something totally different now. Casey Hughes the Utah Transfer has found a home as the fifth guy. Brandon Watson love is shared, though we're not comfortable yet with "ol' Bwat" as a nickname. Behind them is a parade of unready spiders.

4. Special Teams

starts at 56:02

Wild Thing, you make my heart do things. Ace isn't sure he agrees with our new definition of a "bet" as it relates to his haircut. Concern about consistency. The punters were bad and could be a weakness this year. Discussion of Michigan's punt blocking, which is still good but came down hard from seven(!) blocks in 2016. Punt returns are a disagreement over DPJ. Kick returns are over: the anti-Foug rule is the end of kick returns unless your kicker can't boot it out of the endzone. But practice a power return just in case they can't. Brian wants there to be a Hayden Epstein rule.

MUSIC

In case you didn't notice this morning our season preview gives tribute to the Queen.

"I Take What I Want"—Aretha Franklin
"Sweetest Smile and Funkiest Style"—Aretha Franklin
"It Ain't Fair"—Aretha Franklin
“Across 110th Street”

THE USUAL LINKS

I should have told Jim Harbaugh that we were doing this podcast today because he would come in here just to join us for the Dwumfour segment.

MGoPodcast 10.0-a: Early Zentry Candidates

Seth •

I think they're prepping or a Gentry early entry. A Zentry. In case you don't know that's his Zoolander name. Is that a thing?