Michigan Gets A 4, Will Play Ohio (Not That Ohio)
![20110318163027_25-UMTenn-Prac1_thumb[1]](https://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Michigan-Gets_FD77/20110318163027_25-UMTenn-Prac1_thumb1.jpg "20110318163027_25-UMTenn-Prac1_thumb[1]")
![Trey-Burke-Wolverines[1]](https://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Michigan-Gets_FD77/Trey-Burke-Wolverines1.jpg "Trey-Burke-Wolverines[1]")
Michigan's third bid in four years is a Sweet Sixteen seed in the Midwest region and draws Brady Hoke's favorite team: Ohio. Not that Ohio, Actual Ohio. This Ohio:
![ept_sports_ncaaf_experts-557763268-1285014208[1]](https://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Michigan-Gets_FD77/ept_sports_ncaaf_experts-557763268-12850142081.png "ept_sports_ncaaf_experts-557763268-1285014208[1]")
Ohio won the MAC title and is #72 in Kenpom.
A second round matchup will be against either Temple (#37 Kenpom), Cal, or South Florida. According to Kenpom, Michigan got a better draw than Michigan State. Also Seth Davis hates the entire Big Ten.
could have sworn I read on multiple occasions that UConn's academic performance was under a recently enacted threshold.
anyone else hear this? what am I missing?
They are in this year and will not be eligible for next years tournament.
double post. delete
A possible game with Temple brings back memories of when that asshole Chaney sent some stiff into the game with the sole purpose of injuring Chris Webber. I've hated Temple from that day forward.
That game was maddening. I lost so much respect for Cheney that day.
Just refreshed my memory. In '92 M. a 6 seed, beat Temple in Atlanta in the first round (I was in Atlanta for these games), then dispatched East Tennessee State rather easily in the 2nd round. East Tennessee was a 14 seed, and had knocked off 3 seed Arizona. The Fab Five had some thunderous dunks against East Tennessee State.
In '93 M beat Temple in Seattle in the Sweet Sixteen and that was the game Cheney lost much respect from you and I.
So overall M fares well against the Temple Owls.In '93 we played Temple in the Elite 8. In the Sweet 16 it was George Washington (featuring Yinka Dare, the assist-less wonder).
I am probably the only die hard Temple and Michigan fan here. Lifelong Temple fan and Temple Law but I went to UM undergrad and follow both teams very closely. i remember that in 93. Temple played ugly. William Cunningham had no chance to guard Webber soft so he played physical. Temple always had inferior talent but played hard. It does not matter what you hear about Chaney -- he did not do anything that any other coach does. Just because he said some stupid things after John Bryant (of St. Joe) got mildly injured after a hard foul does not mean that Chaney sent players in to intentionally injure the opponent. Hard fouls are part of the game. Michigan showed a lot of toughness winning that game but I'm not sure you can conlude from the game that Chaney did anything warranting "disrespect."
In it, direct quotes from John Cheney *DURING THAT GAME* are included which make clear that he did, in fact, direct his players to attempt to injure Chris Webber. Now, that his intent was to injure is obviously not proven by the quotes appearing in that book (you being a lawya and all), but unless you have a really good reason to think that Albom made up a whole bunch of stuff, I wouldn't be so certain to say that Cheney didn't do anything that everyone else doesn't.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:51 AM ^
Mitch Albom? Making things up?
March 11th, 2012 at 11:43 PM ^
Sorry, Chaney was an ass and a disgrace to college basketball. He absolutely sent players into the game to try and hurt Webber. And of course, there is this little gem from Wikipedia:
Chaney entered the conference mid-speech, accusing Calipari of manipulating the referees. When Calipari attempted to respond to the accusations, Chaney yelled, “Shut up goddammit!”, and proceeded to charge the stage, before being stopped by security. While being held back, Chaney shouted, "When I see you, I'm gonna kick your ass!". As security restrained Chaney, he repeatedly yelled, "I'll kill you!" and angrily admitted telling his players to "knock your fucking kids in the mouth."
And then there is this:
Chaney made headlines in 2005 after ordering backup forward Nehemiah Ingram into the game to commit hard fouls against Saint Joseph's in response to what he thought were several missed calls by the referees. After the game Chaney admitted to "sending a message" and stated "I'm going to send in what we used to do years ago, send in the goons." John Bryant of Saint Joseph's suffered a fractured arm as a result of an intentional foul.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Chaney_(basketball_coach)
Chaney was a thug and a bully. The world of college basketball got a little bit better the day his sorry ass retired.
I never had much respect for Cheney the person. I always felt that he got endless get-of-jail-free cards from the press because of where he was coaching.
Ohio, Temple, South Florida, California. All 4 of these teams are good match ups for M. None of these teams will overwhelm M physically. I love it.
Upsets happen, and one might. But those teams aren't going to straight up beat Michigan because they're better and present potential bad matchups. I like where Michigan is at for the first two rounds.
I think non-conf strength of sched cost us a 3 seed vs Georgetown or FSU. ESPN has Mich as 173 NCSOS, GU 25, FSU 35.) I think we relied on Maui to prop up our NCSOS and UCLA sucking didnt help.
That being said, love our draw at 4 to get to sweet 16.
Looking forward to this. Went to the Duke game in Charlotte last year, the first NCAA Tournament game I've ever attended.
Great draw. Let's handle our business this weekend and then have four days to prepare to give North Carolina everything we've got.
Go Blue.
Anyone know when they are announced?
Thinking about checking out my first few tourney games!
March 11th, 2012 at 10:14 PM ^
I live in Nashville so this is perfect! Went to the Preds vs Wings game last night so I need something good to happen at Bridgestone soon!!
My neighbor is a FSU fan so it would be nice if they were in the same session...not sure if sharing tickets for each game within a session is permitted or not.
Definitely looking for tickets as soon as the schedules are announced.
This is going to be fun!!
March 11th, 2012 at 11:51 PM ^
I'm a lifelong Temple fan. When I visited Michigan in March 1992 to consider it for undergrad, the Fab Five was in its heyday and they wound up playing Temple in the tournament in back to back years. That was not great. Went to UM undergrad, then Temple law. Now it is coming around again. I've spent so many hours agonizing over these two teams over the last 4+ months and as a reward, this is what I get. A potential round of 32 game from hell. F.
Can you tell us a little about Temple? I (we?) haven't seen any of their games this year. What are their strengths and weaknesses? Any star players? Athletes? What is their game like? Thanks.
Sure. Hate to get ahead of ourselves but what the heck. Temple is not defensively oriented this year. They were always known as a defensive team under Chaney and Dunphy coaches up defense but do not listen if the pundits call them a defensive team. They are not. They gave three excellent perimeter guards. If the guards are aggressive and hitting shots, they are a tough beat. Wyatt and Moore can shoot and penetrate. Fernandez can dish. Inside, Jefferson is a monster. Not big, but a very physical rebounder and defender. Micheal Eric is the wildcard. He missed the tournament last year with a patella injury (they probably would have beaten SDSU with him). He also missed a large chunk of this season due to an aggravation of the injury. With him, and his close 7 ft, Temple has a better defensive presence. He provides a new angle to the team. However, he has been a step slower than ideal after coming back from the injury. Off the bench, DiLeo is a sturdy "defensive" sub, Brown can hit the 3 and Lee is a long shot blocker/rebounder. Realistically they only go this 8 deep. I'd say Moore/Wyatt are the biggest threats, although Fernandez can get hot. All three guards have length and can defend -- but they are not quick enough to be really good defenders. Teams get into the paint too easily on them. Burke will be a load for them to handle. Just look at what the 5 8 and lightning quick PG Chazz Williams (on UMass) did to Temple 2x in the last 10 days.
It's interesting because Temple (looking ahead) probably likes the Michigan matchup -- Temple struggles with more athletic running/pressing teams. At the same time, Michigan probably likes the Temple matchup. Neither team plays fast. The key to the matchup (if it happens, and my personal bball apocalypse occurs) will be which team shoots better. They both rely on the 3.
Thanksman. We should be there, but if you guysget Cal look out. I hope you make it. Good luck.
March 11th, 2012 at 10:28 PM ^
". . . .Temple is not defensively oriented this year."
Breathes. Smiles.
I hated Seth Davis even before I found out he went to Duke. He's a classic smug Duke prick.
that dude is a piece of work
March 12th, 2012 at 11:56 AM ^
...that Michigan doesn't have a mascot. That's the best way to foil Ohio's favorite strategy.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:56 AM ^
...that Michigan doesn't have a mascot. That's the best way to foil Ohio's favorite strategy.
Love love love this draw. Temple is an annual shitstorm. Would not be surprised to see them blow it to a 12 seed. Make the Sweet 16 and the rest is house money.
Michigan -6
I think it says a lot for how far this program has come that so many folks on here are gripping over whether we should've been a 3 seed rather than a 4. How did weget so jaded so fast? It's great to be a relevant basketball power again.
March 12th, 2012 at 10:57 AM ^
First comes entitlement then comes winning. This is a lot better than wondering whether we make the tournament.
I really like our 4 better than if we had the 3. It just worked out better for us this year. Next year they better not screw us out of our 2 seed.
March 11th, 2012 at 10:41 PM ^
It's entirely plausible to say that we have the most favorable draw in the tournament. Temple is a very weak five seed. Cal is the second best team in our pod but has to win two games to make it to playing us. Much better this draw than Belmont is the first round (Georgetown) or Memphis in the second round (MSU) or Wichita State in the second round (Indiana). We lucked out big time.
If we lose this game, we will never hear the end of it.
But it seems almost inevitable after a full year of "Beat Ohio".
Like many of the commenters, i feel confident we will beat Ohio and we can beat Temple ( or Cal or South Florida) but that gets us to the sweet sixteen. No one is posting we would beat potential matchup North Carolina. not at all. So i think making the Sweet 16 is our goal this year. anything more would really be gravy. I think that semifinal loss Saturday was sobering. But Ohio (YTO) is better than 56 or 54 of the field.
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