ESPN: Guards make Michigan favorite to win NCAA Tournament

Submitted by Michigan Eaglet on

According to this article on ESPN, the strong guard play on our team helps to make us the favorite to win the NCAA tournament. It even goes so far as to say we have the best backcourt in all of college basketball and states "Tim Hardaway Jr. and Trey Burke are the new Dereck Whittenburg and Sidney Lowe, maybe better." It also goes on to list several other guards and it's a pretty good read.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/tournament/2013/story/_/id/9103364/michigan-guards-tim-hardaway-jr-trey-burke-make-wolverines-favorite

SFBlue

March 27th, 2013 at 4:58 PM ^

Lo, the fickle sentiments of our talking head sports media culture.  One week ago, they were falling all over themselves talking about how Michigan was on Upset Watch.  Michigan plays well against two lesser teams, and suddenly we are the favorites, not only for the Kansas game, but for the tournament generally? 

MGlobules

March 27th, 2013 at 5:59 PM ^

make up your freaking mind? 

I DO think guard play is critical in the tourney, and I believe we've got the best guard tandem. But their four senior starters versus our four freshmen leads me to believe that we could crumble. (Is age any part of Kenpom's calculus?) And I for one won't hold it against 'em. 

Password is Taco

March 27th, 2013 at 5:15 PM ^

I think it boils down to our other starters, outside of THJ and Burke. We know, typically, what we're getting out of those two. What we don't know is whether or not we're getting a hot or cold Stauskus, man-child or just child Mcgary, and GR3 can either explode or be very quiet depending on the competition.



Hopefully the game opens with a Stauskus 3 and a Mcgary putback against Withey on the next possession. Then I'll feel a little better.

Ty Butterfield

March 27th, 2013 at 5:29 PM ^

Last week Michigan was the upset pick of the week. Now they are a lock for the final four. Makes total sense to me.

gwkrlghl

March 27th, 2013 at 5:44 PM ^

Last week people running as fast as they could to be the first media dude to predict we'd lose to SDSU, then the same for VCU. Now we smoke VCU and everyone's running as fast as they can to see who can overhype us the most

"Michigan's going to beat Kansas"

"Michigan's going to the final four"

"Michigan's going to win the whole thing"

"Michigan's going to win the whole thing and they have the greatest guard combo ever"

"MICHIGAN IS THE GREATEST TEAM EVER. KAREEM ABDUL JABBAAR WOULD SIT ON THE BENCH FOR THIS MICHIGAN TEAM, CERTAINLY THE BEST TEAM TO EVER PLAY IN SPORTS. WHY EVEN PLAY THE REST OF THE TOURNAMENT?"

ForeverVoyaging

March 27th, 2013 at 6:41 PM ^

It's unfortunate that Vegas isn't buying into this hype, or else I could make a killing betting against Michigan and take some of the sting of losing away at the same time.

Tater

March 27th, 2013 at 6:58 PM ^

This is the network that made Michigan a trendy choice to lose to VCU or even South Dakota State.  You have to love the journalistic "integrity" of a sports "news" outlet that turns a team from "best chance to be upset in the first two rounds" to "best chance to win the tournament."

I think Michigan can win, but nobody can really be the "favorite," except maybe Louisville.

turtleboy

March 27th, 2013 at 7:13 PM ^

We'll win the matchup on the perimeter, but I hope they bring Morgan in to defend Withey for a spell. We have to have an answer in the paint.

StephenRKass

March 27th, 2013 at 7:17 PM ^

You just can't win:  when Michigan gets a 4 seed, mgobloggers complain about the underrating, and the loss of respect. When Michigan gets reseeded as a 1 seed (by Metcalf, at least,) bloggers complain that everyone will gun for us, and we won't make it, an we're overrated. We just need to sit back and enjoy the ride. I'm glad they're here!

Onas

March 27th, 2013 at 11:44 PM ^

Well put, Stephen. As I read the article I began to think that it was far too glowing and the cynic in me began to speak up, but then I thought, "Oh, what the hell? I'll ride the hype train for once!" This is fun! Someone at ESPN is saying that Michigan is the favorite for an NCAA Men's Basketball National Title!!??!?!  Wheee!!!!

graybeaver

March 27th, 2013 at 7:53 PM ^

They've beat South Dakota State and VCU. That might be the greatest back to back wins in NCAA history. VCU and SDSU are loaded with NBA talent. Really?. Basically ESPN has grown so fast that they can't hire enough good analyst for March Madness. There are a bunch of talking heads that apparently don't have passion for the game or are to lazy to do some research before going on air. Charles Barkley is turrible. He could care less about college basketball and doesn't even attempt to know anything about the teams before he analyzes a particular game. Michigan should have won both of these games and they did. However, proclaiming them as the top performer so far for beating two mid majors is kind of weird. Michigan has multiple NBA type caliber players on the team, but until they beat a team with similar talent they shouldn't be proclaimed the new favorite. If they beat Kansas then they might be a legit favorite.

Don

March 27th, 2013 at 8:28 PM ^

that Beilein did a crappy job coaching, because hey, he's got the best guard tandem in the country.

There's one coach who is loving all this late bandwagoning UM hype: Bill Self.

DK81

March 27th, 2013 at 9:05 PM ^

Everyone needs to stop kidding themselves about these articles having an outcome on the game. We didn't win last weekend because we were pissed at espn and had a chip on our shoulder. We won because we were the better team. Kansas won't win this weekend because they feel disrespected by the talking heads either. The game will come down to who shoots the ball better friday night and not who feels more disrespected.

Nick

March 27th, 2013 at 11:56 PM ^

Why does everyone care so much when a major site like ESPN, CBS or SI publishes an article with content related to Michigan. 

The opinion of the majority of their writers isn't any more informed than most fans who watch a lot of basketball.  These articles are not a big deal.

Also, I think your post could say "Scoop Jackson: Guards make michigan favorite" instead of "ESPN: guards make michigan favorite".

ESPN doesn't necessarily think or not think that Michigan is the favorite, just Scoop Jackson, who I may add, has an opinion that is pretty close to worthless IMO.

Also, Michigan shouldn't be considered the favorite because they have one of the toughest roads to win the title.

Indiana Blue

March 28th, 2013 at 10:37 AM ^

that both Michigan and msu looked much better than either regular season champ IU, or tourney champ osu ... and IF we can continue to play at that level we certainly can beat ANY TEAM.  Pretty big IF for  team that struggled at times during the season.  I personally don't want to see either IU or osu again ... msu - yeah cause we simply are better than they are.

Regardless ... enjoy this cause its been a long time coming !

Go Blue!