Michigan remains tied for first in the Big Ten
With Michigan State's loss @ Wisconsin today, Michigan and Michigan State remain tied in the Big Ten at 9-2. Michigan and Michigan State play again on February 23rd (Two weeks from today.) Seven games remain the the Big Ten, here are Michigan and Michigan States final seven games:
Michigan: @OSU, Wisconsin, MSU, @Purdue, Minnesota, @Illinois, IU
MSU: NW, Nebraska, @Purdue, @U-M, Illinois, Iowa, @OSU
February 9th, 2014 at 3:10 PM ^
That was a rough 23 hours of being in second place. First place feels much better.
February 9th, 2014 at 3:07 PM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 3:18 PM ^
Don't tempt fate, they'll come out in droves if we lose on Tuesday.
February 9th, 2014 at 3:32 PM ^
Doom and gloomers, where ya at ?
Hopefully banned permanently from this site
February 9th, 2014 at 4:19 PM ^
Let's not get too cocky just yet. MSU has a much better schedule to handle than we do. I will stay neutral with regards to how I feel about our chances of a B1G title until Tuesday night.
February 9th, 2014 at 4:51 PM ^
I'm curious about the "much better schedule" line.
Let's take out the games that are identical (@OSU, @ Purdue). That leaves you with these games, in rough order of difficulty for each team:
Michigan: MSU, Wisconsin, @ Illinois, Minnesota, IU
MSU: @ Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Northwestern
To me, that looks tougher at the top for MSU (having to play Iowa and in Ann Arbor) and tougher at the bottom for Michigan (with Nebraska-Illinois-Northwestern pretty soft). Maybe MSU's schedule is easier the rest of the way, but it's pretty close.
February 9th, 2014 at 6:19 PM ^
I think those schedules are pretty smiliar. UM has the three big ones right in a row but 2 of them are at home. It'll be an interesting race.
February 9th, 2014 at 6:24 PM ^
If the team plays like it did Saturday you can forget any chance for a title.
February 9th, 2014 at 7:30 PM ^
I think MSU's away schedule is tougher than ours. I'd rather have tougher games at home personally as opposed to away.
February 9th, 2014 at 4:31 PM ^
Doom and gloom is commonplace with our fanbase as demonstrated by Exhibit A:
http://mgoblog.com/content/week-twitterverse-1
Here is a list of the "most reasonable" twitter opinions (as synthesized by BiSB) about our basketball team on February 12, 2013, which was less than a year ago, and 55 days prior to playing for the national championship
- Fire Beilein
- Bench Trey Burke
- Bench everyone but Trey Burke
- NO, FOR SRS, FIRE BELEIEIN
- Deport Nik Stauskas
- Sacrifice Vogrich to the Flying Spaghetti Monster
- File war crime charges against Hardaway
- Cut GRIII
- Cut RGIII (not sure how this would help, but I suppose it’s worth a shot)
- Forfeit the season and go caddy for the Dalai Lama
February 9th, 2014 at 4:40 PM ^
While cutting GR3 is a ridiculous suggestion, taking him out of the starting lineup is something that needs to be done. GR3 is playing below average and Zak Irvin is playing great. Pretty clear who deserves the minutes.
February 9th, 2014 at 5:12 PM ^
You have to admit that trying to appease the Flying Spaghetti Monster by sacrificing Vogrich was not entirely unreasonable. The FSM must be appeased!
/ I for one welcome our new pasta overload!
February 9th, 2014 at 6:19 PM ^
If it has to be done it has to be done. Whatever is best for the team.
February 10th, 2014 at 8:29 AM ^
Would it be wrong to bring him back just to sacrifice him? I'm thinking no, not that I'm superstisious or anything...
February 9th, 2014 at 3:07 PM ^
Thanks to Wisky!
February 9th, 2014 at 3:08 PM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 3:09 PM ^
Looked pretty good when it left his hand didn't it?
February 9th, 2014 at 3:13 PM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 4:54 PM ^
Gary Harris - 3/20 shooting. The Trohl Center strikes again!
February 9th, 2014 at 3:08 PM ^
And Michigan owns the tiebreaker.
February 9th, 2014 at 3:11 PM ^
tears under each eye.
Like a fountain!
February 9th, 2014 at 4:00 PM ^
And Michigan owns the tiebreaker.
Not for the regular season championship, because there's no such thing. They would both be B10 Champions.
Now if you're talking tournament...
1. Head-to-head (which would likely be a tie, since M-MSU being tied for the conference implies MSU beating UM in two weeks)
2. Record vs. #3 team (Iowa. UM is 1-1. MSU currently 1-0 and host them after playing us)
2b. Record vs. #4 team
etc.
3. Winning % against all D-1 teams (MSU)
4. Coin flip
February 10th, 2014 at 12:16 PM ^
Coin flip - pffffft. They should settle it like men - in the boxing ring - head coaches go 3 rounds.
I got JB over TI in a 2nd round KO.
February 9th, 2014 at 3:09 PM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 3:11 PM ^
Does it really? Yeah, our next game is at Ohio, but that's the last big road game left. I like our chances in Crisler against anyone (and I think we can take Ohio down too).
February 9th, 2014 at 3:20 PM ^
On its face (statistically anyway), it isn't as bad as some keep saying, in my opinion. I would dare say that Ohio State is the last game on the schedule in which we are not at least a slight (key word perhaps) favorite when it comes to win likelihood. As I recall from the last look at Massey, the lowest estimated win after Tuesday is our game at home versus Michigan State at 55% or so. That number may change slightly tomorrow when the site normally updates, but I suspect not too much - MSU might be the next most difficult game, but it is at Crisler and we do pretty well there, of course.
February 9th, 2014 at 6:32 PM ^
Kenpom would like to confirm your suspicion that Ohio is the only game we are not favored in:
@ Ohio = 33%
Wisconsin = 68%
Sparty = 62%
The rest are 70% or more.
February 9th, 2014 at 3:10 PM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 3:16 PM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 4:34 PM ^
Agree. If Morford plays against MSU like they did against Iowa then we get run out of the gym. Hopefully we get remotivated. Also, Let's avoid these early games when we can.
February 9th, 2014 at 3:29 PM ^
Payne scored a bunch but only grabbed four rebounds. If we can keep him off the glass like that, I'll feel good about our chances. Jordan Morgan has held his own defensively against the likes of Sullinger and many others . . . he can get it done.
February 9th, 2014 at 3:11 PM ^
I like their schedule a bit more. That being said, getting the head-to-head at home is huge. Win that one and at least a share of the title looks pretty good.
February 9th, 2014 at 3:11 PM ^
lol. that might be the worst college shooting performance i have ever seen.
February 10th, 2014 at 8:33 AM ^
...and 2 of the 3 baskets were dunks!
February 9th, 2014 at 3:11 PM ^
Those schedules are really similar in terms of difficulty. Three Tier 1/Tier 2 caliber teams, and 4 teams in the bottom half of the conference. I would guess the winner on February 23rd is close to a lock for a share and a clear favorite for an outright title.
February 9th, 2014 at 3:15 PM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 3:23 PM ^
I guess I'm operating under the assumption that Coach Beilein will make adjustments and Hero Ball won't go 8/9 from 3 against us in that one. I'm not too worried about Indiana.
February 9th, 2014 at 4:42 PM ^
He hasn't made adjustments yet. 2 games after one player on Indiana torched us from behind the arc, one player from Iowa torched us as well. Just saying....
February 9th, 2014 at 6:23 PM ^
'I would guess the winner on 2/23 is close to a lock for a share and a clear favorite for the outright title' - that's going to depend on what UM does against Wisky and OSU. If UM loses both of those games and is 2 games behind MSU heading into 2/23, an outright title is going to be tough.
February 9th, 2014 at 7:31 PM ^
This is fair. Color me an optimist, but I find it really unlikely we lose both of these games before MSU. 1-1 might be most likely, but 2-0 seems more likely than 0-2.
February 9th, 2014 at 3:12 PM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 3:13 PM ^
if um can beat sparty at home will likely get at least a share of the BIG title.
February 9th, 2014 at 3:24 PM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 4:42 PM ^
Home court and timing.
I think both schedules shake out evenly the rest of the way. Michigan has the challenging games now, MSU later. The timing favors Michigan after the OSU game on Tuesday. That's why that game is so huge IMO.
February 9th, 2014 at 3:13 PM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 3:15 PM ^
I'm loving how the rest of the schedule shakes out. . .
February 10th, 2014 at 10:01 AM ^
Otherwise Wisconsin and MSU games become must wins which is not a good position to be in.
February 10th, 2014 at 11:14 AM ^
What's so bad about a home game being a must-win? You should always expect to win at home.
February 9th, 2014 at 3:17 PM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 3:41 PM ^