Biggest emotional swing of any UM Program Ever?

Submitted by freejs on

Imagine even the plane crash didn't happen. 

We were literally on the wrong end of an epic historic moment with the game ender at NW. 

I can't think of another situation where we went from such a gut punch of a moment to something this incredible. 

Of course, the team just clearly did not get down at all over what happened in Evanston. And like I said at the time, it was a great game, the team played well, and it was just a savage moment that didn't go our way. 

But they went to lay a freaking beatdown on Nebraska at Pinnacle Bank. Some other teams may have been tight knowing they had put themselves in a spot. They just tore through them like a wolverine through hot corn. 

Then the mortal combat finisher on the Illini. Then the epic overtime win over top seed Purdue. Then the gritty submission of Minnesota. And then pure fucking ecstacy by beating nemesis Wisconsin to seize the crown. 

So from the low of Pardon's lay up to the high of cutting down the nets and all that in what, 11 days??? 

WD, other Michigan historians (Wolv historian, et. al) - can you think of other swings that dramatic for a UM program? I guess the first one that comes to mind is the Frieder fiasco to Rumeal hitting the free throws (I never managed to dunk more than a volleyball in my life and that night I jumped up and touched an 11 foot ceiling). That one also included some nightmare white knuckers in the early rounds. Can you guys think of others? 

I'm just in awe of how we went from the horrible moment at NW to this amazing feat. 

And then you add in the fact that we went from the incomprehensible of almost losing our guys - the upset and the emotion of the crash to this, I just can't believe what just occurred. 

 

uncle leo

March 12th, 2017 at 10:39 PM ^

Because it was in the middle of a season. 

The Harbaugh thing was a very slow burn. It was: "he will never come to Michigan". "Okay, there's a chance." "Now he's meeting with Michigan people. "And now he's signed." It was a really elongated buildup. The end result was absolutely fantastic, but I think it's hard to compare the two.

I think there was always a believe that no matter what, Michigan football would return to some form of top form. Michigan basketball has had very low expectations, and the team was completely dead in the middle of the season. This is bigger for me because of the simple fact that it was no more than 4 weeks from bottom to top. The Harbaugh thing dragged on for months.

Yo_Blue

March 13th, 2017 at 8:40 AM ^

It took Walton's (and to some extent Irvin's) leadership to recognize Morgan's message and react to it in a way that fired up the team.  I thought the way we were scheduled to play Illinois nearly back to back was the dumbest thing ever until Morgan's comment.  After that, I wanted to play the Illini the next day.  The Michigan seniors willed this team to win.

freejs

March 12th, 2017 at 9:28 PM ^

without my contacts in. Apparently, I was so locked in that I didn't even notice. 



Didn't realize it until I got out on the street to go to my workout and realized I couldn't see shit. Finished my day with some fucking chocolate milk! Fuck yes! 

 

 

Wolverine Devotee

March 12th, 2017 at 9:33 PM ^

I think you can push the timeline back even further.

We were 14-9 after that loss to OSU (who got left out of the NIT! LOL!). The season seemed like it was over and the 30 point win over Indiana the game before seemed like a fluke.

The destruction of MSU, similar to Stu's shot at Breslin in 2011, changed the season. 

We've been a completely different team since.

One thing is for sure: this is the most rollercoaster season I've ever been part of. Holy cow. 

freejs

March 12th, 2017 at 10:57 PM ^

I'm nervous until it's done. I was worried about the Nebraska game, which in retrospect, was pretty stupid. I was out with family for my brithday dinner, though, and the relief I had once I checked the score (waited until the check was on its way) and saw we were up 30 was enormous. There was something cathartic about just ripping through Nebraska. Just didn't want to mess around with two losses to close and needing to win in the tournament. I guess instead we just decided to win the whole fucking tournament. 

 

LSAClassOf2000

March 12th, 2017 at 9:41 PM ^

We were talking about this during one of the rare lulls in our storm work today - rewind to the OSU game, which some of us there had been at, and we walked out of that game pretty frustrated, wondering if we'd even make the tournament, wondering how many weeks before Beilein had coached his last game perhaps.

It took a little bit, but from about there to now, suddenly it seemed to come together - each piece, deliberately - and has now resulted in being conference champions. As a fan, and outside of the Minnesota-Harbaugh opposition that others have mentioned, there hasn't been a nadir-zenith moment emotionally quite like this in the recent past anyway. 

freejs

March 13th, 2017 at 12:23 AM ^

as an aside, there is no excuse for them having been as bad as they were this year. It's an awful game for us every year because they always have plus athletes on the floor, and whether they go to class or not, the one class they all sit in on is hating Michigan. Everyone there understands to hate Michigan, and our hoops team just doesn't seem to bring the venom against them post-Aaron Craft. 

Love this from an article posted earlier tonight: 

 

Thad Matta said after Ohio State basketball was bounced from the Big Ten Tournament by Rutgers that he wasn't sure if the Buckeyes would accept a bid to the National Invitation Tournament.

Turns out he didn't need to make a decision.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/osu/2017/03/ohio_state_basketball_nit_sele.html

 

 

 

 

 

ChalmersE

March 12th, 2017 at 9:48 PM ^

From 14-50 to 24-12 was a pretty good swing, but that took a year. This turnaround is hard to beat in my 50 years of following UM sports.

jmblue

March 12th, 2017 at 9:53 PM ^

Little-known fact: the '68 game was actually close until both of our QBs were knocked out of the game.  Having no 3rd-stringer available, we had to play guys from other positions at QB and predictably, did nothing offensively after that, while our defense wore down - and Woody made sure to run it up.

 

jmblue

March 12th, 2017 at 9:49 PM ^

The biggest in-season turnaround still has to be 2011 IMO.  We went from 11-9 and 1-6 (!) in league play to pulling a stunning upset of MSU at Breslin and suddenly playing like gangbusters the rest of the way.

This year is a close second though.  For me, the difference is that we had occasionally shown that we had great potential (SMU, Marquette, IU at Crisler) but couldn't put it together consistently.  After the OSU gut-punch, we did.

I'm not sure about the Northwestern game.  It's rare to lose on a 90-foot pass but I just saw it as a bump in the road for a team that had already turned things around.

The Fan in Fargo

March 12th, 2017 at 10:09 PM ^

I was watching espn after the NW game and they made such a big deal out of it as best as they could to spite UM. I remember thinking that the loss wouldn't even phase the team. I'm wrong quite often but I'm right like all the damn time!! Fuck espn.

freejs

March 12th, 2017 at 11:28 PM ^

and that was what I tried to tell some people who were carping after it. It's not like our guys didn't play well in a crazy environment in Evanston. In fact, it was a huge step forward to fight like hell from buzzer to (almost) buzzer in such a hostile environment/any road game. I just didn't know how they would respond to that kind of gut punch. 

 

 

 

TrueBlue2003

March 13th, 2017 at 1:43 AM ^

now that I'm privy to advanced stats, and I go back to look at that team here's how the season went:

We actually started 10-2 in non-conf and our kenpom went from 128th at the start of the season to 52nd.  So we looked GOOD.  Then stumbled to a 1-6 conference start but there were some impressive close losses in there (OT to #2 Kansas and by 4 to #1 OSU) such that our kenpom only went from 52 to 72.

Then we went on our run which is extremely satisfying because we beat MSU twice, but they weren't that good and we really just started winning close games.  Ended the year 44th in kenpom.  We improved pretty steadily the whole year with a blip in the middle partially due to competition and partially due to bad luck.

2003 felt like a more unexpected turnaround, partially because of how bad we were for about 5 straight years.  Kenpom doesn't have his game-by-game ranks for seasons that old, so I don't know how bad it got, but we started the year 0-6 including loses to both Western and Central. Yikes!  Then of course we rattled off 13 straight wins ending with one over MSU which seemed like the first in forever.  Ended up 10-6 in the conference and might have made the tournament if we were eligible.

This season wasn't even a turnaround so much as righting the ship after a mid-season slump.  We played great to start the year, shot as high as 15th in kenpom and were in the top 25 polls.  It was clear DJ had become a new player over the offseason (and was probably grossly underutilized last year) and Wagner was a welcome upgrade over Donnal.  The sky seemed the limit as Jay Williams and Seth Greenberg were whispering sweet Final Four nothings about us.  We went through a mid-season slump fueled by very bad luck on opponent three point percent and some lackluster defense, but it felt to me like a potential Final Four team was still in there not far away.  Credit Beilien and the seniors for getting us back on course.

Naked Bootlegger

March 12th, 2017 at 10:17 PM ^

Ageee with jmblue.  2011 was a bigger in-season turnaround, but this year was a bigger roller coaster.  We teased with 2 flawless performance in NY early in the year against very good competition, then stagnated.   The post-OSU performance was nearly as flawless.   And the 4 games in 4 days post plane crash championship is more epic than 2011.   I'm just so FUCKING HAPPY!

EDIT:  Also have to agree with 1989 tourney run after Frieder getting fired.   That was a huge emotional swing, especially after getting gutted by Illinois at home in the final regular season game.  

 

rc90

March 12th, 2017 at 9:55 PM ^

I don't think folks realize just how messed up March 1989 was. That Michigan team had a ton of talent, but finished third in the league behind a smoke-and-mirrors team in Indiana and another obscenely talented team (more athletic, less eFG) in Illinois. Illinois dismanted Michigan in the regular season finale, back in the dark days before there was a BTT, and it looked for all the world like this was another Frieder under-achiever.

Presumably Frieder saw the same thing. Because even though he had all that talent, and he was Michigan alum, and he had been with the program since the early 1970s, Frieder went on a job interview right before the tournament and accepted the Arizona State positions. So Bo fired him.

This was a complete cluster. The cheerleaders didn't bother going to Atlanta, maybe because they were still upset their midseason in-game protest hadn't worked. The band didn't go either, so Bo got the bright idea of renting the Georgia State band, handing them all winged helmet baseball caps, and letting them play the worst renditions of The Victors that I've ever heard. Because of that, somebody I knew got into an argument with the band, calling them a fake band. The Georgia State guys responded by saying we had a fake coach.

Two weeks later Michigan was in the Final Four.

jmblue

March 12th, 2017 at 9:59 PM ^

Frieder had been in contact with ASU for a few weeks before the tournament.  He just officially accepted the job - and spilled the beans to Bo - right before.  

What was the deal with the cheerleaders?  I don't remember that.

UMinSF

March 12th, 2017 at 11:56 PM ^

I agree with the '89 tournament run with an interim coach who epitomized the "deer in headlights" look.

I further agree that semi-final game against Illinois was the greatest college basketball game I've ever seen.  Wow, the talent on that floor was just incredible, and they'd beaten us twice that season.

Doesn't take anything away from this week - it's been a blast!

TESOE

March 12th, 2017 at 11:08 PM ^

Beating NC was huge then Virginia was a victory lap.  Higgins taking the high dribble late in the game in Seattle - in what looked like a showboat move and scoring on one of their studs - Marcus Liberty or Battle or maybe it was Kendal Gill.  Then Rumeal at the line to win it.

Those are the runs of a lifetime.  This year feels special as well.  Not sure we have horses of 89.  Rice is an all time great.  Mills, Vaught, Higgins and Robinson were special.  Rice just couldn't miss in that tourney.

My favorite game was the Virginia game.  It was a celebration start to finish.  Very fond memories of Lexington.

freejs

March 12th, 2017 at 11:40 PM ^

hitting the 3 falling out of bounds. 

My school went to Fort Lauderdale every spring for baseball spring training. Everyone knew I was a huge UM fan. My basketball coach, one of Dean Smith's guys, would come down just to enjoy Florida. We'd lost to NC - what was it, two, three years in a row in the tournament and everyone gave me shit constantly about our how they kept knocking us out. I can still hear the call of the ball going round the key to Rice and then him just draining that as he fell into the bench - such a good memory. And then no one had a damn thing to say the next day. At last. 

 

Chitown Kev

March 13th, 2017 at 12:28 AM ^

And then that regional semifinal game against, of all teams, UNC, who had knocked Michigan out of the tourney 2 years in a row...

This was before the Duke series was revived...I don't think I hated a team more than North Carolina and that win was soooooooo sweet.

mi93

March 13th, 2017 at 12:30 AM ^

Football opened with a loss on a missed FG by Gillette at ND, then THAT happened at home againt Miami (YTM), and the season ended with a Rose Bowl win.

Between the wins in Seattle and the Rose Bowl, Champions of the West were mere confirmations of known facts.

BlueDragon

March 12th, 2017 at 10:02 PM ^

Getting rid of Dave Brandon - the triumph of the Glorious Revolution - had a personal impact on me, as I was part of the Internet jihad speaking truth to power.

The story of the basketball team in March 2017 is worthy of discussion in the same breath.

WolverineHistorian

March 12th, 2017 at 10:30 PM ^

I guess in football, a somewhat comparison was circa 2003 when we were down 28-7 to Minnesota in the 4th quarter, had the comeback and then went on an amazing 5 game run to end the season and win the conference championship outright.  If we lose at the Metrodome that Friday night, I don't think the season ends as wonderfully as it did.

stephenrjking

March 12th, 2017 at 10:35 PM ^

The Harbaugh hiring has to be the clincher. Football is the biggest kid in the block here, obviously, so its impact will be higher; the thing about football is that the lows are so low in part because you can't recover from them. The next time Michigan recovers from a loss to Ohio State to win a national championship will be the first, you know? Like Bo's Rose Bowl winning team that lost two games early--great season turnaround, but the losses never stopped stinging.

It's not quite as huge but I will point out that in 2010 the hockey team was a flaming disaster for big parts of the year, defensively disorganized and highly disappointing. Then, adding injury to insult, starting goalie Bryan Hogan was hurt on senior night and had to miss the road leg of a series against Notre Dame. Michigan lost cleanly and was barely over .500, and had to limp into the CCHA playoffs needing to win two series just to get to the Joe to have a chance to win an automatic berth behind a short career backup goalie named Shawn Hunwick.

They ousted Lake Superior State with no trouble, but I and others assumed that the season would end with a road three game series at Michigan State.

They swept them, won twice at the Joe to continue Red's tournament streak, beat Bemidji State, and beat Miami to go to the Frozen Four in Detroit were brutally robbed by the referees in a travesty at Fort Wayne that many fans consider one of the most soul-crushing losses in the history of the program. 

But they had a goalie and a team, and that combination carried them all the way to the national title game the next season. From dead in the water in South Bend at the end of February to the cusp of one Frozen Four and, eventually, amazing success in another? Not bad.