That FAU Final Four team had an experienced team with a head coach who had been there for several years prior. UM will have a new coaching staff with a group of players that for the most part, have never played together before. It's possible (and probably likely) that the first half of the season will be rough, but as they gel, you'll see consistent improvement with a much stronger 2nd half of the year.
Some of the transfer options (and Rooths) sound likely, and would at least allow UM to field a competitive team in `24-25. I still think best case scenario for them is a NCAA tourney bubble team....which would certainly be a significant improvement over this past year.
It really can't get worse than this past year, so I think you're right.
My prediction: he'll be able to assemble a roster that is a few games better than this season yet feel light years better, an uptick in 2024-2025 where they're middle of the pack in the B1G and maybe on the NCAA bubble by the end of the year, then hopefully near the top of the B1G and safely into the NCAA tourney in 2026.
Guards during Jordan's time as an assistant under JB were definitely not a position you had to worry about.... Darius Miles, Zack Novak, Stu Douglass, Tim Hardaway Jr., Nik Stauskus, Trey Burke, Spike Albrecht, Derrick Walton. Jordan was a master at getting the most out of those guys. He even made it work with CJ Lee and David Merritt.
It's unfortunate he didn't have a ton of success as a head coach at Butler but it'd be great to have him back in Ann Arbor.
Correct, but which UM players invited won't get drafted? Maybe Barner and/or Wallace? Barner is projected as a 6th round pick. Also, Q. Johnson was not invited but an outside chance he will. Georgia holds the draft record with 15 players.
McCarthy, Jenkins, Corum, Wilson, Mikey, Colson and Zinter all should end up going in the first 3 rounds.
This is exactly it. Goes to show how much good leadership really matters (this goes for any organization - sports, corporate, government, healthcare, education, etc).
For the the Lions this leadership goes beyond Ford Hamp, Holmes, and Dan Campbell too. They've filled their ranks with really good leaders at all levels. Chris Spielman was hired as a special assistant to Ford Hamp and he's provided significant input on this roster. Mike Disner, the COO, is considered a potential future GM. Ben Johnson is one of the best OC's in the game, and will likely be a head coach next year. Aaron Glenn, working with less talent than the offense, has built a respectable defense and is being interviewed for head coaching positions
Just an incredible turnaround for an organization that has been one of the worst in all of sports for decades.
It's an incredible play in the game, especially when you consider the one and only reason Thaw was back there was to safely/securely catch the ball and not F* it up. We saw what happened.
Then his ability to NOT panic in the situation and at least secure the ball before it went into the end zone saved the game. He went from choke to hero within a matter of 2 seconds.
Last year they were selling the St Elmo's shrimp cocktail outside at the B1G fanfest area downtown. That's worth the time. There's food, drinks, live music, etc.
Also, inside the convention center they have a number of events. Last year, my son and I watched a live B1G show with some of the B1G channel guys including Jake Butt. Also, Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt, and the Big Noon Kickoff pregame show guys were there including Woodson. They spoke for awhile and were interacting with the fans. It's a good place to kill an hour or two.
And as mentioned, bars and restaurants are very busy. I recall waiting over an hour to get a table for lunch.
If you're staying overnight, definitely try to get a hotel downtown. We were in the Hyatt Regency and being able to walk to/from the events and the game was awesome and super convenient.
Overall, Indy is a great place for events like this. The only challenge is the likely cold weather (last year it was in the low 20's), but for anyone who lives in Michigan it's not a big deal.
I don't think The Game has ever been played in prime time. Imagine the TV numbers it'd get if it were an 8PM kickoff? We might see that happen in the coming years in the B1G championship game....
A 3:30 or 8PM kickoff would almost certainly have been the most watched regular season CFB game of all time. I believe that 2006 game was a 3:30 kickoff.
And the largest TV audience for a regular season CFB game since 2011 (Bama vs LSU). That 2011 SEC game, the 2006 UM-OSU game, and 1993 ND vs FSU are the three most watched regular season CFB games of all time....so Saturday's game was the 4th most watched all time.
Ari "only stars matter" Wasserman is the absolute worst. Just a complete schmuck. I canceled my Athletic subscription primarily because of Wasserman and Stew Mandel.
I think the crooked "believe" alignment was intentional, since the "BELIEVE" sign above Lasso's door slants up slightly from left to right. Notice the "B" is lower than the last "E."
The question is, who is behind that account? He (or she) has been dropping some gems this week and if any of them are legit, it could lead to an NCAA scandal like we’ve never seen before. Most of the focus has been on Ryan Day but there are accusations of several other non-B1G programs too. Get out the popcorn!
It’d be a great place to stay on a football weekend but I imagine it’s tough to get a room. I was surprised the Giants were saying there…although decent hotel options with close proximity to FedEx Field are limited.
Several players were in the lobby waiting on a food delivery service. Bad timing since traffic was terrible at the conclusion of the UM game.
It is not a nice B1G stadium. This was my 3rd time at this stadium and each visit I've left less impressed.
I sat in section 24 row S which was on the 40 yard line directly behind the Maryland bench. Great seats, but in the shade so it was chilly throughout the game. This side of the field was much more of a fan mix between Maryland and Michigan. Behind the UM bench, it looked to be 75+% UM fans. Maryland fans were cordial enough although there were numerous calls of "CHEATERS!" throughout the game.
There is a Men's bathroom at the top of Section 24 right before the concourse. There are a grand total of 2(!) urinals in that bathroom (with 3 sinks!). As you can imagine, the lines were extremely long. I ended up going to the bathrooms in the end zone behind the student section where they were larger and had the old school troughs
My son and I made the mistake of getting food at halftime. The narrow concourse gets so congested it's impossible to move. It's also impossible to know where the concession lines end. The concessions are decent, although the lines were consistently long. Numerous crab options and the beer selection was good too including some DC and Virginia beers.
Also, the I find the tiny score/video board at the one end of the stadium to be hilarious. They couldn't find the money to put something in just a little bit bigger?
Did anyone stay at The Hotel on campus? We caught an Uber there after the game and noticed the New York Football Giants were staying there. The Giants were played the Commanders at FedEx Field on Sunday. I wonder if Ben Bredenson and Jalen Mayfield were able to make it to the UM game?
They’re playing so much more cohesive than the team last year. They don’t have the top end talent the 2022 squad had, but this team seems much more complete. The offseason improvements Twill and Tscetter have made are obvious too.
Dan Hasty, the radio voice of the West Michigan Whitecaps has filled in previously and he's actually very good. It probably won't be long before he's snatched up by a big league team.
Completely agree with this. I actually enjoyed Shepard when he called UM hoops games, but could not stand listening to him call Tigers games. And yes, they've had some very underwhelming analysts in recent years. Thankfully that started to change last year.
Johnson's voice and style give the game a big time feel when he's the announcer, but I'll agree that Benetti is FAR more prepared for a game than Gus is.
FYI, Hummel is also now with FOX. Not sure if Benetti and Hummel will be paired together though.
I was just about to post a forum topic, but you beat me to it!
Benetti also currently pairs with Brock Huard to form the #2 FOX broadcasting team for college football behind Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt. That's one of the reasons he's only doing ~130 Tigers games per year.
This is a huge get for the Tigers - probably their best acquisition in years. He's considered one of the best young announcers in the business.
Last year's Illinois game comes to mind too. High of 25 and windy so the wind chill was around 10 degrees. I wasn't there but friends who were said it was absolutely frigid.
Which is ridiculous. Chris Simms should know the rule and if he didn’t, they have a freaking former official as their “rules analyst” that they can bring in. I didn’t understand the ruling until I read about it this morning.
other than that, I thought the “Peacock experience” was fine. The picture quality was excellent for me and I had no technical difficulties. I love how they started the stream 5 min early to show the band. Tirico is one of the best in the business, although I think both announcers were a tad rusty…but then again it was Week 1.
D'Andre Swift was also on that team. He was a freshman in 2017, so he had fewer carries but still rushed for over 600 yards and 3 TDs. Chubb had over 1300 rushing yards and15 TDs, Michel over 1200 yards and 16 TDs. Not a bad trio.....
I believe he gave up playing basketball professionally in 2022 and has been working in sales at Gordon Food Service since, which I assume he'll continue to do while also working with the Grandville team.
Speaking of Teske, his highlight dunk over Isaac Haas in the 2018 B1G Championship game never gets old.
Yes, The Athletic realized how talented he was and he's now taking on a more "national" role writing about PGA golf and NCAA basketball. He still writes the occasional UM basketball article, but he's no longer the beat writer for them.
The best was when both he and Nick Baumgartner were covering UM football and basketball for MLive. While Nick isn't as talented a writer as Quinn, he's still very good. The Athletic has also shifted Nick away from covering UM football and the Lions. He's now covering the NFL and was heavily involved in their NFL draft articles.
This is accurate. His articles were a must read for any Detroit sports fan from that era. Once he had success writing his books and branching off to other non-sports projects, his sports coverage faded and when he did write about sports, he came off as preachy. Also, there was this in the early 2000's:
Oregon St. has a strong team this year and could be a PAC12 contender (they're ranked 18 in this poll). I'd love to see them win the conference after being left in the dust with the conference realignments.
I think this is the year where the playoffs are all B1G and SEC schools. I'll go Georgia, UM, Penn St, Alabama.
I'll add that FOX has had FOX Bets in place since 2019 which was partnered with FanDuel - similar to ESPN's partnership with Penn. Neither network sets the lines.
Fox recently announced that they were shutting down their betting platform due to low demand.
It'll be tough sledding for ESPN/Penn to gain market share with FanDuel, Draft Kings, MGM, and Casesar's already dominating the online sports betting marketplace. I'm sure Penn feels like they have a much broader audience marketing their betting service through ESPN than they did with Barstool.
All of the FBS programs in the Commonwealth of Virginia are at best below-average. JMU (2nd year in FBS) or Liberty (5th year in FBS) might be the best teams in the state. Va Tech, UVA, and ODU are all looking at under .500 seasons. It's sad to see how far VA Tech has fallen since Frank Beamer retired. It wasn't that long ago they were consistently an ACC title contender and at times, a national title contender. Now they're a bottom feeder in a weak ACC.
It seems like every year there is a preseason top 10 team that finishes the year unranked and an unranked team that surprises and make a playoff push (UM in 2021, TCU in 2022)
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That FAU Final Four team had an experienced team with a head coach who had been there for several years prior. UM will have a new coaching staff with a group of players that for the most part, have never played together before. It's possible (and probably likely) that the first half of the season will be rough, but as they gel, you'll see consistent improvement with a much stronger 2nd half of the year.
Some of the transfer options (and Rooths) sound likely, and would at least allow UM to field a competitive team in `24-25. I still think best case scenario for them is a NCAA tourney bubble team....which would certainly be a significant improvement over this past year.
It really can't get worse than this past year, so I think you're right.
My prediction: he'll be able to assemble a roster that is a few games better than this season yet feel light years better, an uptick in 2024-2025 where they're middle of the pack in the B1G and maybe on the NCAA bubble by the end of the year, then hopefully near the top of the B1G and safely into the NCAA tourney in 2026.
Ha! You're correct. A 6'4" guard starting at PF. Beilein and the coaching staff really were able to work wonders with that 2010-2011 team.
Whoops! Yes, Morris not Miles.
Guards during Jordan's time as an assistant under JB were definitely not a position you had to worry about.... Darius Miles, Zack Novak, Stu Douglass, Tim Hardaway Jr., Nik Stauskus, Trey Burke, Spike Albrecht, Derrick Walton. Jordan was a master at getting the most out of those guys. He even made it work with CJ Lee and David Merritt.
It's unfortunate he didn't have a ton of success as a head coach at Butler but it'd be great to have him back in Ann Arbor.
Correct, but which UM players invited won't get drafted? Maybe Barner and/or Wallace? Barner is projected as a 6th round pick. Also, Q. Johnson was not invited but an outside chance he will. Georgia holds the draft record with 15 players.
McCarthy, Jenkins, Corum, Wilson, Mikey, Colson and Zinter all should end up going in the first 3 rounds.
This is exactly it. Goes to show how much good leadership really matters (this goes for any organization - sports, corporate, government, healthcare, education, etc).
For the the Lions this leadership goes beyond Ford Hamp, Holmes, and Dan Campbell too. They've filled their ranks with really good leaders at all levels. Chris Spielman was hired as a special assistant to Ford Hamp and he's provided significant input on this roster. Mike Disner, the COO, is considered a potential future GM. Ben Johnson is one of the best OC's in the game, and will likely be a head coach next year. Aaron Glenn, working with less talent than the offense, has built a respectable defense and is being interviewed for head coaching positions
Just an incredible turnaround for an organization that has been one of the worst in all of sports for decades.
He also played as much or more than Cade in the blowout playoff loss to Georgia, but McNamara started that game as well.
I mean.....Feldman did pick UM to win the national championship way back in August.....so maybe he is?? Thanks Bruce!
It's an incredible play in the game, especially when you consider the one and only reason Thaw was back there was to safely/securely catch the ball and not F* it up. We saw what happened.
Then his ability to NOT panic in the situation and at least secure the ball before it went into the end zone saved the game. He went from choke to hero within a matter of 2 seconds.
Last year they were selling the St Elmo's shrimp cocktail outside at the B1G fanfest area downtown. That's worth the time. There's food, drinks, live music, etc.
Also, inside the convention center they have a number of events. Last year, my son and I watched a live B1G show with some of the B1G channel guys including Jake Butt. Also, Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt, and the Big Noon Kickoff pregame show guys were there including Woodson. They spoke for awhile and were interacting with the fans. It's a good place to kill an hour or two.
And as mentioned, bars and restaurants are very busy. I recall waiting over an hour to get a table for lunch.
If you're staying overnight, definitely try to get a hotel downtown. We were in the Hyatt Regency and being able to walk to/from the events and the game was awesome and super convenient.
Overall, Indy is a great place for events like this. The only challenge is the likely cold weather (last year it was in the low 20's), but for anyone who lives in Michigan it's not a big deal.
Also, by comparison, here are the numbers for other recent major sporting events, via Zach Shaw
March Madness title game: 14.7m
Kentucky Derby 14.4m
NBA Finals Game 5: 13.1m
Masters final round: 12.1m
World Series Game 5: 11.5m
Stanley Cup Game 5: 2.7m
I don't think The Game has ever been played in prime time. Imagine the TV numbers it'd get if it were an 8PM kickoff? We might see that happen in the coming years in the B1G championship game....
A 3:30 or 8PM kickoff would almost certainly have been the most watched regular season CFB game of all time. I believe that 2006 game was a 3:30 kickoff.
You're right, it shows that the NFL is king. No one competes with their TV ratings. Just a different level.
And the largest TV audience for a regular season CFB game since 2011 (Bama vs LSU). That 2011 SEC game, the 2006 UM-OSU game, and 1993 ND vs FSU are the three most watched regular season CFB games of all time....so Saturday's game was the 4th most watched all time.
Ari "only stars matter" Wasserman is the absolute worst. Just a complete schmuck. I canceled my Athletic subscription primarily because of Wasserman and Stew Mandel.
I think the crooked "believe" alignment was intentional, since the "BELIEVE" sign above Lasso's door slants up slightly from left to right. Notice the "B" is lower than the last "E."
The question is, who is behind that account? He (or she) has been dropping some gems this week and if any of them are legit, it could lead to an NCAA scandal like we’ve never seen before. Most of the focus has been on Ryan Day but there are accusations of several other non-B1G programs too. Get out the popcorn!
It’d be a great place to stay on a football weekend but I imagine it’s tough to get a room. I was surprised the Giants were saying there…although decent hotel options with close proximity to FedEx Field are limited.
Several players were in the lobby waiting on a food delivery service. Bad timing since traffic was terrible at the conclusion of the UM game.
It is not a nice B1G stadium. This was my 3rd time at this stadium and each visit I've left less impressed.
I sat in section 24 row S which was on the 40 yard line directly behind the Maryland bench. Great seats, but in the shade so it was chilly throughout the game. This side of the field was much more of a fan mix between Maryland and Michigan. Behind the UM bench, it looked to be 75+% UM fans. Maryland fans were cordial enough although there were numerous calls of "CHEATERS!" throughout the game.
There is a Men's bathroom at the top of Section 24 right before the concourse. There are a grand total of 2(!) urinals in that bathroom (with 3 sinks!). As you can imagine, the lines were extremely long. I ended up going to the bathrooms in the end zone behind the student section where they were larger and had the old school troughs
My son and I made the mistake of getting food at halftime. The narrow concourse gets so congested it's impossible to move. It's also impossible to know where the concession lines end. The concessions are decent, although the lines were consistently long. Numerous crab options and the beer selection was good too including some DC and Virginia beers.
Also, the I find the tiny score/video board at the one end of the stadium to be hilarious. They couldn't find the money to put something in just a little bit bigger?
Did anyone stay at The Hotel on campus? We caught an Uber there after the game and noticed the New York Football Giants were staying there. The Giants were played the Commanders at FedEx Field on Sunday. I wonder if Ben Bredenson and Jalen Mayfield were able to make it to the UM game?
They’re playing so much more cohesive than the team last year. They don’t have the top end talent the 2022 squad had, but this team seems much more complete. The offseason improvements Twill and Tscetter have made are obvious too.
Dan Hasty, the radio voice of the West Michigan Whitecaps has filled in previously and he's actually very good. It probably won't be long before he's snatched up by a big league team.
Completely agree with this. I actually enjoyed Shepard when he called UM hoops games, but could not stand listening to him call Tigers games. And yes, they've had some very underwhelming analysts in recent years. Thankfully that started to change last year.
Johnson's voice and style give the game a big time feel when he's the announcer, but I'll agree that Benetti is FAR more prepared for a game than Gus is.
FYI, Hummel is also now with FOX. Not sure if Benetti and Hummel will be paired together though.
Excellent point. Doesn't look like they've announced the teams yet, but Benetti and Hummel are both listed in their 2023-2024 announcer lineup
https://www.foxsports.com/presspass/blog/2023/11/03/fox-sports-announces-comprehensive-2023-24-college-hoops-schedule-broadcaster-lineup/
The Tigers must have paid him handsomely because they've certainly been as inept as the White Sox in recent years.
No, thank God.
I was just about to post a forum topic, but you beat me to it!
Benetti also currently pairs with Brock Huard to form the #2 FOX broadcasting team for college football behind Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt. That's one of the reasons he's only doing ~130 Tigers games per year.
This is a huge get for the Tigers - probably their best acquisition in years. He's considered one of the best young announcers in the business.
This is from the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions Roster page
Jim Stapleton
President and CEO of B&R Consultants
Last year's Illinois game comes to mind too. High of 25 and windy so the wind chill was around 10 degrees. I wasn't there but friends who were said it was absolutely frigid.
Which is ridiculous. Chris Simms should know the rule and if he didn’t, they have a freaking former official as their “rules analyst” that they can bring in. I didn’t understand the ruling until I read about it this morning.
other than that, I thought the “Peacock experience” was fine. The picture quality was excellent for me and I had no technical difficulties. I love how they started the stream 5 min early to show the band. Tirico is one of the best in the business, although I think both announcers were a tad rusty…but then again it was Week 1.
D'Andre Swift was also on that team. He was a freshman in 2017, so he had fewer carries but still rushed for over 600 yards and 3 TDs. Chubb had over 1300 rushing yards and15 TDs, Michel over 1200 yards and 16 TDs. Not a bad trio.....
Yes, love it! X (or Z or Jeff Jackson) strutting at the end makes that play perfect.
I believe he gave up playing basketball professionally in 2022 and has been working in sales at Gordon Food Service since, which I assume he'll continue to do while also working with the Grandville team.
Speaking of Teske, his highlight dunk over Isaac Haas in the 2018 B1G Championship game never gets old.
Apparently he'll be allowed to coach the team during the week. He just won't be on the sidelines for those first 3 games.
Yes, The Athletic realized how talented he was and he's now taking on a more "national" role writing about PGA golf and NCAA basketball. He still writes the occasional UM basketball article, but he's no longer the beat writer for them.
The best was when both he and Nick Baumgartner were covering UM football and basketball for MLive. While Nick isn't as talented a writer as Quinn, he's still very good. The Athletic has also shifted Nick away from covering UM football and the Lions. He's now covering the NFL and was heavily involved in their NFL draft articles.
This is accurate. His articles were a must read for any Detroit sports fan from that era. Once he had success writing his books and branching off to other non-sports projects, his sports coverage faded and when he did write about sports, he came off as preachy. Also, there was this in the early 2000's:
Albom, Free Press apologize for misleading Final Four column
I could see either Pitt (in a rather weak ACC) or Texas Tech. Both are just outside the top 25 right now.
Maybe even 6th best. It's possible that UVA and ODU are better than them. ODU has beaten them twice in recent years too.
They did get some talented transfers in to help the D. If they can mesh, they should have a better defense than last year...which isn't saying much.
It's crazy that JMU, Liberty, and possibly William & Mary (ranked #4 in the FCS poll) are the best teams in Virginia.
Oregon St. has a strong team this year and could be a PAC12 contender (they're ranked 18 in this poll). I'd love to see them win the conference after being left in the dust with the conference realignments.
I think this is the year where the playoffs are all B1G and SEC schools. I'll go Georgia, UM, Penn St, Alabama.
And not even 1, sad, lonely "receiving vote" either.....
Even better: Lets show the world they deserve #1!
I'll add that FOX has had FOX Bets in place since 2019 which was partnered with FanDuel - similar to ESPN's partnership with Penn. Neither network sets the lines.
Fox recently announced that they were shutting down their betting platform due to low demand.
It'll be tough sledding for ESPN/Penn to gain market share with FanDuel, Draft Kings, MGM, and Casesar's already dominating the online sports betting marketplace. I'm sure Penn feels like they have a much broader audience marketing their betting service through ESPN than they did with Barstool.
Haha, believe it or not that was the word I typed initially before changing it to consistently.
All of the FBS programs in the Commonwealth of Virginia are at best below-average. JMU (2nd year in FBS) or Liberty (5th year in FBS) might be the best teams in the state. Va Tech, UVA, and ODU are all looking at under .500 seasons. It's sad to see how far VA Tech has fallen since Frank Beamer retired. It wasn't that long ago they were consistently an ACC title contender and at times, a national title contender. Now they're a bottom feeder in a weak ACC.
It seems like every year there is a preseason top 10 team that finishes the year unranked and an unranked team that surprises and make a playoff push (UM in 2021, TCU in 2022)