So, After ALL That, Nothing Has Changed!

When I started to pen this entry, it occurred to me that this week was almost (ALMOST) a carbon copy of last week….Completely DESTROYING A B1G opponent on Home Court and getting completely DISMANTLED on the road at one of the I-Schools….So, what gives?

Believe it or not, going into the two games this week, I was more concerned about Nebraska than I was about the Black Birds.  In the games I had watched, I saw what appeared to be an Iowa team that more or less gave up on home court against Sparty and also a loss to OSU….They looked pathetic and couldn’t connect on anything…the opposite can be said for Nebraska.  They had just defeated Indiana and they appeared to be hitting on all cylinders and they needed a good road win to get the NCAA tournament committee to take notice.

Yep…I was worried last Wednesday and I figured Saturday might be close, but the Wolverines would pull it out…

Hence is the reason why I WILL NEVER BET REGULAR SEASON COLLEGE HOOPS!  And anyone that tells you they make money betting college basketball is full of you know what!

So, what’s changed?  With respect to Michigan winning the B1G, not much, really.  Defend home court  (4 games) and get 2 road wins somewhere (Purdue and Illinois) and I won’t say it’s a lock, but it’s close.  I will say that a win in the only match-up Michigan has against ohio on Tuesday would be sweet, but somehow, ohio has figured out how to win basketball games again.  I’m also hoping for this weird “Up-Down” Theory that seems to have permeated the B1G to also be in effect for Michigan and coming off their worst defensive performance since Belien’s 4^th game in 2007, well, it means Michigan is due for a MONSTER of a game down in Columbus!  Of course, that would mean that they might suck back in Crisler on Sunday, also, when Wiscy shows up looking for some payback!   Jeez….

REST OF THE B1G

Sparty found out the hard way (again) that winning at the Troll center is incredibly difficult when you’re at full strength much less down an Apple(ing).  I won’t be the first to say that I question Apple’s toughness as the Sparty message boards have pretty much been lit up with that question by the Sparty faithful.  But I do think Izzo figured stealing one in Madison would be tough anyway, so sit the kid.  "All that matters to Izzo is March" is not only a mantra among Spartans, but I think Izzo would rather trade a B1G championship for a deep tournament run.  Hence, it made sense.  Bench Apple till his boo-boo doesn’t hurt anymore…

Wiscy has at least found bottom.  I’m not sure how deep Wiscy will go in this year’s NCAA, and I’m leaning towards an early out which probably means they will be an elite 8 or better!

OSU, for all intents and purposes, is hanging on by a thread in the B1G race.  If Michigan can steal one in Columbus, they’re at best playing for 2^nd place.

Iowa – Reasserted themselves as being “In” the B1G race, but losing at home to Sparty was a disaster for their realistic chances of pulling of a piece of the B1G championship.

Everyone else is kind of knocking each other around right now and there’s no real rhyme or reason to any of it. 

Tournament Locks:  Michigan, Sparty, Wiscy, ohio

Locked up, but Trying desperately to Break into the NIT or at least get on the bubble:  Iowa

Last B1G Teams In – Minnesota and IU. 

Wishing they had one or two more victories right now or hoping for a final 9 game run:  Nebraska, PSU, NWU

Roaming around waiting for any other sport to start:  Illinois and Purdue

Yes, I know that I have 7 teams in when most of the other pundits are only calling for 6.  But I believe that Indiana has pictures of someone on the committee that they pull out every season and somehow find a way into the tournament.  Hence, 7 teams.

Bracketology

I know what I said last week, but it’s basketball, so you can simply wrap up anything you said last week in a used jock strap and be fine changing your mind this week!

Right now, the 4 number 1 seeds will be:

1.  Florida (My new “first 1 seed to lose in the tournament” team)
2. Syracuse  (This team could win the whole enchilada…they are better than last year.)
3. Wichita State (Haven’t lost since last year’s Final Four)
4. Kansas (Just cause…..)

The 2-4 seeds, in no particular order because it doesn’t matter that much:

Michigan, sparty, Arizona, Kentucky, Duke, Cincinnati, Villanova, Louisville, Creighton, San Diego State, Virginia and TEXAS!!!

So, Sparty has more or less really left themselves in a big hole by losing to both Georgetown and Wisky within 8 days of each other, with only a home stomping in between those two losses to show for it.  Unfortunately, if everything you hear about the committee is true, there’s more “weight” put on the last 10 games of the season.  Sparty didn’t do themselves any favors losing to Georgetown.  The Wiscy loss could have been managed, but now, with 2 losses in the last 3 games…well, they’re gonna drop out of the top 10 and it’ll be tough for them to rally to a number 1 seed. 

Florida is riding the complete lack of ability and talent that represents the rest of the SEC and they look like giant killers right now.  Hence is the reason I moved them up.  But kind of like Arizona, who I moved down due to the game loss and loss of Ashley, Florida is also going to be a team that will be an in vogue pick to lose early.  The SEC is really bad after Kentucky and Florida and the old adage about "moving the top team from the B1G in Football to the SEC and they would be at best the 4^th best team" holds true in the opposite direction for hoops:  Move Kentucky and Florida into the B1G and they’d probably be sitting right around the same spot as Ohio and Wiscy, but below Iowa, Michigan and Sparty.  Just sayin’.

I had said earlier that, from the B1G, Nebraska, PSU and NWU had a shot…Now, not so much.  Indiana still gets in and makes it 7 teams from the B1G.   All bets are off if someone surprises the field in the B1G tournament and upsets everyone to get an auto-bid.

The State of the Game

If you are alive and you watch ESPN, you’ve by now heard of the Smart Incident down at TCU.  If you don’t, Smart is the returning lottery pick sophomore that came back to Okie State to try to pull a “Trey Burke” – lead his team as a point guard to the National Title Game.  However, his sophomore year isn’t working out as well as Trey’s and in the closing minutes of the TCU upset (in TCU), Smart ended up in the stands and shoved a fan after a brief verbal exchange.  There are various un-reliable sources stating that the exchange included the “N” word, but I’m not buying it.  There’s too much involved and even in Texas, I just don’t think the average fan would throw that word into the conversation.  Now, he might have said, “Hey, Smart, you suck!” and that would have elicited the same reaction from Smart.  I have not heard that the fan has been punished, but we have learned that he is a season ticket holder at TCU and his name is Jeff Orr.  He also claims he said something he shouldn’t have, but it WASN’T the “N” word.

So, the evidence is out there.  The big 12 and Iowa State handed down a three game suspension for the shove.  Was it enough?  Too much??  I dunno...  I feel like basketball is SUCH A GAME OF HIGH EMOTION that even as a fan when you’re sitting that close, you’re involved, whether you want to be or not.  Yes, the Ron Artest Incident at the Palace involved  season long suspensions, but that wasn’t just a shove.  That was a malicious hunting down of the fan in the stands – the wrong guy! – and it was just plain wrong to expect that kind of reaction from professionals.  The suspensions and fines were warranted.  This is college where emotions run much higher and it was a big upset to boot.  Iowa State is probably going to lose a game or two as a result of this suspension, but Smart will be back for the Big 12 tournament and the NCAA’s. 

Whatever you want to believe is fine, but I kind of agreed with the AD on this one – don’t destroy a kid (or the rest of the team’s season) for a heat of the moment act that everyone is sorry for and wished never happened.  I’m not saying Smart was justified at all in the shove…And part of me thinks he should have been immediately ejected from the game.  But I don’t think he should be dismissed from college basketball….especially if you’re going to let certain football players fly the double bird in the Big House in the middle of The Game!!

GAMES TO WATCH

TODAY!!!!!!

Iowa State vs. WVU  7:00PM

Kansas vs. K-State, 9:00PM

SUPER TUESDAY

Florida @ Tennessee, 7:00 PM

SIU @ Wichita State, 8:00 PM

Michigan at suckeyeland – 9:00 PM

WEDNESDAY

Syracuse at Pitt – 7:00 PM

Dook @ North Carolina (Must win for Heels) 9:00 PM

Kentucky @ Auburn  - 8:00 PM

THURSDAY

Kitty Kats @ SPARTY – 7:00PM

Gophers @ Wiscy – 9:00PM

FRIDAY

Arizona @ ASU, 9:00 PM

SATURDAY

Iowa @ PSU – 1:00PM

NC State @ Orange – 3:00PM

Florida @ Kentucky – 9:00PM

Maryland @ Duke – 6:00PM

SUNDAY

Wiscy @ Michigan – 1:00PM

Nebraska @ Sparty – 3:00PM

Villanova @ Creighton – 5:00PM

Michigan LOSES...But Sparty TANKS!!!

I mean, not that I’m bitter and I absolutely KNEW that Michigan was going to lose a game somewhere.  It’s inevitable in today’s college hoop game.  Too much offense and not enough defense.  Hence the reason the much loathed and hated Green Slime of East Lansing are relatively successful every 4^th year or so of the Izzo-troll’s existence:  They play systemic defense and that improves the longer a group stays together.  But last week, that didn’t work out so well for sparty..more on that in a minute.

With Stauskas completely removed from the game (Well done IU defensive game planning brain trust), someone else had to step up.  However, Michigan had way too many empty trips in the first half and Yogi kept raining in baskets like the ball had eyes or something…Assembly Hall is not an easy win no matter how you cut it, but jeez…when a guy goes and has a career day against you….

If you want a complete game run down, click here for the UM Hoops link that I believe does as good of job as anyone covering the details.  Mgoblog also has a nice wrap, but usually long after the game is complete.  (I’m talking days here).  So UM Hoops is more or less instant numbersand gets you what you need. (If you are into the numbers, of course).

http://www.umhoops.com/2014/02/02/game-21-michigan-indiana-recap/#more-56539

So, psychologically, how damaging is this for the Wolverines?  Seeing as how Michigan didn’t beat Indiana once last year on its run to a Final Four and the Championship Game, I think you can read this loss 2 different ways:

1.  Michigan is on the exact same glide-path heading into the final run of the B1G and into the B1G tournament and finally the NCAA Tournament.  So losing to Indiana wasn’t a Big Deal!
2. Losing three in a row to IU sucks and it’s the worst thing that could have possibly happened….Ever!  Especially because IU is so BEATABLE this season!

Based on the experience from last year, my gut tells me that this team is not panicking and it will recognize when someone  (a 14 point average guy) has a BIG DAY and shoots the lights out (for 27 points) it’s going to be tough to win.  Not to mention that Michigan couldn’t hit a 3-pointer in an offense that’s more or less designed around the 3-pointer.  And they couldn’t make them from the charity stripe either.  So, yeah, it’s bad, but not the end of the world.  I’m leaning way towards number 1 here and Michigan gets a shot at the Hoosier’s in Ann Arbor in the last game of the regular season for a split….

However, I will call out one guy (And its NOT Nick Stauskas) and state here that Jordan Morgan as a 5^th year senior needs to step up and win games like this.  He could have been dominant and if he would have just made a friggin’ free throw…Okay, enough.  They’re college kids…

Beating Purdue – Meh.  A necessary task on the road to a B1G title.  Purdue used to be a word I was deathly afraid of, as were many others when it came to B1G basketball, but Painter simply doesn’t have a scorer(s).  And, being in the middle of Indiana where you can’t swing a dead cat and without hitting a white kid who can shoot, it simply doesn’t make any sense.  Purdue should be able to field a competitive team…EVERY YEAR.

What’s Next for UM? - With Nebraska coming into Crisler looking for revenge and a trip down to Hawkeye land, the next two games of the final 9 are key and in my opinion, I’m going to call them as “Must Wins” for Michigan - in order to stay in the B1G Title Driver's Seat.  Nebraska is better than when Michigan first played them (and the Huskers recently beat IU) and Iowa wants back into the B1G race….If Michigan can get those two under their belt, the remaining 7 games are a little more manageable. 

As for the REST OF THE B1G

Wiscy and ohio are on some sort of race to the bubble – the wrong way.  Seeing as how I’m writing this on Monday before anything comes out as far as bubble updates, ohio was “hanging on” with an 8 seed in the Big Dance and Wiscy had dropped down to a 5 seed before the game in Madison.  Based on Saturday’s result, Wiscy will probably drop to the 8^th and ohio might move up to a 6-7.  But I don’t think they will swap spot for spot and the B1G is losing some overall Bracket Strength, which I hate. 

Sparty, thanks to the Michigan loss (Hail to the Victors!) dropped to a 2 seed as of Friday, so no real damage done, but losing to Georgetown, on the other hand, may have done a LOT of damage to sparty and the B1G overall.  There’s now an excuse to not give a 1-seed to a B1G school and the committee might just use that as the evidence they need…more on that in a minute (See Wichita State Below).  Sparty looked simply awful against a non NCAA Tourney team, much less a non-bubble and questionable chance to make the NIT Georgetown team (now 13-9 on the season)  coming off a 5 game losing streak.  Shame, sparty…shame.

I actually think the road to the Final Four can sometimes look a little more attractive from a 2-seed as you are usually looking at a very difficult 4-seed that you need to eventually knock off as a 1-seed in the NCAA. (Please refer to last year’s Michigan – Kansas game for proof).

In addition, I think the 3 seed can be a little like, “Well, we should have been a 2 seed…and we are pissed and therefore, we’re gonna play like a 1-Seed”  Last year, 3-seeds were a tough out in the tourney and really, anyone in the top 4 spots is going to be a potential to be in the Final Four.

Tournament Locks:  Michigan, sparty

Locked up, but Trying desperately to Break into the NIT or at least get on the bubble:  Wiscy, ohio

Last B1G Teams In – assuming they don’t go worse than 0.500 in the last 9 games:  Iowa, Minnesota

Wishing they had one or two more victories right now or hoping for a final 9 game run:  Nebraska, PSU, NWU, IU

Roaming around waiting for any other sport to start:  Illinois and Purdue

Bracketology

I love following this stuff even more than filling out the Bracket!  I can’t get enough of Kenpom and what’s happening  on the bubble. So many teams want in, but you can only invite 64(8) to the dance!

Right now, I believe the 4 number 1 seeds will be:

1.  Arizona (Yeah, even with the loss)
2. Syracuse  (Can you believe Michigan destroyed this team by 30 in the semi’s last year???)
3. Wichita State
4. Kansas

The 2-4 seeds, in no particular order because it doesn’t matter that much:

Michigan, sparty, Florida, Kentucky, Duke, Cincinnati, Villanova, Louisville, Creighton, San Diego State, Virginia and TEXAS!!!

What are the chances for any of the 2-4 seeds to sneak up and snatch a coveted 1-seed?  Well, sparty all but ruined their chances losing to Georgetown in the fashion they did.  That loss may hurt more than they realize due to the fact that even if they can get Payne and Dawson back and win the B1G, it might not be enough to secure a 1 spot (see Wichita State comment above).  Michigan, on the other hand, dealt themselves a blow but are still riding the “3 ranked teams go DOWN in 1 week” wave and could right the ship with a 7 or 8 out of 9 performance and win the B1G and sneak into a 1-seed.  But it’s doubtful.  Florida is a possible 1 if they win out, also.  But unless the top 4 totally crap their pants, I have a feeling things are starting to gel…

After that, just be glad you’re in the tourney.  Is there anyone out there sitting with a better than average chance to come off the bubble and make the tourney?  There’s so many ways to look at it, but the committee seems to think that a team with a decent record against TOUGH competition in the last 10 games is way better than an undefeated record against a bunch of cupcakes.  Hence is why so many 23 thru 26 win teams were omitted last year in favor of teams with worse records, but tougher schedules

Based on that observation, I’m going to venture a little out on a limb and say that, in the B1G anyway, based on what’s left the teams that have the best shot at sneaking in (And this is in order):

Indiana – Plays 4 Nationally ranked teams but has an unfavorable 5 away and 4 at home remaining on the slate.  That could be the Hoosiers undoing or the road into the tourney if they can defend home court and steal 2 or 3 on the road.

Nebraska- Too much damage may have already been done, but they play 3 Nationally ranked teams and have a favorable away-home schedule. They “NEED” Wednesday Night in Ann Arbor.

Nortwestern- Coming on strong, but see Nebraska.  They have 2 nationally ranked games and are home a bunch, but it might not be enough, even with the upset of Wiscy on the road.

PSU – Beating ohio was huge, and they, similar to IU, have 4 Nationally ranked opponents left, but play 5 on the road and 4 home.  They are in a worse boat than IU in that they need to probably win 8 of their last 9 or sweep to get in…

So, look for a minor “Surprise” if IU somehow makes the Big 10 field of 7 teams. 

As for the rest, well…more on that next week when the field thins itself a little more!

Introducing.....The MMPG

I will admit that this is NOT my idea…But after the week Michigan Men’s Basketball had, well, I would be re-miss as a slappy to not capture this event in some fashion!  In fact, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I didn’t pen something to help remember it.  Basketball is such an up and down sport and I know that there’s a point in time coming where our collective Michigan hearts are going to get ripped out of our chests, but for right now, let’s all just bask in the glow!

I got a phone call from the original SuperFan on Thursday morning of last week as I was running to a meeting.  He suggested the MMPG (Which does not stand for More Miles Per Gallon), the “Monday Morning Point Guard”, and as usual, with any wild and crazy idea, I let it sit there and simmer a little.  Yes, I was ecstatic after the incredible back and forth victory over the Hawkeyes in a game that wore me out just watching it. “Spike” Albrecht was a little dynamo in that one and it brought back memories of the first half against Louisville in the title game last year when he lit the Cardinals up for 17. And I was still on cloud nine from the upset over Wiscy at the "Troll" Center (where the head troll himself is 192-18. Let that sink in for a minute…that’s less than 1 loss a year at home for Wiscy under bo Ryan ed:  small "b" on purpose...there's only one true "Bo")  I thought about putting something together last Friday as a pre-cursor to what I fully expected to be a well fought, but eventual loss for the Wolverines…After all, KENPOM only had Michigan’s chances of winning all three contests against Wiscy - Iowa and Sparty last week at 3.86%.  For the odds people, that means what Michigan just accomplished could only be expected to happen about once in every 25 to 30 tries…

Rumor has it that some MSU fans are trying to convince Rick Snyder to pass a special law with an asterisk on the Michigan win that states, “But that was with Sparty’s two best players sidelined.”  I think I heard that from every Sparty I ran into....

Hey, Sparty!  I have a news flash for you:  Michigan’s three highest offense producers from last year’s team (Burke - the Naismith and Wooden Award winner from the NCAA tournament, Hardaway & McGary) weren’t in this game, either!  And guess what?  Michigan’s offensive Points Per Possession (PPP) has actually increased this season!

Also – and this is rich – I ran into one Sparty fan yesterday that simply said, “Well, that’s the one (game) we’d prefer to lose.  You know, winning later in the season is more important that winning now.  So we’d rather beat you at your place later.”    Huh….and here I was thinking that as a team, wouldn’t you always try to win both games, the home and the away???  A text I received during the Sparty – OSU football game immediately popped into my head and it was,

“You can’t fix stupid…”

But I decided to keep that comment to myself.  And I also kept the fact that Michigan is 3-2 against Sparty hoops in the last 5 tries...Hee-hee...

How big of a deal was this?  Iowa was apparently the last team to pull off the feat of defeating 3 top 10 teams in 1986-87.  And that got me to thinking about who might have been the 3 top 10 teams that the Hawkeyes beat…And I started remembering Gary Grant, Roy Tarpley and the last Big 10 Outright regular season champs….So I did some digging because like I say, my basketball brain isn’t as good as my football brain. 

 

It turns out, we didn’t owe Iowa a payback as the three top 10 teams Iowa beat in succession that season were Indiana, Purdue and Illinois in roughly the same week (in January) as Michigan.  Iowa then went on to become the number 1 ranked team in the land!  And guess who upset the Hawkeyes a mere week and a half later when they came to Ann Arbor?  Yep…The Wolverines!  (Of course, the Suckeyes managed to upset them first, but still!)  In fact, I remember being at that game that season!  It was a great win....

However, I don’t think that’s (ranked #1) going to happen to Michigan this week as they were ranked 21st going into Saturday and Iowa was a top 10 team (ranked 4^th in 86-87) so it was a lot easier walk to make Iowa the number 1 team at that time….

Anyway, Stuaskas, Walton, everyone played out of their collective Maize and Blue minds on Saturday and shot the lights out (57.8% - in case you were wondering).  They hit the big shots when they needed to and, most importantly, they made their charity stripe shots when they needed to!!!  Yes, that kind of shooting can't last forever and eventually, I wouldn't mind seeing this team develop a teensy, tiny bit more defense, but I will take what I'm seeing right now and simply be thankful!

I have to give it up to McGary, too.…that kid cracks me up and got the nation abuzz with his coaching white board advice late in the 2^nd half with about 4 minutes left:

“Win The Game!”

 

I love it!  That’s truly what it boils down to, doesn’t it?
 

Hail to the Victors and Go Blue! 
 

But remember:  There’s still a TON of Basketball that need’s to be played!

NOTE:  The Lunardi Bracketology Link is back along with SBNaion's Bracket Tracker and Sports Reference College Basketball Statistics...for the geeks out there among you. Those can all be found as clickable links at the top of the page!  That way, you know, you don't have to go searching on your own.  Also - If there's a link you'd like to see that I don't have, let me know and I will consider adding to the page!

An Ode To A Broadcaster

Having grown up in an era where Michigan Football was on TV about 3 to 4 times a season and also in an era where listening to the game was a much bigger deal as people didn’t always plant themselves in front of the tube and actually had lives where they did “Stuff” on Saturday, Bob Ufer, as I’ve mentioned more times than I care to count, was a huge influence on me becoming a Michigan Fan and I’m sure countless other who grew up in that age. 

When the Ufe was gone…there were a lot of fans left wondering what would WJR and the Michigan brass do?  Ufe was un-replaceable….or so we thought.

Beckmann was Ufer’s sideline reporter at the end of Ufe’s run, and while Beckman was capable, I think most fans believed he was just too vanilla and not enough of a homer to step into the largest broadcasting shoes the college football world had ever seen (or probably will ever see).  I mean, he was the calm, cool collected voice that narrated the “Run for the Roses” and the “Run for the Roses II” ALBUMS (Vinyl – remember those?).  If you’ve never listened to these, I believe this is where my initial doubts about Beckman began:  How could the guy that was speaking in between the utter insanity and passion of Ufer possibly replace him?  It was in fact, to me anyway, impossible, and Beckman would only be a one or two season fill in (at best) until a new Ufer identified himself….

 

(I believe there’s a reader or two out there that might own one or both of these classics!)

 

So, how did Beckman win over the minds of all the grade school to maturity fans that grew up with Ufer?  Ufer died in the fall of 1981 and I can remember sitting at the kitchen table of a high school buddy having lunch when we heard the news.  Frank had already been handling some of the broadcasts as Ufer’s cancer was eating him away. It was either my junior or senior year in high school and I was listening to Beckman and he “lost his mind” when Michigan’s Steve Smith threw a pass to a wide open Anthony Carter and Anthony scampered for a winning TD.  It was then that I thought, “Well, maybe this guy will work.”

(Thank You Wolverine Historian for the Montage..)

Then, as the years wore one, Beckmann just kind of naturally fell into the “homer” broadcaster roll.  He actually became more Ufer, if that’s possible, than Ufer.  I can’t tell you the number of times I heard, “TOUCHDOWN….MICHIGAN!!!” and felt a little tingle go up and down my back.  I loved the way that Frank paused ever so slightly after announcing touchdown….It was perfect. 

It was actually hard for me to believe that Frank had been the voice of Michigan Football for 33 years.  That’s a lifetime’s work and there’s probably more than a few readers that only know Beckmann…And he’s their Ufer.  I’m sure Beckman would have loved to at least “tie” Ufer in the number of broadcasting seasons…but 36 years by the late Great Robert Frost will be tough to match or exceed in this day and age.

Will Doug Karsch be the next voice?  And will he emulate Beckmann as much as Frank tried to pay homage to Ufer?  I’d love to give Beckmann all the credit for his own passion and flamboyance, but Ufer was first.  And while Frank made the job his own, you can’t help but think that there was a little Ufer influence in there somewhere…

And deep in the recesses of every Michigan Fan’s mind, there’s a little Ufer in all of us….and now there’s a little Beckmann, too. 

Which isn’t a bad thing!

Borges Canned - Long Live Nussmeier!

Borges is out and Nussmeier is in.  Before anyone even had a chance to put a list together of “Who is Michigan going to get as their next OC?”  The two announcements happened within less than 2 hours of each other!  Does that mean that there was a collective effort to get Nussmeier immediately following the Sugar Bowl (or earlier than that) and what of the rumors that Saban was looking to upgrade the position anyway? More on that in a minute. 

From mgoblog.com here’s an overview of the last few years of Nussmeier’s performance:

INFORMATIVE UPDATE. So who is this dude? He started his coaching career in the CFL with a couple of years as a QB coach, then moved on to Michigan State in the same capacity for three years (Jeff Smoker as a senior and then two years of Drew Stanton), then the Rams for two years. Marc Bulger was an All-Pro in year 1, which was an 8-8 season, and then the Rams went 3-13 and everyone got fired.

Nussmeier landed at Fresno State as OC for one season, was immediately hired away by Washington, and after three years was hired by Saban. His numbers as an offensive coordinator:

 

Don’t panic with the Washington stint…That was two years coming off a Willingham 0-12 disaster…no one could have turned that around in a year.  But there was improvement.  Then on to Bama, which, yeah, is Bama, but still, if you believe all of the “S-E-C is G-O-D” crap, Nussmeier was doing it against the best in college football.  So, I’m encouraged.

I’m slightly discouraged in the fact that Bama fans are happy to see Nussmeier go…but that could be an attitude issue of, “We’re at the top, we need to do better.”  So Saban grew dis-illusioned with the guy…It happens.  Whatever the case, it can’t be any worse than what Michigan had.

In an earlier Tuesday rant in December, I penned the following stating why I wasn’t calling for Barney’s head this season (but it was a tough decision) and reasoned that Michigan couldn’t get an X’s and O’s guy that would be able to make lemonade out of lemons…or something like that.  Let’s just re-print what I wrote then:

I know I said I was going to call for at least the canning of Barney this week.  I reneged.  I’m sorry about that and I had a complete list of reasons that are frankly still valid: 

1.  Multiple games with obvious offensive play calls that were just wrong
2. Two of the worst rushing totals in two (consecutive) games in Michigan History
3. 12 consecutive quarters where Michigan didn’t score an offensive TD
4.  and the list goes on…. 

And then I thought to myself:  Who or which O-Coordinator do I want for this team?  What, ideally, do you want in an O-coordinator?  I want an X’s and O’s guy that can make things happen, regardless of the talent he has at his disposal.  I want a coordinator that thinks out of the box and uses the talent he has to its fullest.  One team came to mind this year that in the past had been a running team that passed a bunch this season, LSU.  But I didn’t know who the O-Coordinator was for The Hatter, so I looked it up.  Cam Cameron – a former Michigan Man.  Damn…I wish Michigan would have thought of him a little sooner.  LSU’s problems weren’t on the offensive side of the ball this year..they just let everyone else score too much. 

So, where does that leave Michigan?  I dunno – but I highly doubt that LSU is giving up Cameron…When Borges had Denard, things were not great, but I was still blaming the personnel…this year, I have to lay the blame of at least two losses at the feet of Barney.  I’ll give both Fred and Barney one more season and next year, it’ll be time to make the call. 

Oooooops…

So, I guess you can chalk this up to, “Reason number 4,098,456,751 why the MMQ is not the Head Coach or Athletic Director at the University of Michigan."  I will admit that when I heard the news I was a little surprised, but a feeling of whimsy came over me.  I was actually happy that someone had made a decision based on results and didn’t fall back on some lame excuse that “There are going to be seasons like this when you have issues with the offensive line and younger personnel.”

Auburn’s one year turnaround similar to other team's revival like seasons at the D-1 level have proven one thing true: 

Excuses are Bullshit.

I think maybe Brandon might have finally woken up and smelled the coffee.  Let’s face it:  Having a former Domino’s CEO as an AD coming from a quarterly performance business arena has its benefits.  He sees the balance sheet and looks at the cash flows – and the trends of each of those.  Maybe he didn’t like what he was seeing…. Or maybe it was Hoke.  Or was it the desperate act of two yahoos that don’t have a clue?   Or was it a shrewdly calculated move by two great football minds that saw an opportunity in Nussmeier and said, “We have to do this.”

As usual, the reality was probably somewhere in the middle.  I’m sure Hoke believed that Borges’ offense at some point would produce positive results (and yardage), but Brandon probably asked a simple question after looking at the offensive production trend-line (falling off the cliff) over the last two seasons and said:  “When?”  And when Hoke couldn’t provide a definitive answer, Brandon went sniffing around and discovered that Saban was looking at Kiffin (which is a topic for a completely different discussion and an entire blog entry by itself) and figured that Nussmeier, who when hired by Alabama was considered a major coup at the time, was ripe for a phone/text/whatever from the University of Michigan.

When Nussmeier said, “Yeah, I’d love to come back to Michigan (He was the former QB coach at MSU and coached Smoker and Stanton – Two overachieving QB’s for sure under JLS which Nussmeier had to have something to do with), that was it.  I’m sure Brandon said to Hoke, “It’s ultimately your call to do whatever it takes to right the ship here, but in two years (or less), it’ll be my call if Michigan doesn’t have a double digit winning season.”  At that point, Hoke’s hands were tied or he saw the light – however you want to view/spin it.

Such is the fate of Head Coaches and coordinators at the FBS/D1 level.  Too much money…Bloated AD budgets that rely on the Almighty Football revenue.  If you’re not producing and fans aren’t opening their pocketbooks, well, that’s just the way it is.

Again, I’m tickled, frankly, and the timing of this move also tells me that Barney had absolutely NO IMPACT WHATSOEVER on recruiting.  That’s big.  Everyone should be involved in recruiting and if you can let a O or D Coordinator go in what is considered the most important month of the year for recruiting (February 8^th is signing day), well, than Borges was even less important than I had previously thought.

I suddenly find myself looking forward to next season!

Championship Wrap!

Happy New Year! – AGAIN!

The BCS is Dead….Long live the BCS!

The SEC is Dead…Long live the SEC!

Why do I make the two proclamations above when both were vilified and hated more than anything in recent college football memory?  I’ll get to that in a minute. 

FSU and Auburn gave us one for the ages Monday night.  I truly enjoyed watching an SEC team get schooled by an ACC team that at one point in time was probably a better “SEC” team than most of the teams in the SEC.  Bowden had teams that were made up of superstars and he made those players believe they could win.  And there was a time when I hated the Seminoles…but not last night.  Last night they did exactly what I wanted and what I believe the college football world needed them to do.  They de-throned the SEC.

Auburn was worthy, but it is readily apparent now, especially after the lackluster showing in all the bowls, that the SEC is not the conference of dominance it once was a couple of years ago.  However, that may not stop the newest chapter of College Football and the the powers that be to look at the SEC in some sort of ongoing wonderment.

Monday night, the game started out with most fans thinking, “Here we go again.  An over rated ACC team that didn’t play anybody is going to get blown out of the NC game.”  But I had watched quite a few of FSU’s games this season.  They simply didn’t look like the same team.  Nerves on offense and horrendous defense.  That wasn’t the team I was watching before.  (Again – Something about long lay-offs taking teams out of their rhythm.)  and then Fisher grew a set when the Tigers least expected it and called for the fake punt with about 3 minutes to go in the first half.  That led to a Seminoles TD over a stunned, but still angry Tiger defense. 

Then, in the 2^nd half, finally, the real Seminoles showed up.  And with a vengeance.  The defense held Auburn to 0 points in the third quarter and looked like the defense they had been all year.  They were surely the fastest team in the 2^nd half made especially clear with a 100+ yard kick off return (That was Karma’s way of saying, “The Party’s OVER Auburn”) and Winston validated himself as the Heismann Trophy winner with a scoring drive in the last 1:19 that had a little bit of everything.  And just like that – The SEC domination of football is gone.  And I think that’s a good thing. 

So, getting back to my original point, why the proclamations?

There’s a variety of reasons:

While the BCS has ended its “Death Grip” on football and Monday Night’s game was a great salute to that era and the BCS finally getting it right, I think we are heading for a time when a handful of fans will look at what the new “Football Committee” hands us and be as pissed if not more pissed off with what we get in the final 4 teams.  This year, we would have had Auburn and Alabama in the “Final 4” and while there’s a good chance that neither would have made the final game, there was certainly a possibility if the seeding was left the way it fell out of the national rankings.   Yes, we could have had an SEC final game.  With Aburn at 2 and Alabama at 4, the 1-4 matchup would have played and the 2-3 matchup would have played. 

FSU vs. Bama

MSU vs. Auburn

I hate playing what if’s and looking at all the scenarios…but if two teams from the same conference make it to the final 4, they should be forced to play in the semifinals and not let the two meet up in the final.  However, my guess is the committee will be “steered” to allow just that sort of thing to happen if the two “best” teams happen to be in the same conference. 

Okay – I’m rambling a little, but my point is, right up to the day they played the Iron Bowl, everyone KNEW that Alabama was going to win another NC.  Then, Bama couldn’t even beat an inbjury DECIMATED Oklahoma team that was a double digit DOG in the Sugar Bowl.  The other SEC teams had poor showings against “Weak” B1G opponents in other bowls as well – not to mention that another ACC team, Clemson, beat LSU at last year’s Chi-Fil-A bowl and Georgia earlier this season.  So, is the SEC that good?  I don’t think so….And that perception needs to change and the SEC has to stop playing 4 non-conference games against unworthy opponents.  The SEC needs to truly play “Difficult” games and improve its SOS.  That should end this final ballot every season with 7 SEC teams in the top 15 of the nation and then, and only then, will the college football world be ready to believe two teams from anyone one conference can play for the National Title. 

I guess what I’m saying is this:  I was actually starting to like the BCS and some of the tweaks they had made.  Now, don’t be surprised when we have that 1^st season where two teams from the same conference – any conference – make it into the final 4 and meet up in the final game.  Nobody’s gonna’ like it.  But this is progress…And I’m all for that and the end of the “Bowl Model” as we know it.  Just expand this sucker to get some of the play-off games on home fields baby…and look out for those season ticket sales then!

One more little comment from the Title Game:  LOVED the ESPN2 open dialogue of all the guests that were invited to speak live on what was happening on the field.  I really felt more informed and understood a WHOLE lot better what teams were doing and how they were doing it.  IF you didn’t flip back and forth, no worries.  Rumor has it that there was significant viewership on the Deuce and that picked up as the game wore on.  I’m sure we will see the format again.  In fact, ESPN News also had coaches on and I didn’t see any of that, but heard it was also a big winner in the ratings.  So, people are starting to figure out that no one likes to listen to Brent Musberger…..

Speaking of that Clemson team:  Remember the egg they laid in the Orange Bowl a couple of years ago?  Well, they redeemed themselves and did all Michigan fans a favor in the process by beating ohio in what will go down in history as “How NOT to finish a game in the final seconds” or “DON’T THROW THE BALL IN THE FINAL SECONDS TO THE GUYS IN THE OTHER UNIFORMS!”  I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes….Last seconds, two interceptions and the suckeyes go down….Why Miller was on the field after being banged up is beyond me…But Urban can deal with the Suckeye fan base as to why he made that call….

Urban Meyer looked great at the post game news conference.  It appears to me that his heart problems all came back at once. 

Here’s an interesting tidbit that I learned about yesterday: 

Las Vegas Odds of:

Florida State winning National Title:        14 to 1

Auburn Winning National Title:                 200 onwards up to 500 to 1

Number of Lottery Tickets held for each school at different Sports Books in Vegas:

FSU:  Indeterminate.  Many bets at various amounts for these odds.  There are many happy FSU fans and bettors out there this morning/week. 

Auburn:  about a dozen bettors had made the pre-season speculation bet, according to Vegas reports.  But there is One Auburn Moron that is going to wish he had hedged his bet.   He didn’t.  That’s just plain dumb….

ESPN – There will be many nervous Auburn fans Monday night as they watch their Tigers take on Florida State in the Vizio BCS National Championship, but Mark Skiba is an odds-on favorite to be among the most skittish. That’s because Skiba’s $100 bet has turned into a possible $50,000 payday — if the Tigers win the title. Last January, Skiba’s father was on vacation in Las Vegas when, while visiting the Paris Hotel on the Strip, he placed a $100 bet for his son on Auburn to win the title game at 500-to-1 odds.

When Skiba went public with his ticket last month, many fans contacted him on Twitter to give advice. Most told Skiba they would place a sizable bet against his own team to guarantee a payday. Skiba had planned on doing exactly that. But as Monday’s game approached, he backed off. With Florida State becoming more and more of a favorite, it meant that Skiba would have to bet even more money against Auburn to balance out the action. So with the consult of his high school buddy, accountant Brian Burnett, who is an Alabama alum, the two made the trip to Las Vegas for the game but decided to let the bet ride.

So, while the FMQ finished with the worst record ever in the 5 years I’ve be fantasy betting college, you can bet that if I was ever reckless enough to throw a $100 on a 500 to 1 longshot and I had a $50K payday coming…well, there would be a very large bet made on whoever was on the other side of that wager.  Even if I cut it in half, that’s still better than nothing….

The Pre-Season Review

I completely blew it on the final Top 10 and Michigan.  I always like to think that I can foresee the future and the up and comers, but I will be honest and I only had FSU as a potential “Dark Horse” in the pre-season.

And Auburn wasn’t anywhere on my list.  Other Total Misses:  Sparty, Michigan, and Florida, in that order.  I didn’t have Sparty anywhere in my sights and I had Michigan and Florida way over-rated. 

Is the rest of the Pre-Season worth reviewing here and now?  Nah…I’ll save if for another day. 

The Hot Seat

It’s OVER!  The readers have decided and various photos of Brooklyn Decker will adorn the side bar for the rest of the off season!  It was an exciting end to the voting and I actually enjoyed the play-off format.  Expect it to be in for next year also!

 

In one interesting note, Charlie Strong decided to take the offer from Texas and will be wearing Burnt Orange next season.  While this was somewhat surprising (I figured Franklin was the number 1 guy), Strong makes sense for Texas.  McCombs doesn’t think so – If you don’t know who he is, you soon will as he has come out against the Charlie Strong hire.  And if Strong fails early….well, let’s just hope he doesn’t fail for his sake.  The other potential near hire if Franklin to PSU.  I’m curious if Franklin will actually work at PSU due to the fact that if the loyalists hated mild mannered, easy going O’Brien….They’re gonna “LOVE” Franklin…Welcome Rich Rod to State College.

GONE LIST: 

1. LANE KIFFIN
2. Paul Pasqualoni
3. Treadwell
4. Carlson – Valpraiso….(I know, not exactly on my radar, either.)
5. Ron English – Eastern Michigan. 
6. Mussman – North Dakota
7. David Christianson – Wyoming
8. Mack Brown – Retired…..
9. Ellerson- ARMY
10. Ogeron – Resigned….
11. O’Brien – Left for Texas (NFL)
12. Strong – Louisville.  Left for Texas Longhorns

Hot Seat Rank – Getting Serious as this is the time when the Carousel gets fire up!

1. My feeling at this point is, if you haven’t been canned by January 1, you are probably safe for this year…

HIRED LIST:

1.  USC – Sarkisian
2. Washington – Petersen
3. Dave Clawson – Wake Forest
4. Bryan Harsin – Boise State
5. Chris Creighton – Eastern
6. Bob Diaco – UCONN
7. Jeff Monken – Army
8. Charlie Strong - TEXAS

MAJOR OPENINGS:

PSU – If you didn’t see the last blog entry, check it out.  Following a legend anywhere you go is going to be tough, no matter what the prior guy did at the end or how bad he was.  His legend is usually too big to overcome.  Paterno Loyalists made life hell for O’Brien.  Expect a “Paterno” coach to be in at PSU on the next go-around.  If not a Paterno guy, and I know I keep bringing his name up to the chagrin of Vandy Fans everywhere…Franklin?

Louisville – They are going to wish Charlie was still there in a couple of years…..

RECRUITING

Because I have received a couple of emails and a phone call regarding the recent recruiting class, here’s where everyone is at according to Rivals at this point in time:

Rank	School	Total	5-starCommits	4-starCommits	3-starCommits	Avg	Points
#1	Alabama	24	4	13	7	3.88	3007
#2	Ohio State	21	1	15	5	3.81	2710
#3	Tennessee	33	2	15	15	3.59	2587
#4	Florida State	29	0	15	12	3.45	2508
#5	Texas A&M	20	2	10	7	3.65	2431
#6	LSU	18	1	13	3	3.78	2399
#7	Notre Dame	23	1	13	9	3.65	2315
#8	Miami (FL)	28	1	11	16	3.46	2276
#9	Auburn	21	3	10	7	3.71	2199
#10	Florida	20	0	11	9	3.55	2144
#11	Georgia	16	1	10	5	3.75	2014
#12	Texas	23	0	7	15	3.26	2004
#13	Kentucky	23	0	9	13	3.35	1973
#14	Mississippi	23	0	6	16	3.22	1926
#15	Clemson	18	1	6	10	3.39	1895
#16	Arizona	29	1	5	17	3.07	1854
#17	North Carolina	21	1	3	15	3.14	1787
#18	Arizona State	25	0	5	18	3.12	1786
#19	Oklahoma	20	1	5	11	3.2	1777
#20	Virginia Tech	27	0	7	15	3.07	1763
#21	Oregon	17	0	7	9	3.35	1709
#22	USC	17	0	10	7	3.59	1691
#23	Penn State	19	0	5	13	3.28	1687
#24	Michigan	16	1	6	8	3.44	1684
#25	Vanderbilt	20	0	6	14	3.3	1683

Why did I put this in here even though I have vehemently said that I really don’t care about recruiting at all and until I see the players on the field I do not have an opinion on any of this one way or the other?  Don’t panic if you “heard” that Michigan’s recruiting class isn’t in the top 10.  They currently only have 16 commits and there are more coming.  As the number of commitments goes up, so does the ranking.  What I would be more concerned with (but even then, it doesn’t upset me that much) is that most of Michigan’s commits right now are of the 3 star variety.  But, all will be revealed on February 8^th – National Siging Day, for those that get excited about that kind of thing…..Again, it doesn’t mean much and I should remind you:  Denard Robinson was a three star recruit.  ‘Nuff said.

FMQ

Ugh….the FMQ had his worst performance EVER!  It started sliding downward and this year, the Bowls didn’t save us.  Very few favorites came home or even covered making it even more difficult.

It was clearly the year of the dog and I will perform and more extensive analysis at some point.  But here’s the chart:

 

Better luck next season?  Better System!