Author: Drew Montag

The (#21) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this week, and they won both of them. On Wednesday (01/22/2014), they beat (#10) Iowa 75-67 in Crisler Arena, then on Saturday (01/25/2014), they beat (#3) Michigan State in East Lansing. The wins raise Michigan’s record to 15-4 (7-0 in the Big Ten). Michigan is now all alone in 1^st place in the Big Ten.

Combined with last week’s win at (then #3) Wisconsin, the wins over a pair of Top-10 teams this week give Michigan 3 wins in a row over Top-10 teams, an amazing feat that Michigan has never done before, and no team has accomplished since 1986-1987, when Iowa did it. Even more amazing is that 2 of those 3 wins came on the road, both against teams ranked #3, and in two of the most hostile environments in the nation, not just in the Big Ten. Michigan has now won 9 games in a row, and climbed back into the national rankings. They will certainly move up from #21 when the new rankings come out on Monday afternoon. Oh yeah, Michigan is 27-0 under Coach Beilein when they score 80 points or more.

These were two very tense, emotional games. Both teams really wanted to win badly, and they both played hard and well. Michigan just played better. After years of mediocrity, Iowa is back in the upper division of the Big Ten, and they have the fastest, deepest, and most experienced team in the league. They came to play on Wednesday, and Michigan had to play their “A” game to beat them. The game was close in the early going, but Iowa was ahead most of the time. With 9:53 left in the 1^st half, Iowa was up by 5 (21-16), when Michigan went on a 9-0 run to go up by 4 (25-21). Iowa hung in there, and got the lead back (31-30) with 4:11 to go in the half. Michigan got the lead back right away, and never trailed again. They finished the half strong, and led by 4 (38-34) at halftime. In the early part of the 2^nd half, Iowa closed the deficit to 2 points (43-41), but Michigan pushed it up to double figures (54-43), and kept it around 8-10 points for most of the rest of the game. Iowa made it tense for a bit with 2:32 left in the game when they cut the lead to 3 points (67-64), but Michigan finished the game strong with an 8-3 run to win going away. It was a strong, solid performance against a quality opponent.

The win at Breslin was VERY impressive. MSU came into the game ranked #3, with an 11-game winning streak and a 7-0 record in the Big Ten. Breslin was packed (14,797), and the State fans were screaming for blood. It was a very intimidating environment, and the Michigan players kept their poise. Michigan started strong, and hit their first 4 shots, 2 of them 3-pointers, to lead 10-2. MSU came roaring back, and took the lead (19-16) with 10:56 left in the 1^st half. MSU pushed the lead as high as 8 points (32-24) with 3:42 left in the half, but UM never let the game get out of reach. They got back within 2 points (32-30), before State took the lead back up to 6 points (36-30) at halftime. Michigan got the lead down to 2 points a couple times in the early parts of the 2^nd half, but MSU pushed it back up to 8 points again (49-41) with 13:29 to go. UM used a nice 14-6 run to get back on top again (55-54), but it didn’t last long. State held the lead until the 4:01 mark, when Michigan tied it up (60-60). That’s when lightning struck: UM hit a 3-pointer, got a defensive stop, and made a layup-and-one for another 3 points, and suddenly UM had a 6-point lead and never looked back. It was 66-60 with 2:29 left, and the rest of the game was the predictable garbage with MSU shooting 3’s and calling timeout, and Michigan getting fouled and hitting their free throws (14-of-16 down the stretch). Both teams did what they were supposed to do, but the 6-point lead was just too big for MSU to cut into. It was a glorious victory over a top-notch opponent on their own floor.

With Michigan’s sweep of MSU in 2011, and splits in 2012 and 2013, this win makes it 5 wins for Michigan in the last 7 games against State. Not too shabby. Since Michigan State has had more success in the last few seasons, it’s easy to forget that the overall series record is still strongly in Michigan’s favor, 96-76 (89-76 after NCAA sanctions).

Time to look at the stats for the Iowa game. Michigan shot pretty well overall (27-for-58 = 46.6%), but they didn’t shoot very well from 3-point range (8-for-27 = 29.6%). They shot free throws well (13-for-16 = 81.3%). They lost the rebounding battle (barely: 32-33), but they won the turnover battle (10-14). They won the game because Iowa shot 3-pointers even worse than Michigan (2-for-10 = 20.0%).

The stats for the MSU game are much more impressive. Michigan shot well overall (22-for-49 = 44.9%), they shot 3-pointers very well (11-for-19 = 57.9%), and they shot free throws very well (and often: 25-for-30 = 83.3%). Michigan won the rebounding battle handily (35-29), but they lost the turnover battle badly (11-5). Still, the excellent 3-point shooting and free-throw shooting by Michigan was enough to beat State.

 

Individually, only 1 Michigan player hit double figures in both games:

 

• Nik Stauskas – 26 points vs. Iowa and 19 points vs. MSU. Nik was the star, and leading scorer, in both games again. He had a tough time shooting 3-pointers in the Iowa game (4-for-9), but he was on fire in the MSU game (5-for-6). Those 26 points vs. Iowa tie Nik’s career high.

5 other players hit double figures in one of the two games:

• Zak Irvin – 11 and 3 points. The Iowa game was the first time Zak has hit double figures since the first Big Ten game of the season (at Minnesota).
  
• Caris LeVert – 5 and 17 points. Caris didn’t do much in the Iowa game, but he was a force in the MSU game, with three 3-pointers (on 5 attempts) and 6-for-7 shooting at the free throw line. He also had 8 rebounds vs. MSU.
  
• Jordan Morgan – 12 and 4 points. Once again, Jordan was one half of a “center by committee” with Jon Horford, and they got the job done in both games.
  
• Glenn Robinson III – 14 and 9 points. GR3 had a terrible week shooting 3-pointers: 0-for-5 vs. Iowa and 0-for-2 vs. MSU. He did have 9 rebounds vs. Iowa, which ties his career high.
  
• Derrick Walton Jr. – 0 and 19 points. Derrick was sick with flu-like symptoms for the Iowa game, so he only played 3 minutes, and didn’t score. He was all recovered by the MSU game, and played the best game of his young career. 19 points is a new career high for him, and he looked great scoring them. He hit both of his 3-point shots, he hit a couple amazing driving layups where he got hammered and still finished through contact, and he hit 9 of his 10 free throw attempts, many of them in the last few seconds when State was trying desperately to come back. In short, he looked great.

2 players scored in at least one game, but didn’t hit double figures:

• Spike Albrecht – 7 and 3 points. Spike started the Iowa game in place of Derrick Walton, Jr., due to his flu-like illness, and he played very well, including making his traditional single 3-pointer. Sadly, he missed his only 3-point attempt in the MSU game, ending his streak of exactly one 3-pointer in every Big Ten game except the first one (Minnesota) at 5 games.
  
• Jon Horford – 0 and 6 points. It was a quiet week for Jon.

Max Bielfeldt played (4 minutes) in the MSU game, but didn’t score.

 

This Week

Michigan just finished “The Gauntlet, Part 1” portion of their schedule, and they managed to win all 3 of the games, which were all against Top-10 teams. Things get a little easier for Michigan, but they can’t let their guard down. They play two games this week. On Thursday (01/30/2014, 9:00 p.m., ESPN) they play Purdue in Crisler Arena, then on Sunday (02/02/2014, 1:00 p.m., CBS) they play at Indiana. Michigan should be able to handle Purdue pretty easily, but it’s always tough playing IU in Assembly Hall. However, if UM can beat Wisconsin in the Kohl Center and MSU in the Breslin Center, they can beat IU in Assembly Hall. It will be another hard-fought, emotional game, and UM will have to play their “A” game again to come home with the “W”.

Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!

Standings

Here are the current Big Ten standings, after Week #4:

 

 

Results

Here are the results from last week’s games (Week #4):

 

Monday (01/20/2014)

Ohio State lost at Nebraska, 68-62

 

Tuesday (01/21/2014)

Indiana lost at Michigan State, 71-66

Purdue lost at Northwestern, 63-60 (2 overtimes)

 

Wednesday (01/22/2014)

Iowa lost at Michigan, 75-67

Wisconsin lost at Minnesota, 81-68

 

Thursday (01/23/2014)

Illinois lost at Ohio State, 62-55

Nebraska lost at Penn State, 58-54

 

Saturday (01/25/2014)

Iowa won at Northwestern, 76-50

Wisconsin won at Purdue, 72-58

Michigan won at Michigan State, 80-75

 

Sunday (01/26/2014)

Illinois lost at Indiana, 56-46

Minnesota lost at Nebraska, 82-78

 

The home teams did pretty well this week, going 9-3. There were a few surprises this week:

 

• Ohio State lost at Nebraska on Monday. That loss was OSU’s 4^th in a row, after starting the season with 15 straight wins.
  
• Wisconsin lost at Minnesota on Wednesday. That was Wisconsin’s 3^rd loss in a row, after starting the season 16-0, and ranked as high as #3.
  
• Michigan won at Michigan State on Saturday. MSU hardly ever loses at home, and they were ranked #3, while Michigan was ranked #21 in their first week back in the Top 25.
  
• Minnesota lost at Nebraska on Sunday. Minnesota has beaten Ohio State and Wisconsin (in Minneapolis), but it’s tough to win on the road in the Big Ten.
  

 

The Upcoming Week

Here are the games scheduled for the upcoming week (Week #5):

 

Tuesday (01/28/2014)

Michigan State at Iowa

 

Wednesday (01/29/2014)

Penn State at Ohio State

Northwestern at Wisconsin

 

Thursday (01/30/2014)

Indiana at Nebraska

Purdue at Michigan

 

Saturday (02/01/2014)

Ohio State at Wisconsin

Northwestern at Minnesota

Michigan State at Georgetown (non-conference)

Iowa at Illinois

 

Sunday (01/26/2014)

Purdue at Penn State

Michigan at Indiana

 

There are 2 big games this week:

 

• Michigan State at Iowa on Tuesday – Iowa is tough at home.
  
• Ohio State at Wisconsin on Saturday – One of these teams will drop out of the title hunt.
  

 

Full Schedule

Here’s the entire Big Ten schedule, with the teams in alphabetical order. I’ll include this table every week, with the wins and losses filled in:

 

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this week, and they won both of them. On Tuesday (01/14/2014), they beat Penn State 80-67 in Crisler Arena, then on Saturday (01/18/2014), they beat (#3) Wisconsin in Madison. The wins raise Michigan’s record to 13-4 (5-0 in the Big Ten).

Well. I don’t know if I can explain just how big and exciting and important the win over Wisconsin is. It’s right up there with the win over Michigan State in East Lansing in 2011 and the win against Kansas in the NCAA Tournament last year. First of all, it’s the highest ranked team that Michigan has beaten on their home floor, ever. It also is the first time Michigan has won in Madison since 1999. Wisconsin is virtually unbeatable at home, going 191-18 since Bo Ryan started coaching there in 2001. Trust me, this is a huge win, and it makes the rest of Michigan’s schedule look a little less daunting. Sure, there are still many tough games ahead, but if you can win at the Kohl Center, you can beat anyone, anywhere.

Oh yeah: Michigan also beat Penn State, but that’s not as big a deal. Penn State is now 0-6 in the Big Ten, and Michigan beat them in Ann Arbor. UM looked OK in the PSU game, scoring the first 8 points, and leading by as many as 14 points in the 1^st half, before settling for a 7-point lead (40-33) at halftime. In the 2^nd half, they let PSU back into the game, letting the lead slip to just 2 points (47-45) with 15 minutes to go. Michigan buckled down, and took control again, pushing the lead up to 16 points (66-50) with 9:42 left. Penn State tried to come back one more time, and got within 8 points (72-64) with 5 minutes left, but UM pushed the lead back up to double digits again, and won going away. Michigan never trailed in the game.

In the Wisconsin game, Michigan only trailed twice (2-0 and 4-2), but once they got the lead at 7-4, they never trailed. They managed to get the lead up to double digits (43-33) late in the 1^st half, but had to settle for a 5-point lead at halftime (43-38). They started the 2^nd half strong, and pushed the lead up to 15 points (59-44) with 11:46 left, and still led by 13 points (66-53) with 8 minutes to go. That’s when Wisconsin made their big move, and cut the lead down to 1 point (68-67) with 1:54 left. Michigan played tough down the stretch, made their free throws, and held on for a huge victory.

The stats for the Penn State game are solid. Michigan shot well overall (28-for-52 = 53.8%), they shot 3-pointers pretty well (9-for-24 = 37.5%), and they shot free throws pretty well (15-for-19 = 78.9%). They (barely) won the rebounding battle (28-26), and they won the turnover battle (6-9). 6 turnovers for a whole game is very impressive.

The stats for the Wisconsin game are even more impressive. Michigan shot well overall (29-for-53 = 54.7%), they shot 3-pointers very well (7-for-13 = 53.8%), and they shot free throws very well (12-for-14 = 85.7%). They (barely) won the rebounding battle (31-30), but they lost the turnover battle (11-9). The key stat here is 3-point shooting. Michigan can beat just about anyone when they shoot over 50% from 3-point range.

Individually, 2 Michigan players hit double figures in both games:

• Glenn Robinson III – 15 points vs. PSU, and 14 points vs. UW. GR3 was very efficient in the Wisconsin game, shooting 6-for-8.
  
• Nik Stauskas – 21 and 23 points. Nik was the star, and leading scorer, in both games. In the Wisconsin game, he hit a 3-pointer to push Michigan’s lead back up to 4 when UW closed to within 1 point, then he hit all his free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

3 other players hit double figures in one of the two games:

• Jon Horford – 11 and 6 points. Once again, Jon was one half of a “center by committee” with Jordan Morgan, and they got the job done. Jon also had 7 rebounds in each game.
  
• Caris LeVert – 6 and 20 points. Caris played a big part in the Wisconsin win, hitting all 3 of his 3-point attempts.
  
• Derrick Walton Jr. – 16 and 2 points. Derrick had the best game of his young career vs. Penn State. 16 points is a new career high for him.

3 players scored in at least one game, but didn’t hit double figures:

• Spike Albrecht – 3 and 4 points. Spike has had exactly one 3-pointer in every Big Ten game except the first one (Minnesota).
  
• Zak Irvin – 0 and 2 points. Since the Minnesota game, where he had 15 points, Zak has disappeared, with 5, 0, 0, and 2 points. Michigan needs him to get his 3-point shot back.
  
• Jordan Morgan – 8 and 6 points. Jordan was the leading rebounder for Michigan in the Wisconsin game, with 8.

Max Bielfeldt played (barely – 1 minute) in the Wisconsin game, but didn’t score.

This Week

Michigan has just entered “The Gauntlet” portion of their schedule. The Wisconsin game was just the first of 3 games in a row against Top-25 teams, 2 of them on the road. They play two games this week. On Wednesday (01/22/2014, 7:00 p.m., BTN) they play (#20) Iowa in Crisler Arena, then on Saturday (01/25/2014, 7:00 p.m., ESPN) they play at (#5) Michigan State. Both games are going to be very tough. Iowa was mediocre last season (25-13 overall, 9-9 in the Big Ten, NIT), but they are very much improved this season (15-3, 4-1 in the Big Ten). Michigan throttled them (95-67) in Ann Arbor in their only meeting last year. I don’t expect anything like that this year. Then there’s the game in East Lansing. It’s every bit as tough to win in Breslin as it is to win in the Kohl Center. Once again, it’s not impossible for UM to beat MSU on their home floor (they did it 3 years ago), but Michigan will have to play flawlessly, again.

Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!

Standings

Here are the current Big Ten standings, after Week #3:

 

 

Results

Here are the results from last week’s games (Week #3):

 

Tuesday (01/14/2014)

Wisconsin lost at Indiana, 75-72

Penn State lost at Michigan, 80-67

 

Wednesday (01/15/2014)

Michigan State won at Northwestern, 54-40

Purdue won at Illinois, 66-58

 

Thursday (01/16/2014)

Ohio State lost at Minnesota, 63-53

 

Saturday (01/18/2014)

Northwestern won at Indiana, 54-47

Michigan won at Wisconsin, 77-70

Penn State lost at Purdue, 65-64

Michigan State won at Illinois, 78-62

 

Sunday (01/19/2014)

Minnesota lost at Iowa, 94-73

 

The home teams did pretty poorly this week, going 5-5. There were a few surprises this week:

 

• Wisconsin lost at Indiana on Tuesday. They were undefeated, and ranked #3, coming into this game.
  
• Ohio State lost at Minnesota on Thursday. That was their 3^rd loss in a row, after starting the season 15-0, and ranked as high as #3.
  
• Northwestern won at Indiana on Saturday. Even in a rebuilding year, Indiana doesn’t lose many at home, and seldom to a lower-division team like Northwestern. IU was coming off their stunning upset of Wisconsin just 4 days before.
  
• Michigan won at Wisconsin on Saturday. This is probably the biggest surprise of the season, so far. Wisconsin hardly ever loses at home, and Michigan hadn’t won in Madison since 1999. Wisconsin has now lost 2 games in a row.
  

 

The Upcoming Week

Here are the games scheduled for the upcoming week (Week #4):

 

Monday (01/20/2014)

Ohio State at Nebraska

 

Tuesday (01/21/2014)

Indiana at Michigan State

Purdue at Northwestern

 

Wednesday (01/22/2014)

Iowa at Michigan

Wisconsin at Minnesota

 

Thursday (01/23/2014)

Illinois at Ohio State

Nebraska at Penn State

 

Saturday (01/25/2014)

Iowa at Northwestern

Wisconsin at Purdue

Michigan at Michigan State

 

Sunday (01/26/2014)

Illinois at Indiana

Minnesota at Nebraska

 

There are 2 big games this week:

 

• Iowa at Michigan on Wednesday – Iowa is much-improved this season, and they beat Ohio State in Columbus, but Michigan is tough at home.
  
• Michigan at Michigan State on Saturday – Michigan has a tough week. MSU is almost unbeatable in East Lansing.
  

 

Full Schedule

Here’s the entire Big Ten schedule, with the teams in alphabetical order. I’ll include this table every week, with the wins and losses filled in:

 

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team only played one games this week, and they won it. On Thursday (01/09/2014), they beat Nebraska 71-70 in Lincoln. The win raises Michigan’s record to 11-4 (3-0 in the Big Ten).

It’s a cliché, but “any win on the road in the Big Ten is a big win”. That said, this “big win” was almost a “depressing loss”. Nebraska is improving, but they haven’t improved enough that they should beat Michigan, even in their fancy new arena in Lincoln. Basketball is a game of emotion and momentum, and when Nebraska got the momentum and played with emotion, they gave Michigan all they could handle.

It was a back-and-forth game, with 10 ties and 11 lead changes. Michigan’s largest lead was only 6 points, and Nebraska’s largest lead was only 3 points. The game came down to the last 3 seconds, when Nebraska got off a couple shots, which fortunately didn’t go in.

Normally, I only look at Michigan’s stats, but in this case it’s really informative to compare both teams’ stats. Michigan shot very well overall (31-for-50 = 62.0%), but they allowed Nebraska to shoot well as well (26-for-49 = 53.1%). The 3-point shooting was a wash: Michigan shot 35.3% (6-for-17) and Nebraska shot 35.0% (7-for-20). The biggest difference was free-throwing shooting: Michigan was just terrible (3-for-9 = 33.3%), while Nebraska was great (11-for-12 = 91.7%). Those 8 extra points almost sunk Michigan, but the extra 5 baskets that UM made were just enough to win. Michigan lost the rebounding battle (20-26), but they won the turnover battle (9-13).

Individually, all 5 of the Michigan starters hit double figures, for the first time this season:

• Caris LeVert – 10 points. Caris also led the team in assists, with 5.
  
• Jordan Morgan – 15 points. Jordan shot very well (7-for-9).
  
• Glenn Robinson III – 19 points. GR3 was the leading scorer.
  
• Nik Stauskas – 12 points. Once again, Nik scored in many different ways, including a couple key 3-pointers.
  
• Derrick Walton Jr. – 10 points. Derrick had the 2 biggest baskets in this game: he hit a 3-pointer from beyond half-court with 0.6 seconds left in the 1^st half, and he also hit the game-winning basket with 23 seconds left to give Michigan their final lead.

Spike Albrecht (3 points) and Jon Horford (2 points) accounted for all the UM bench scoring. Not enough. Zak Irvin played, but did not score.

 

Midterm Grades

Michigan plays 30 regular season games this season, not counting at least one game in the Big Ten Tournament, so with 15 games played and 15 to go, it’s time for Midterm Grades:

Freshman Eligibility

Brad Anlauf – Incomplete

Brad joined the team after the season started, and he’s strictly on the team as part of the practice squad. He has played in 6 games so far, and has made one basket.

Andrew Dakich – Incomplete

Andrew is another practice squad player. He has played in 7 games so far, and has made one basket (a 3-pointer).

Mark Donnal – Incomplete

Mark is being redshirted this season, unless a disaster hits the team and there is another injury to one of the remaining “bigs”. He played in both exhibition games, but that’s it, so we hardly got to see him.

Zak Irvin – B

Zak has had a few good games (Coppin State, Houston Baptist, Stanford, and Minnesota) and a lot of forgettable ones (Iowa State, Florida State, Duke, and Arizona). So far, he has been mostly a one-dimensional player (“just a shooter”), but we have seen glimpses of the rest of his game.

Sean Lonergan – Incomplete

Sean is another practice squad player. He has played in 6 games so far, and has made one basket.

Cole McConnell – Incomplete

Cole is another practice squad player. He has played in 4 games so far, and has made one basket (a 3-pointer). He injured his foot, so he’s not currently available to practice/play.

Derrick Walton Jr. – B

Derrick is slowly getting used to the speed of the college game. He hasn’t done a bad job out there, but he hasn’t been much of a force either. Of course, we all got spoiled by Trey Burke, and Derrick has only played in 15 games so far, but the team really needs him to pick up his game a little more. In particular, we know that he can shoot a lot better than he’s been showing us so far.

Sophomore Eligibility

Spike Albrecht – B

Derrick Walton Jr. is the nominal starter at point guard, but Spike has been playing a lot of minutes there as well. He’s not as athletic as Derrick, and he’s not as good on defense, but he does a better job of running the team when he’s out there. He doesn’t panic, and he tosses in a 3-pointer every now and then.

Max Bielfeldt – C

Max has played a minor role so far this season. He’s played in 10 games so far, and scored 12 points, 6 of them on a pair of 3-pointers. With Mitch McGary out for a while (see below), he’s now the 3^rd “big”. When he’s been in, he’s looked solid, if unspectacular. He’s a strong kid, and he knows where the ball is going, so he gets a fair share of the rebounds while he’s on the floor. He’s not much of a scoring threat, but he’s turning into a pretty good post defender.

Caris LeVert – B-

Caris is certainly the most improved player on the team this season, and he started the season off strong, but he’s settled into mediocrity recently. He’s had several great games, including 3 games of 20+ points, and he’s had several games where he just disappeared. He’s averaging 12 points/game, and if he can keep that up in Big Ten games, he’ll be a valuable player this season.

Mitch McGary – Incomplete

Mitch has been a major disappointment this season. He came into the season as a pre-season All American, but a back injury, along with a couple other short-term injuries, has held him back. He recently decided to have surgery on his back, so he’s probably lost for the rest of the season. While he’s eligible for a medical redshirt year for this season, there’s no way he’ll play 4 full seasons at Michigan, so the redshirt year doesn’t really matter. He probably not get drafted in the 1^st round of the NBA draft this spring, so I expect him to return to play one more season at Michigan next year.

Glenn Robinson III – B

Glenn has had a real up-and-down season so far. When he’s been good, he’s been very good, but when he disappears, he is missed. He hasn’t shot particularly well, and he has trouble creating his own shot, but he’s awesome in the transition game.

Nik Stauskas – A

Nik is the “go to scorer” this season, and he’s pretty good in that role. He has scored in a variety of ways, not just with his 3-point shot. In fact, he’s scoring more by driving and shooting free throws than he did last year. He’s got great moves, a good first step, and he’s good at finishing at the rim. He hasn’t been hitting his 3-pointers as consistently as he did last year, but he’s still dangerous.

Junior Eligibility

Jon Horford – B

Jon has played better this season. He’s shown a real talent for blocking shots and playing tough defense. His offensive game is a little behind.

Senior Eligibility

Jordan Morgan – B

Jordan is having a solid season, which is good, since he and Jon Horford are trying to replace Mitch McGary.

 

This Week

Michigan plays two games this week. On Tuesday (01/14/2014, 8:00 p.m., BTN) they play Penn State in Crisler Arena, then on Saturday (01/18/2014, 6:00 p.m. EST, ESPN) they play at Wisconsin. Penn State is having their usual “rebuilding” year (20 in a row, so far), and I expect Michigan to beat them, but the game at Wisconsin is going to be brutal. It’s always tough to win on the road in the Big Ten, but the Kohl Center is one of the toughest places to win in the country, right up there with Cameron Indoor Stadium (Duke) and the Breslin Center (Michigan State). UM can win the game, but they will have to play flawlessly.

Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!