Posted on

M FOOTBALL 2016- MARYLAND’S TERPS BLASTED BY RISING WOLVERINES 59-3.

Eight prior Wolverine wins this season were but a prelude to the game that unfolded Saturday against the Maryland’s Football Terrapins. The Wolverine’s sought to step up another notch towards wining the Eastern Division B1G Championship by bringing home their ninth victory of the season.
This Maryland game was at the same time, no less and no more, important than the ones already in the bag, or yet to come, but it was as necessary as all the others this season. Again the Wolverines were the odds on favorites, being pegged as 29.5 point or more winners. The Terrapins had lost to PSU, Indiana, and Minnesota. To this group, add the Wolverines, as they blew out the Terps on Saturday. Overwhelmed, routed, dismantled, swamped, any cliché you want to use to style a butt kicking applies. You could also call it a bit of a Butt kicking as TE Jake Butt contributed necessary yardage. Jake is now the all-time leading tight end receiver at the University of Michigan in terms of yardage.
Coming to Ann Arbor the week after M’s battle in Spartan Stadium, the Terrapins probably wondered what all the shouting was about last Saturday, as they too had dismantled MSU this season (28-17). For the Wolverines, this was a game where they might as well have been wearing a neon sign displaying trap game, but it was the Terps that got trapped. It looked like the Maryland team wore neons with their bright uniforms, and funky helmets.

THE TERRAPINS: The Terrapins are under the leadership of first year Head Coach DJ Durkin. Durkin is a master of hard shell defense, and as you know, was last year’s Wolverine defensive coordinator. This year there is no question the Terrapins have struggled at run defense and pass protection, and it proved so again Saturday.

Because of his experience at Michigan, there was worry Durkin had well-conceived plans based solidly on his previous first-hand experience. He had unique insight into the Wolverines and their methods, but if this made any difference it did not show on the scoreboard. The innovative Harbaugh changed things up. An example: Speight made a handoff to Peppers who passed latterly to a standing Speight. Speight fired it downfield 40-yards to Jehu Chesson. Speight said at the presser afterwards that “That was a cool trick play we’d been practicing for a couple of weeks…I was able to rip it deep”.

Of course Don Brown’s defense was different than that under Durkin last year.The Terps came into Ann Arbor being the second best rushing team in the Big Ten at 252-yards per outing. Only TOSU had piled up more. The pass efficiency rating of Maryland QB Terry Hill led the Big Ten prior to Saturday. Hill was knocked out of the game, after tossing 4 passes, for 4 completions, with a long of 47-yards. He was sacked twice. His back-up, C. Rowe threw 8 for 129-yards, and an interception. He tossed a long of 32 and was sacked once.
They have two very good backs Ty Johnson, and L. Harrison. They broke free occasionally but did not score.

FINAL COMMENT REGARDING THE WIN OVER MSU: Harbaugh mentioned at his Monday Maryland presser that some M players had been ill during MSU game week, including Mason Cole, and Jake Butt. He also said “There’s going to be some things to teach off of this past game, which is a good thing. A good opportunity for us to make further improvements. It’s good that our defense was tested and there’s things we can improve. I say that for all our players, us coaches, it’s a good opportunity for us to make further improvements”.
Many fans felt after the game that the Wolverines seemed to lose concentration late in the game. Harbaugh would have none of that afterwards, but mentioned he would address any conditioning problems of the Wolverines during the MSU battle “by more push-ups, more whole milk”. He also mentioned the significance of alcohol hand wash to prevent illness. There were no signs of player illness for the Maryland game.

M QB WILTON SPEIGHT DRAWS HIGH PRAISE FROM HARBAUGH POST MARYLAND. Wilton passed for a career best 362-yards against Maryland, and for a record 262-yards in the first half. He also ran for his first rushing TD at Michigan. Obviously enjoying himself, he hopped over the goal line. His passing was outstanding. He hit 19 of 24, and he showed adroit mobility while avoiding capture in the pocket. He engineered an offense that produced a combined 660-yards, and a 59-3 win.
Harbaugh was profuse in his appreciation post game, saying “That’s the best half of football I’ve ever seen a Michigan quarterback play…Moving and throwing, and accuracy – I don’t know how you play any better than Wilton did…It was a perfect game as a quarterback and that’s darned hard to do”.
Harbaugh was so pleased he mentioned Speight’s name as belonging in the Heisman race.

SPEIGHT HAD MORE THAN A LITTLE HELP FROM HIS FRIENDS ON OFFENSE: Running Backs: De’Veon Smith had a great day. He was at the top of his blistering running style, running with violence, great balance and good vision. Smith lugged 13 times for 3 TDs and 114-yards. Ty Isaac ran twice for 56-yards with a long of 53. K. Hill scored twice on short yardage dives. Other backs also contributed.
Receiving: Jehu Chesson was active again nabbing five passes for 112/yards and a TD. He had and catch of 40-yards.TE Jake Butt managed to grab 5 for 76, with a long of 37. Amara Darboh had 4 for 47wtih a long of 34.Kekoa Crawford caught a 16-yard TD pass from Jon O’Korn to close the scoring, and caught another for nine.

SPEIGHT HAD MORE THAN A LITTLE HELP FROM HIS FRIENDS ON DEFENSE. The defense provided good field position all afternoon, even if they did give up some yardage. Maryland gained from both running (131-yards) and passing (289-yards). This was more yardage than the Wolverines liked to yield, but when the ball was deep in Michigan territory and near the goal line they stuffed any scoring attempt. In the post- game interview, M’s Chase Winovich was incensed that the Terps kicked a field goal to ruin the zero in their score column when they obviously needed TDs to win. The Wolverines are tuned in.
Ben Godin led the defense with 5 solo tackles and six assists, for 11 total. He had 3 TFLs, plus one half a sack. Delano Hill followed with 5 solo tackles and and assist. Eighteen others had one or two tackles. The group had three sacks total.

WOLVERINES v TERPS: Maryland won the toss and deferred. Despite an illegal block penalty, this 10-play, 91-yard drive was the Wolverines best of the day. Jehu Chesson grabbed one for 23-yards, Smith, Evans, Spieght and Peppers all contributed rushes under ten yards, and Chesson grabbed another for 8. They marched methodically to the Maryland 34. Amara Darboh took it from there, on a 34-yard pass from Speight. The TD with point made it 7-zip.

M got the ball back and produced another score. Darboh caught on for 15, Isaac rushed for 3, Eddie McDoom 12. Chesson nabbed one for forty yards to the Maryland 13, Higdon got three, and then Speight put on his wheels and ran up the middle for a ten yard score, and it was M 14-MND-0 to end the quarter. A Maryland drive stalled and their ensuing FG missed.

On the next possession Smith ran for 14, and Jake Butt got it down to the MND 29 with a 37-yard reception. A pair of short Smith rushes, and a Peppers rush of 13, put it at the MND 3. Smith bulled in for the score and it was 21 to zip.
The Wolverines struck again, overcoming a pair of penalties, one of which negated a catch by M WR Drake Harris.

This unreasonable call negated a beautiful TD catch and run by Harris. Then came another disputed call. Chris Evans caught a short pass and ran to the MND one. Called out of bounds there, the Michigan Fans thought that the review would reverse the call, and validate the score. The call on the field was not overturned to the surprise of fans and Harbaugh. He commented on it afterwards. Kahlid Hill bulled it in, and it was 28-zip.   Harris was burned last week on another penalty call which robbed him of a TD.

Maryland moved the ball to end the half, but time ran out as they got to M’s 1-yard line. This was a close call for the Wolverines.
M’s defense started the third quarter with a bang. Delano Hill intercepted and returned it to the MND 49. Smith rushed for eight, then caught a 17-yard pass. Chesson caught one for a short gain, but the drive stalled. Kenny Allen hit a 29–yard FG and it was 38-zip.

The quarter ended with a Butt catch for 15-yards, plus two Smith rushes for a combined 20-yards, and then a short Higdon tote. Smith was back at it with two more short and tough runs, for a combined 11-yards. A Terp penalty got it to their one. Smith ran it in for six, to make it 45-0.
The Terps finally replaced the zero in their scoring column with a 3, culminating a decent drive of 10-plays and 55-yards. The Terps were assisted by an M face mask penalty. It was M-47, UMD-3.

The Wolverine’s Ty Isaac answered with a 53-yard jaunt to the UMD 11, and Smith did the rest in two attempts. Now it was M-52, UMD-3.
A Dymonte Thomas interception put the ball at the M 17, and QB John O’Korn was on tap. He immediately tossed a pass to Kekoa Crawford for 16-yards. A roughing the passer penalty on the Terps, a couple of 6-yard rushes by Karan Higdon, and a Chris Evans push for thirteen yards, plus another by Evans for 10, sandwiched a B.Henderson rush for 8. Kekoa Crawford caught the nine yard TD pass to make the final score Michigan 59, Maryland 3.

This outstanding performance by the Wolverines, offense, defense, and special teams for their ninth win of the season shows solid improvement. They are playing with more and more confidence, with many young talents progressing.

Now it is on to what could be one of their toughest challenges so far this season. The Hawkeyes at home are never easy. It will be another battle for win #10.

Posted on

Jabrill Peppers Speeds Into Heisman Contention

2016-illinois-038

Last week, I gave a very short and simple answer as how Jabrill Peppers could win the 2016 Heisman. Peppers would have to make big plays in big games and lead the Wolverines on a title run. In East Lansing on Saturday, there just happened to be a big game and Peppers dressed like a gazelle, trick or treating from one end-zone all the way to the other.

For the first time since 2007, the Michigan Wolverines enjoyed their ride home after beating Michigan State 32-23 in the 64th meeting for the Paul Bunyan Trophy.

It was a hostile environment and Michigan State student section was not letting up one bit. On separate occasions of the game they could be heard chanting “F— Jim Harbaugh”.

https://twitter.com/isaiahhole/status/792492878287269888/video/1

“Yeah, I heard it,” Harbaugh said to Jim Brandstatter during his radio show on Monday. “I thought it was really great and classy. I thought they were saying ‘LOVE JIM HARBAUGH’. And they kept repeating it. ‘LOVE-JIM-HAR-BAUGH!’ That’s great sportsmanship here by the Michigan State Spartans!”

Peppers thrives for this kind of atmosphere.’They say things to me in the crowd, and I feed off that,” Peppers responded about the crowd. “I block it out and, sometimes, I listen to what they’re saying. Sometimes funny stuff, some not-so-funny stuff. But I try to silence that all by the way I play, with my effort.”

It was a perfect stage for Peppers to convince many doubters as to why he should be in New York come December. While diving for the pylon, Peppers would start off the game and put Michigan on the board with a 3-yard rushing TD out of the wildcat formation.

“Last week, I tried to get too pretty, do extra stuff rather than just run the ball in,” he said. “I just wanted to leave no doubt. I didn’t really have to dive, but that was the safe thing to do to ensure we put some points on the board.”

By the time that the game was over Peppers was already going down in history.

https://twitter.com/ESPNCFB/status/792762567609507840/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

This late into the season, it is well known that Jabrill is always going to be on the field. You just never know where. He played a whopping 9 different positions on Saturday. ESPN recorded that Peppers had 42 plays at linebacker, 12 at cornerback, nine at nickelback, six as the wildcat quarterback, one at safety, one as an H-back, one at receiver, plus serving as kick returner and punt returner. He also was on the field goal block team.

Late in the 4th quarter, MSU quarterback Tyler O’Connor threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Donnie Corley with 1 second left in the game to bring the game within reach. In a desperate attempt, MSU went for two-point conversion, unknowingly it would later come as the “nail in the coffin”. As soon as the ball was hiked, O’Connor was greeted and fumbled the ball by tossing a high pitch to not so ready Gerald Holmes. On the second bounce off the turf, Peppers scooped the ball up raced into the endzone as he was in back in his high school track days.

The Spartans weren’t the only ones blown away by Peppers’ sprint. Even Jim Harbaugh was impressed.

 

“It was satisfying because now there was nothing they can do to beat us with one second left,” he said. “It was kind of moment of release. Whatever happens from here, we’re still in good shape. They kind of ended it last year with something.”

Peppers finished the game on defense with 7 tackles, 2 TFL and 1 Sack on a crucial 4th down. On offense, he had 5 carries for 24 yards with 1 rushing TD and his first reception on the year for a lousy -2 yards. Also adding in a kick and punt return.

As they should, many analyst are finally taking what Jabrill is doing seriously. Some have him finally breaking into their top 5 and others even into their top 2. Because of the depth of Michigan’s running attack, Peppers won’t get the numbers like we all know he could get. However, the fact that opposing coaches have yet to stop him nor effectively decline his impact at his other positions in the game, is what makes him intriguing and honestly scary for the other candidates gunning for the Heisman. Its November and Maryland who happens to have one of the worst rushing defense in the nation is next on the schedule. I think we might be on the verge of witnessing the start of a takeover.

Go Blue!

Posted on

Nothing But ‘Net – Week #01 – 10/31/2016 – Season Preview

mhoops_logo_bigI know, it’s hard to get excited about college basketball in the middle of such an exciting college football season, but it’s that time.  The first game is this Friday (11/04/2016) in Crisler Arena at 7:00.  It’s an exhibition vs. Armstrong State.  In fact, the team has already had an open practice this past week (Tuesday, 10/25/2016) in Crisler.  That went pretty well, and gave us a quick look at this season’s team.

Here’s my standard description of this weekly column:

Yeah, it’s time for University of Michigan men’s basketball, and this is the place to read all about it: “Nothing But ‘Net” on UMGoBlue.com.  Check back every Monday morning between now and the end of the season (hopefully the National Championship game again) for a quick, concise wrap-up of the previous week, and a look ahead at the upcoming week, all in one easy-to-read article.

As always here at UMGoBlue.com, the perspective is “by fans, for fans”.  I’m a fan (since 1974), and I go to all the home games, and watch/listen to all the away games.  I don’t have any special access (other than being an usher in Sections 209-210), I don’t go to the press conferences, and I don’t interview high school recruits.   I see the same things you do, and write about them as a fan.

Once again, let’s get right to the big question:

How good is the 2016-2017 team going to be?  The quick answer: about the same as last season.

So, how was last season?  In my preseason preview last year, I predicted “pretty good”, and that was about right.  Last season’s team wasn’t bad, but they weren’t great either.  I expect this season’s team to be about the same.  They’re not ranked in the Coaches Poll, and they’re picked to finish 6th or 7th in the Big Ten.

Read on for more details.

Last Season

Michigan ended last season with a record of 23-13 (10-8 in the Big Ten).  They went 10-3 in pre-conference play, with some good wins (Texas, in the Bahamas, and at N.C. State), some understandable losses (at home against a good Xavier team, vs. [#18] Connecticut, in the Bahamas, and at [#19] SMU), and a bunch of unsurprising wins against cupcakes.

In Big Ten play, Michigan won a couple games that they weren’t supposed to win (vs. [#3] Maryland at home, and vs. [#18] Purdue at home), lost several games that they were expected to lose (at [#20] Purdue, at [#16] Iowa, at home vs. [#22] Indiana, at home vs. [#10] Michigan State, at [#6] Maryland, and at home vs. [#16] Iowa), and lost a couple “toss-up” games on the road (at Ohio State, and at Wisconsin).  Still, they finished above 0.500 in the Big Ten, which was better than expected.

In the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan was the #8 seed, and they beat the #9 seed (Northwestern) in the 2nd round, then had their biggest win of the season, when they upset the #1 seed (Indiana) in the 3rd round.  They lost to the #4 seed (Purdue) in the tournament semi-finals, but did well enough overall to get invited to the NCAA Tournament.

In the NCAA Tournament, Michigan was a #11 seed in the East Regional, and had to play a “First Four” (play-in) game vs. another #11 seed, Tulsa.  They won that game, but lost to the #6 seed (Notre Dame) in the next round.

Players Lost

Michigan lost 5 players from last season’s roster:

Spike Albrecht – Spike could have returned for a 5th season, since he got a medical redshirt for last season, but he wasn’t invited back.  Instead, he’ll be the latest Michigan player to use the “graduate transfer rule”, and will be immediately eligible to play at Purdue this season.  We’ll miss him.

Kameron Chatman – It was kind of a surprise when Kameron announced at the end of last season that he was leaving the team to transfer to University of Detroit-Mercy (UDM), where he will have to sit out a season and have junior eligibility.  The head coach at UDM is Bacari Alexander, who was an assistant coach at Michigan, and coached Chatman during his freshman season.  Kameron was lightly used at Michigan, and will only be missed in a depth sense.

Aubrey Dawkins – It was also surprising when Aubrey announced at the end of last season that he was leaving the team to transfer to University of Central Florida (UCF) to play for his father, who is the head coach there.  He will also have to sit out a season, and have junior eligibility.  After a promising freshman season, I thought that Michigan could build their offense around Aubrey, but he regressed during his sophomore season, and now he’s gone.  He will be missed.

Ricky Doyle – Yet another (bad) surprise: Ricky left the team at the end of the season to transfer to Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), where he will be closer to home.  He’s another member of the promising class that finished their sophomore seasons, so he’ll have junior eligibility after sitting out a year.  At one point, Ricky looked like the starter at center, then he faded.  Still, he will be missed, mostly in a depth sense.

Caris LeVert – Finally, a graduating senior.  Caris was selected #20 in the 1st round of the NBA draft by the Brooklyn Nets.  He’s still recovering from surgery on the foot injury that cost him huge chunks of his last 2 seasons at Michigan.

On the one hand, it looks really bad that 3 players voluntarily transferred away from Michigan, and a 4th player was forced out, but on the other hand, each of the decisions makes sense when examined individually.  Chatman and Doyle had both slid way down the bench, and were getting less and less playing time, and Dawkins wanted to play for his father.  Michigan will be breaking in their point guard of the future (see below), so there really wasn’t much room for Albrecht.  It’s a shame, but it all makes sense, sort of.  I would be just as happy if everyone (except LeVert, who graduated) had stayed.

Players Returning

The good news is that all 5 starters from the end of last season are returning for this season. In fact, Michigan has a very talented group of players returning this season.  Here they are, by class year (eligibility):

Freshman Eligibility

Brent Hibbitts #0 (6’8”, 210 pounds, F) – Brent is a preferred walk-on, and will be part of the practice squad.  He voluntarily redshirted last season, so he still has freshman eligibility.  We only got to see him briefly in last season’s exhibition game, so we don’t know much about him.  He should see some playing time in “garbage time” this season.

 Sophomore Eligibility

Moritz Wagner #13 (6’11”, 240 pounds, F) – Moritz is probably the most exciting player on the team this season.  He played well at the beginning of last season as a true freshman, then vanished for most of the Big Ten schedule.  Just as suddenly, he reappeared for the postseason games, and was Michigan’s best post player.  He spent the summer in Ann Arbor (Camp Sanderson) working on his conditioning, and he grew an inch and added 15 pounds of muscle.  He also added several inches to his vertical jump.  If he can stay away from foul trouble, he could be a force out there this season.

DJ Wilson #5 (6’10”, 240 pounds, F) – DJ injured his knee during his freshman season, and took a medical redshirt year.  He played some last season, but he never really looked comfortable out there.  He has been moved from center to wing, and we’ll see if that revitalizes his game.  He’s very athletic, with the highest vertical jump on the team.

Junior Eligibility

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman #12 (6’4”, 190 pounds, G) – MAAR got better as the season went on last year.  He was the best player at slashing to the rim, and he showed great athleticism against bigger players.  He doesn’t have the court vision of a point guard, and he doesn’t have the 3-point touch of a shooting guard, but he is fast and fearless.

Mark Donnal #34 (6’9”, 240 pounds, F) – Mark voluntarily redshirted his first season, so he has junior eligibility, even though he is listed as a senior on the official roster.  He began last season as a starter, lost his spot to Doyle, and almost disappeared.  When he got into the non-conference games, he didn’t do much.  Then the Big Ten season started, and he suddenly woke up.  He had several 20+ point games in league play, and became the clear choice for the starting center.  If he can start from that point this season, he could be a force in the Big Ten.

Sean Lonergan #20 (6’5”, 210 pounds, F) – Sean was voluntarily redshirted last season, so he’s a redshirt junior, even if he’s listed as a senior on the official roster.  During his sophomore season he played in 17 games, but only took 2 shots.  He made them both!  I’m not sure how much he will play this season, but I expect it to be mostly “garbage time”.

Duncan Robinson #22 (6’8”, 215 pounds, G/F) – Duncan started last season red hot from 3-point range, then cooled down as the wear-and-tear of the long Big Ten schedule ground him down.  On the positive side, as his 3-point shooting cooled off, he got much better at other phases of his game, especially rebounding and driving to the basket.  His defense could still use some work, and another summer of Camp Sanderson will certainly help.  If he has built up his conditioning and endurance, he could be one of the elite shooters in the Big Ten (and the nation) this season.

Senior Eligibility

Andrew Dakich #11 (6’2”, 190 pounds, G) – Andrew has voluntarily “burned his redshirt” the last two seasons, and has certainly helped the team when it needed him.  He plays hard when he’s in, but he’s obviously a step slower and a lot less athletic than the scholarship players on the other teams.  The opposing defenses get to play 5-on-4 when he’s on the floor, since he refuses to shoot, even when he’s wide open.  Still, he provides valuable rest for the main rotation guards when he’s in, and he can “hold the fort” for a few minutes.

Zak Irvin #21 (6’6”, 215 pounds, G/F) – Zak had a slow start to last season as he recovered from pre-season back surgery.  When both seniors (Spike Albrecht and Caris LeVert) went down to injuries, he and Derrick Walton Jr. stepped up as on-floor leaders.  Zak wasn’t particularly efficient, but he managed to score a lot of points when his team needed them.  He played hard, and he provided good leadership.  Look for more of the same this season.

Derrick Walton Jr. #10 (6’1”, 190 pounds, G) – Derrick was the other on-court leader last season, once the seniors went down to injury.  He played pretty well all season, but he was obviously running out of gas near the end.  He was asked to carry a heavy load, due to the injuries, and it took a toll on him.  He’s a very good point guard, with great speed, a nice shooting stroke, and great rebounding instincts.

New Players

Coach Beilein brought in a good recruiting class this season, with four scholarship players, one preferred walk-on, and one transfer:

Austin Davis #51 (6’10”, 240 pounds, F) – Austin finished as runner-up for Mr. Basketball in Michigan last season.  He’s an old-fashioned, back-to-the-basket, physical center.  He’s a good scorer, rebounder, and defender.

Charles Matthews #1 (6’6”, 190 pounds, G) – Charles is a transfer from Kentucky, where he did pretty well as a true freshman.  He’ll have to sit out for a year, then he’ll have sophomore eligibility next season.

Xavier Simpson #3 (6’0”, 180 pounds, G) – Xavier is a true freshman, and is the point guard of the future that I mentioned above.  He will get plenty of chances to play this season, studying under Walton.  Xavier was Mr. Basketball for Ohio, and while he’s not very tall, he can run an offense, and he can score.

Jon Teske #15 (7’0”, 245 pounds, C) – Finally!  A 7-footer!  Jon is a rim-protector, which Michigan hasn’t had in years, and he can score.  We’ll see how quickly he can pick up the college game.

Ibi Watson #23 (6’5”, 190 pounds, G/F) – Ibi will remind us of Caris LeVert, once he gets the hang of the college game.  He’s got the same tools, and the same number.

Fred Wright-Jones #14 (5’11”, 170 pounds, G) – Fred was a manager on the team last season, and was converted into a practice player after all the injuries.  He actually dressed for one game last season, although he didn’t play, and now he’s on the official roster.  He’s going to be a practice squad player, but he might get in for some “garbage time”.

The odds are good that either Davis or Teske will voluntarily redshirt this season, but it’s not clear which one it will be.

This Season

Let’s take a look at Michigan’s schedule for this season:

Date Opponent Location Time (ET)
11/04/2016 (Fri) Armstrong State (exh) Ann Arbor, MI 7:00 p.m.
2K Classic – Ann Arbor Regional
11/11/2016 (Fri) Howard Ann Arbor, MI 9:00 p.m.
11/13/2016 (Sun) IUPUI Ann Arbor, MI 12:00 p.m.
2K Classic – Championship Games
11/17/2016 (Thu) Marquette New York, NY 9:30 p.m.
11/18/2016 (Fri) Pittsburgh/SMU New York, NY 4:30/6:30 p.m.
11/23/2016 (Wed) South Carolina Columbia, SC 5:00 p.m.
11/26/2016 (Sat) Mount St. Mary’s Ann Arbor, MI 7:00 p.m.
ACC/Big Ten Challenge
11/30/2016 (Wed) Virginia Tech Ann Arbor, MI 7:00 p.m.
12/03/2016 (Sat) Kennesaw State Ann Arbor, MI TBA
12/06/2016 (Tue) Texas Ann Arbor, MI 9:00 p.m.
12/10/2016 (Sat) UCLA Los Angeles, CA 8:00 p.m.
12/13/2016 (Tue) Central Arkansas Ann Arbor, MI 9:00 p.m.
12/17/2016 (Sat) Maryland Eastern Shore Ann Arbor, MI 3:00 p.m.
12/22/2016 (Thu) Furman Ann Arbor, MI 7:00 p.m.
01/01/2017 (Sun) Iowa Iowa City, IA TBA
01/04/2017 (Wed) Penn State Ann Arbor, MI 8:30 p.m.
01/07/2017 (Sat) Maryland Ann Arbor, MI 3:15 p.m.
01/11/2017 (Wed) Illinois Champaign, IL 9:00 p.m.
01/14/2017 (Sat) Nebraska Ann Arbor, MI 2:00 p.m.
01/17/2017 (Tue) Wisconsin Madison, WI 9:00 p.m.
01/21/2017 (Sat) Illinois Ann Arbor, MI 2:15 p.m.
01/26/2017 (Thu) Indiana Ann Arbor, MI 9:00 p.m.
01/29/2017 (Sun) Michigan State East Lansing, MI 1:00 p.m.
02/04/2017 (Sat) Ohio State Ann Arbor, MI 6:00 p.m.
02/07/2017 (Tue) Michigan State Ann Arbor, MI 9:00 p.m.
02/12/2017 (Sun) Indiana Bloomington, IN 1:00 p.m.
02/16/2017 (Thu) Wisconsin Ann Arbor, MI 7:00 p.m.
02/19/2017 (Sun) Minnesota Minneapolis, MN 1:00/TBA p.m.
02/22/2017 (Wed) Rutgers Piscataway, NJ 6:30 p.m.
02/25/2017 (Sat) Purdue Ann Arbor, MI TBA
03/01/2017 (Wed) Northwestern Evanston, IL 7:00 p.m.
03/05/2017 (Sun) Nebraska Lincoln, NE 8:00 p.m.
Big Ten Tournament
03/08/2017 (Wed) Opening Round Washington, DC TBA
03/09/2017 (Thu) 1st Round Washington, DC TBA
03/10/2017 (Fri) 2nd Round Washington, DC TBA
03/11/2017 (Sat) Semifinals Washington, DC 1:00/3:30 p.m.
03/12/2017 (Sun) Championship Washington, DC 3:30 p.m.

Some comments on the schedule:

  • All three of the other teams (Marquette, Pittsburgh, and SMU) in the 2K Classic are good. It will be a challenging tournament.
  • Playing at South Carolina is going to be a tough game.
  • Michigan stands a good chance against Virginia Tech in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
  • The home game against Texas is the best home non-conference opponent.
  • The game at UCLA will be a big challenge.
  • The rest of the non-conference opponents are cupcakes.
  • The toughest stretch in the Big Ten schedule is the Indiana (home), Michigan State (away), Ohio State (home), Michigan State (home), Indiana (away), Wisconsin (home) section. If Michigan can go 3-3 for those 6 games, they should be in good shape.
  • Each Big Ten team plays 8 teams once and 5 teams twice, for a total of 18 games. This season, Michigan plays:
    • Once: Iowa (away), Penn State (home), Maryland (home), Ohio State (home), Minnesota (away), Rutgers (away), Purdue (home), Northwestern (away).
    • Twice: Illinois, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan State.

Expectations

I like to divide the games up into 3 categories (“Should Win”, “Should Lose”, and “Toss Up”):

  • Should Win (13) – Howard, UIPUI, Mount St. Mary’s, Kennesaw State, Central Arkansas, Maryland Eastern Shore, Furman, Penn State, Nebraska (both), Minnesota, Rutgers, Northwestern.
  • Should Lose (6) – UCLA, Iowa, Wisconsin (away), Michigan State (both), Indiana (away).
  • Toss Up (12) – Marquette, 2nd round 2K Classic, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Texas, Maryland, Illinois (both), Indiana (home), Ohio State, Wisconsin (home), Purdue.

If UM can win all 13 of the “Should Win” games, and half of the 12 “Toss Up” games, that would give them a record of 19-12 (9-9 in the Big Ten).  That might be good enough to get UM into the NCAA Tournament, depending on how they do in the Big Ten Tournament.

This Week

As you can see in the schedule above, Michigan’s first (exhibition) game is Friday (11/04/2016, 7:00 p.m., BTN Plus) vs. Armstrong State.  Michigan legend Cazzie Russell is one of the assistant coaches for Armstrong State, which is why Michigan is playing them. Of course, UM will win handily and get to try all kinds of combinations of players out there.  Come on down to Crisler Arena to check out this season’s edition of Michigan Basketball, and stop by sections 209/210 to say hi.

Go Blue!