Michigan Tuesday: Has Writer's Block

Not too much making news today, so I will just give you my random thoughts on a number of topics.  You better hide the young children when you start to walk around in my brain.

Tressel knew too much - (about the trading of OSU gear for Tattoo's like 8 months before it was reported)  Big headline which will have little impact.  Of course he knew early and of course it happens at a lot of schools.  The NCAA will slap someone in Columbus on their hand and everyone will move on.  Maybe the "Vest" might have to sit out a instate MAC game next year.   The thing to really consider is, when will OSU have done enough for the NCAA to come to Columbus with a fine tooth comb?  I would guess it's probably getting pretty close.  The one thing the NCAA doesn't like is being lied to.

You know what will push College Football to a Playoff System? The current Bowl System will. What? Might be your first reaction.  Brian at Mgoblog did a good piece today on how Universities are losing money on Bowl Games.   UConn lost $1.8M playing in the Fiesta Bowl last year and there is no way a MAC team makes any money attending any bowl.    The issues is the Bowl's are making teams buy a ton of seats and hotel rooms that go un-filled.  Which equals huge loses. 

Back to why this will equal a Playoff System.  Everyone who owns a calculator and has a business degree knows any and all networks would back up the Brinks Truck for a College Football Playoff System.  It could be bigger then the Basketball Tournament.  The only reason the Bowl System stays intact is due to the University Presidents liking that their 6-6 club gets to play one more game in El Paso every year.   If those Presidents now are starting to lose $2M per trip, how excited are they going to be to play in those games?  I'm guessing not too excited.  If their "league" has revenue sharing and the top teams can play in the playoffs, split the big payday and everyone will get their share.  Now the a 6-6 President has more money and can  hire Rich Rodriguez next year.   See how it works out for everyone?  I'm sure even Les Miles could work out a contract extension or pay raise under this system.

Big Ten Coach of the Year:  I don't have a problem with Purdue's  Matt Painter winning the award.  He was able to keep his talented team together and in the top 15 all year with the loss of Robbie Hummel on the first day of practice.    With that said, the best coaching job in the Big Ten and maybe in the nation was done by John Beilein.  If he gets this team in the tournament, somebody should recognize him for taking a team expected to finish 10th in the Big Ten to 4th  (in a talented Big 10) and to the Big Dance.

Crying after a loss:  I actually don't have a problem with it and I much rather players show emotion after a loss then joking around and talking about which clubs they are going to hit that night.  People show emotion in a number of ways (watch American Idol if you question that) and showing emotion after a tough loss makes me know that you care about the game and your teammates.    It sucks to lose and if you don't feel pain after a difficult loss in an important game then you don't love what your doing.

Some might say that (outside of Denard) that the 2010 Football Team could have taken the losses a bit more seriously.  I have a feeling that won't be an issue under Coach Hoke. 

Fab 5:  I hope the new documentary is done well.  I know they will have to mention Ed Martin but that time was special at Michigan and I hope they capture what the Fab 5 meant to college basketball and not about a guy running numbers and trying to get close to athletes by paying them money under the table. 

Michigan Tuesday: Still Chilly at the Gator Bowl and the Big Ten Kicks Off Today

The Wolverines are used to the cold but not in Florida.  The guys (and the rest of us in Florida) was hoping for lots of warm weather.  We got the sun but Midwest type of weather with morning temperatures in the 30's and afternoon temperatures in the 50's. At least there isn't any snow and the sun is out.  So we have that going for us, which is nice.  The good news is warmer temperatures are on the way and the game time temps should be around 72 degrees.

The only thing news worthy coming out of practice (besides the cold) is that Tay Odoms might be ready to play on Saturday after breaking his foot in the Michigan State game. 

"It felt good to run around and I feel like I can play when the game comes," Odoms said. "I cut but I don't cut as hard. It's a mind thing. I think I can't do it, but I probably can. I'm not trying to push it. That's the hardest part — trusting it and cutting on it like how I used to cut."

Breaking News: 4 star instate recruit Anthony Zettel is planning to announce his commitment tonight at 7:30.  Anthony is a DE or OL prospect from West Branch, Michigan and has been a life long Michigan fan.  He originally was planning on announcing in January so I'm not sure what changed.  I expect this is good news for the Wolverines and RR.  If he doesn't pick Michigan this would be a huge loss for the Wolverines. 

Anthony was invited to play in the Army All American game but declined due to the rule you can't play any other high school sports if you accept the invitation.  I believe it's due to the AAA organization playing for the travel and expenses to the game.

If AZ goes blue tonight, the Michigan coaches will have had a really good month in recruiting in getting commitments from an instate LB, a highly rated place kicker and basically two 4 star Army All Americans in Zettel and Countess.

Michigan Basketball News:

Today kicks off the Big Season for John Beilein's club.  So far the young Wolverines have over achieved with a 10-2 record with the 2 loses coming in back to back games in Atlantic City.   Michigan plays a ranked Purdue team at 2:00 at Crisler Arena.   Today's game will be a good test to see where the Wolverines really are and if they will be able to compete in the highly competitive Big Ten this year.  If Michigan wants to get to the post season they will need to protect their home floor in the Big Ten.  Kansas also makes a trip to Crisler in a couple of weeks. 

Michigan will have one extra body available in today's game with Jordan Dumars, son of Detroit Pistons President and former shooting guard Joe Dumars becoming eligible to play for the Wolverines.  Don't expect Jordan to crash into the line-up quickly as he needs to get into game shape. 

Michigan Monday: Looks for It's Bowling Shoes

I'm glad that is out of the way. 

After two years of staying home for the holidays and no Bowl gear in Big House Bob's stocking, Michigan will be heading to a bowl game.  If you want to be negative, there is still plenty to be negative about like:  bowl games should not be the goal of the season - championships should be, 65 points? are you kidding me,  and 3 years of probation is 3 years longer then Bo ever had. I know and understand it, but I would much rather enjoy this win, ponder who we might play, and think about how 15 more practices that will advance this young team. 

Pete from AnnArbor.com beat me to this but here is where some of the experts believe Michigan will end up:

CBS Sports.com says:  Insight Bowl against Oklahoma.  Really Oklahoma?  I doubt it.

Rivals: Texas Bowl against Texas.  Would love it!  Rather have the game in Florida then Texas. 

ESPN Big10 Blog: says Dallas Football Classic. January 1 Bowl in the Cotton Bowl.  First Annual.

College Football News.com: Says Texas Bowl vs Baylor. 

I would rather have Michigan playing in Florida but being in the first Dallas Football Classic on January 1 would be pretty cool as well.   Michigan will be highly regarded and selected for any Bowl since they are a Big Name that travels well. 


Can a Defense Play Better and still give up 65 points?  The answer is Yes.  Stay with me.  Michigan turned the ball over 5 times and it seemed there were improvements and some good plays by some young players.  I thought Courtney Avery played much better, he had a couple of good tackles and was right with the WR on the long touchdown pass.  Ray Vinopal had a huge tackle on 3rd down, Cam Gordon was always around the football, Kenny Demens made a play on pass break up and seemed to attack the running plays, it's 100% clear Roh is a better DE then LB and was a regular in the backfield, and Mouton made the last play of the game by getting by the RB trying to block him.   Sure there were 100 mistakes as well, but this is a positive post today, remember! 


DeAnthony Arnett:  For those that don't know, Arnett is a 4 star highly rated instate WR in the 2011 class.  He has been listing a number of schools including MSU, Tenn, USC, and others.  Reportedly, he was somewhat down on the Wolverines becuase they don't pass enough and he wouldn't get enough looks in RR's offense.  DeAnthony was a visitor for the Michigan game on Saturday.  Do you think he changed his mind after the days Roundtree and Hemingway had?  He could be planning an announcement this week.  Could he be Blue?  He might.  He visited USC the weekend before. 

Question from a Big House Reader:  Ricky Asks:  Would this defense been different had Donovan Warren not declared for the NFL draft and Troy Woolfolk didn't suffered a season ending injury. Do you think they could've at least help us get 1 or 2 more wins?

Also, am I crazy or is it the case that the Michigan offense is more prolific with Tate Forcier as QB?

Let me answer the first question first.  The answer is Yes.  Having two senior CB's in the secondary could have made a huge difference in Michigan's wins total this year.  All of Michigan losses could have been wins, when you have two healthy seniors at each corner, Michigan could have done some other things to protect the defensive line and linebacker play to stop the run.  Sure, Michigan would still have issues at safety and LB, but this team would easily be in the top 25 with those guys in the lineup.  The MSU game would have been different and the Penn State experiment that went way wrong would have never happened.   So let's say, Michigan takes 1 out of 2 from either MSU and/or Iowa and beats Penn State.

To your second question.  The answer is yes and no.  Michigan is much more dynamic and hard to plan for if Denard is the QB.  His run/pass option is a defensive coordinators nightmare.  The safeties, CB, and LB's don't know if they should chase Denard or cover the Michigan WR's.   That type of indecision can cause long runs or open WR's.  As you can tell, Michigan's opponents are trying to take away the run and have Denard beat them with his arm. 

So why is Tate a better option?  If Michigan gets down by more then two touchdowns, I believe Tate is the better option.  Michigan's offense is built to be in the lead or near the lead.   If Michigan turns the ball over and gets down by say 17 points, Tate is the better option for a comeback.  His passing skills (all though his reads are sometimes too risky) are a couple levels above Denard's and he has more experience reading defenses.  When Tate is in the game the defense adjusts to play more pass, which opens up running lanes for him or the RB's.  As you could tell on Saturday, he made a couple of good first downs with his feet. 

I would like to see Tate throw the shorter pass to the tight end or the WR.  He sometimes looks for the bigger play/TD instead of getting the first down. 

Great Question!  Thank you.