March 28, 2014

12 Teams Remain, 38 Brackets Still with a Chance

March 28, 2014/ The Webmaster

Big game tonight? Big game tonight. Between Ken Pomeroy, BPI, RPI, and all the talking heads, I have no idea whether I should be confident, but I guess I am for today. I think the reason I'm confident is my trust in Beilein and what he can do with this team in 6 days. Couple that with the fact that I don't think there is all that much difference between Tennessee and Texas, and that helps me to lean the scales towards us playing on Sunday. I had Tennessee in this game against us in my bracket, and the funny thing about that is that I had them because of the dual team selection method...in short, I thought it would be Iowa, not Tennessee, making their way past Duke (not Mercer). Well, it seems two wrongs occasionally make a right.

Anyway, Michigan is effectively two wins away from adding John Beilein to Michigan's Mount Rushmore of coaches. Bo level shit people. Exciting times.

And somewhat exciting times remain for 38 brackets in the UMTailgate.com tournament challenge. The percentages vary, and change rapidly from game to game, but a little more than a third of the brackets still have a chance to take the first place cash. Below are those with a better than 5% chance at just that:

Not sure what kind of posting frequency you can expect in the next 72-hours...could be too sad...could be celebrating too hard....could be too lazy. But either way, Go Blue, Go Cavs, and good luck with your brackets.

March 23, 2014

Day 3 Roundup: Have a Relaxing Sunday

March 23, 2014/ The Webmaster

As a Michigan fan, I'm coded to find flaws. I am supposed to hail all losses as the end of the world, and find faults in nearly every victory. When the Longhorns cut the lead to six, I was certain this team was not good enough...for anything. When them game ended, I saw that we hit 14 three-pointers and thought we should have probably only really hit nine or ten of those, that those four or five extra constitute luck, and would have effectively removed the amount of points we won by.

Then I saw Syracuse and Villanova lose.

It reminded me to heed a recent UMTailgate.com study that concluded that single elimination tournaments are determined by about 30% pure basketball, 30% matchup draw, and 40% how good your team responds to tournaments. Of course at Sparty it's 80% injuries and 20% referees, but that's a unique case.

Michigan has won it's two tournament games by solid margins, and they've done it with a not-as-porous-as-advertised defense that held Wofford to it's lowest point total of the season, and Texas to it's 4th lowest point total this season.

Jordan Morgan proved more than serviceable against the giants down low despite the bevy of Texas-sized offensive rebounds, and notched yet another double-double...as I reaffirm my apologies to him and his family for the horrible angry thoughts I've had throughout the season :) I mean, honestly, aside from Mitch McGary's breakout games against VCU and Kansas last year (21 point, 14 rebounds and 24 points, 14 rebounds) Jordan Morgan's 10/10 and 15/10 the last two games stand up to anything Mitch has done in his career.

Seriously, this guy's name is Jake Ryan.  Coincidence?  I think not. — Seriously, this guy's name is Jake Ryan. Coincidence? I think not.

Michigan makes the sweet sixteen and marches on to Indianapolis for the regional finals, where they will have the advantage of Duke being back in Durham, and me and The Cakemaker in attendance. The latter will certainly inspire the team on to their second consecutive Final Four, though whether they will be able to hear me from my football seats at a basketball game remains to be seen. The former is nice, but allow me to refer you to the 30/30/40 rule outlined above. While Tennessee and Mercer are not our Blue Devil nemesis, there can be no complacency in the NCAA tournament. The chalk lines point to Wichita State matchup on Sunday, but I'm inclined to think we are going to be seeing a 2013 Championship rematch with the Cardinals instead. And with that I broke my old friend Norman Dale's rule: Don't talk about the next step until you've climbed the one in front of you.

Tournament Challenge Update:

Digger's Maize Highlighter maintained it's dominance, and stands at 35 picks correct out of the 40 games played. However, at this point it might be advantageous to look at who has the most possible points remaining. A shout out to Robby Araujo, who has a completely clean bracket moving forward as of noon on Sunday. Pretty impressive.

And finally, our "Thanks for your $20" bracket of the day goes to our boy Vik Bhatia, who has the elusive Syracuse - St. Louis championship game:

Relax and enjoy some basketball on this beautiful Sunday. Really take it all in...ya know, like Aaron Craft is.

GO BLUE!

March 21, 2014

Round 1 Comes to a Close

March 21, 2014/ The Webmaster

That was uninspired, or at least uninspiring. The WOLVERINES, and due to the new Adidas alternates there's no doubt that's who we are, mailed in a 17-point victory against Wofford, playing much of the second half just a small Terrier run from having an "upset alert" broadcast from the NCAA tournament app. It's tough to pretend it doesn't matter, but it doesn't. There are no style points here. Tournament play, especially the one game elimination variety, does not require you to be good...or motivated. It only requires you to win. We just have to have our shit together enough to make it to the next round. No doubt a time will come in the next week (or two) where we will need to be good AND motivated, hell that time might be tomorrow at 5:15pm, but fortunately that time was not last night.

Recaps: M aize and Go Blue | UMHoops | Maize and Brew

Michigan moves on to play Texas, and I won't pretend I've seen them play at all this year. But Johnny Cleveland and I did see the TJ Ford led Longhorns fall to Carmello Anthony in New Orleans in 2003, and they have the same coach as they did then (Rick Barnes), so there's that. I also remember with great clarity falling to Texas in the first round of the 1996 tournament. So let me give you my expert opinion: Worry about rebounding and what we might do if our shooting goes cold. And you may feel free to copy-paste that into all future 2014 NCAA tournament games.

Previews: SI.com | Rant Sports | MLive | Bleacher Report

I am also a expert in classic porn. Texas has a player named Jon Holmes. This could be a problem.

Go Blue!

UMTailgate Tournament Challenge

One man stands alone at the top of the list after day one...Digger's Maize Highlighter got 15 of the 16 day one games correct. Eight participants behind him are tied for second with 14 of 16. Three participants bursting with Big 12 love lost a Final Four team (Oklahoma), one of which became the "Thanks for your $20" Bracket of the Day:

Ahhh, yes, taste the tears. Gotta say though, I've seen MUCH worse after previous year's day ones. We're all still in it, and that's saying something.

Enjoy the games!

March 20, 2014

Dancing with the Stars

March 20, 2014/ The Webmaster

So they effectively took last year's Final Four, removed the team that lost five of their last seven, and tossed in an 8-seed that was the pre-season #1. There you go...that's your midwest bracket.

I wasn't sure what I wanted from the Big Ten Tournament, but I'm pretty sure that the scenarios I had put together in my head didn't include one this shitty. I figured the consolation prize for losing to the pre-crowned 2014 National Champion Michigan State Spartans was that we were going to get to be the 2-seed in the Wichita State region. Somehow that would make everything ok. But then we got saddled with the best 3-seed in the tournament in Duke, and the egregiously mis-seeded Louisville at the 4.

But the 2013-14 Michigan Wolverines are miracle workers. I've said many times this season, I just don't know how they do it when they do it. We do not pass the eye test. We don't look like champions. But that's exactly what we are. That horrible game we sat through on Sunday afternoon? That's what I have been expecting nearly every time we've taken the floor. But Sunday was an aberration. Winning...and winning often...that is the norm, that is the reality of this team. We ran away with the title from a league considered to be one of the best. Without Trey Burke or Tim Hardaway, without Mitch McGary, they somehow became, in many ways, better. You don't have to understand it for it to be true.

But that's over now. This is not the season, this is the tournament. Different circumstances, different motivations, different level of experience. Last year at tournament time, Mitch McGary became the Mitch McGary we expected when he arrived on campus. His overnight improvement, which we now know was the direct result of coaching (HT:mgoblog), led this team to a place we never dreamed it could get to so quickly. I mean, it took so long, but happened so fast...does that make sense? Anyway, we sit here on the eve of Michigan's fourth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance, bad taste in our mouths at the hands of the nation's tournament pool darling, and I wonder...what is John Belein working on tonight? What repetitive drill is he going over? What weakness is he remedying? Nobody anywhere does more with less...nobody.

I've apologized through my television to Jordan Morgan and Caris Levert many times this year. I'm sure I'll owe Bielfelt and Horford a few before their careers are over. Players improve here. Non-factors become factors. Quiet guys become leaders. This is a model program.

The only way I could be prouder is if this was football.

OK, Linkfest: