Day One is Done. I'm with Stafford.

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Solid amount of craziness in the early sessions, followed by some great finishes in the evening.  All in all a great first day in Bracketville.  Justin (AKA Mr. Princess) is at the top of the points and points possible leaderboard, which is about as good as it gets after a pair of 3-seeds go down.

I think we'll lose one of the 2-seed teams today, and I feel like the 5-12's might just go chalk, which I guess is a non-upset upset.

Of course, I only have one real rooting interest for today (and with me going 8 of 16 in my bracket who can blame me) and that's for the Bulldogs.  If you listen carefully you will hear the echoes of me bellowing out northern accented renditions of "Go Dawgs, Sic 'Em" nestled between chants of "SEC! SEC! SEC!."  I can't wait to see Izzo's angry little dwarf face.

Then the puck drops at 8pm at the Joe for Michigan-Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament semi-finals.  So there's that.  Go Blue.

Hater

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There are few things better than the soothing sounds of Jim Nance, the constant upsets, and the sheer volume of games on Thursday and Friday of the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament.  It's even better when your team has a place in it.  When your team isn't in it, on occasion you can find solace in your successful picks.  Most of the time I'm mathematically eliminated by the first Sunday, so my enjoyment comes from the pain of others.  Rooting against your rival teams and looking for upsets that bust the most brackets is what gets me through this time of year.  That, and reports from spring practice...oh, and Harbaugh's twitter account.

There are three 3 vs 14 and one 2 vs 15 to start the dance early Thursday afternoon.  No way they all make it through unscathed.  So plan on Notre Dame, Arizona, Baylor, or Iowa State to be done before you finish your work day.

At 4:40pm it will be time to strap on your VCU gear and watch Shaka school Thad.  

You'll have to wait until 12:40pm tomorrow to see Napoleon whine about refs and tell you about how many of his players are injured or how they didn't get enough sleep last night as they get pasted by the Bulldogs.

You should take a basketball break at 8pm on Thursday and Friday to watch Michigan in the Big Ten Hockey tournament.  They play Wisconsin today, and Sparty tomorrow (hopefully).  Michigan missed out on the first round bye because Captain Michigan and Godfather went to the game last Saturday that we needed to win, but I'm pretty sure they don't ever travel to Detroit so we should be ok.

Enjoy.

Weekend Roundup, NCAA Tournament Home Game Edition: 3/18/13

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Note: The 13th Annual UMTailgate.com Tournament Challenge is ON. Brackets are here. Don't have the password and think you deserve it? Shoot an email to tourney2k13@umtailgate.com.

​For most of the life of this waste of internet space from which I randomly spout snarky bullshit, the Michigan Men's Basketball Team has not been in the conversation for NCAA tournament glory.  It would be around this time of year that we would grasp at football spring practice videos, recruiting rankings, and organizing some kind of winter reunion.  Not so any more.  Michigan is alive and well in the world of college basketball, and has earned the right to not only play in the NCAA tournament, but also host the opening rounds in its backyard.  This is fun.  It's fun to care.  It's fun to really get involved in the tourney, to have a rooting interest beyond your office bracket.  Hoping your team won't make an early round exit, dreaming of Atlanta, and rooting for schools that you have never heard of with mascots you can't picture to upset your rivals on the big stage.  (Consequently, Go Crusaders!) Going home at lunch on Thursday if only to catch the first moments of the tourney, butterflies in your stomach as you hear the CBS college basketball jingle, quelled only by the desire to punch Buckeye-lover Clark Kellogg in the face.

Ahhhhh...tourney time.  

​Anyway, here's the weekend that was around the internets that you missed while you were trying to convince yourself that losing early in the conference tournament provides much needed rest for the big dance....

What's Up This Weekend? We Must Protect This House!

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Today (3/1):

  • ​Baseball (2-4) vs. Mount St Mary (3-5):  We went 2-1 last week in NCAA play, winning the series over Fordham...also lost a Sunday exhibition game with the New York Mets, but that doesn't count.  Michigan baseball heads to Port Charlotte, FL for a long weekend series against three other teams, the first of which is "The Mount".  11am first pitch.
  • Hockey (12-18-2, 9-15-2) hosts Ferris State​ (15-13-4, 13-11-2):  Coming off a big weekend sweep of the Buckeyes in Buckeye-ville, the Michigan icers host the Bulldogs in their last regular season home series.  The Michigan Daily looks at playoff scenarios for the icers, and discusses the possibility of hosting round one at Yost.  Puck drops (with myself in attendance!) at 7:35pm on CBS College Sports.

Tomorrow (3/2):​

  • Baseball vs. St. Louis (5-2): Billiken Baseball double-header.  First pitch at 11am.
  • Hockey vs. Ferris State:  Puck drops at 7:35pm on Fox Sports Detroit.​

Sunday (3/3):​

  • Baseball vs. Georgetown (2-3):  First pitch at 2:30pm.
  • Basketball (23-5, 10-5)  vs. Michigan State​ (22-6, 11-4):  Talk is cheap.  So I am going to shut up.  Make a believer out of me fellas, or a re-believer as it were.  Tipoff is 4pm on CBS proper.

What's Up This Weekend? Taste it again for the Third Time Edition

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Tonight (Friday 2/8/13):

  • Ice Hockey (7-13-2, 10-16-2) at #12 Notre Dame (12-7-1, 16-11-1):  Your fair Wolverines have moved out of the basement and up to an 8th place tie with Bowling Green in the CCHA standings...yet the Wolverines 96 goals-against leads the league (in the bad way).  Notre Dame is in third place in the conference and #12 nationally, but is coming off a win-less weekend in Columbus.  Puck drops at 7:35pm in South Bend.  It's live on your TV if you have the CBS Sports Network.  Live audio lives here. 

Tomorrow (Saturday 2/9/13):

  • Basketball (8-2, 21-2) at Wisconsin (7-3, 16-7):  For the third time this season, a Michigan win means a #1 ranking on Monday.  We're 1-1 in such games so far this season.  Someday we'll not care about such trivial things in February...we're not quite there yet, this is still new (relatively) and fun.  The Badgers are coming off a Wednesday night win over Iowa, and a big win Sunday at Illinois (which is more than I can say for Indiana).  The Badgers also beat Indiana...at Indiana.  Anyway, in a perfect world where I didn't have to work today and tonight, or where the game wasn't at 11am locally, I'd be making this trip.  I miss Madison.  This is a big road game. I feel like Wisconsin is just barely outside of the top tier in the Big Ten this season, which means this is a VERY losable road affair.  Tipoff is Noon here in the east.  It's on ESPN, so its also on Watch ESPN.  Live audio will be here. 

  • Ice Hockey (7-13-2, 10-16-2) at #12 Notre Dame (12-7-1, 16-11-1):  See above.  Puck drops at 7:05pm.  Live audio here.   Televised in A2 on Comcast local (channel 900).

Sunday 2/10/13

  • Women's Basketball (6-4, 17-6) at #13 Purdue (7-2, 18-4).  Noon tip on BTN.