Well, I've kinda run out of time on this, so this will be short.
South Regional - Kentucky over Duke
West Regional - Mizzou over New Mexico
East Regional - Ohio State over Syracuse
Midwest Regional - North Carolina over Kansas
Final Four - Kentucky over Mizzou and North Carolina over OSU.
Champs - Kentucky
I will say that I originally had Syracuse winning it all over Kentucky, but the loss of Fab Melo is going to be too much for them to overcome.
Of Michigan note, I have the Wolverines in the Sweet 16 with wins over Ohio and Temple, before bowing out to Carolina.
Yes, I know. A lot of chalk at the end. We'll see.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Commit #15 and a Four Seed
Over the weekend, Coach Hoke secured number 15 for the class of 2013 in the form of Ohio CB Gareon Conley. This was more or less broken by Conley himself on Friday when he tweeted that he would be committing the next day, although it was expected to happen even before that. Conley is unranked by Rivals, four stars and the #20 CB to Scout, and three stars with an 88 rating from 24/7. He fits the mold of the taller CB type that Hoke and Mattison have been looking for as he is 6'2", but he will need to add some weight as he is listed as 165-170 pounds right now.
The reel above shows very good speed and excellent length. I had heard the comparison to Steve Breaston in his stride and it is dead on. He probably isn't as fast as Stevie was/is, but the running style is very reminiscent. Shows good leaping ability and timing, as well as the body control to adjust to the ball in the air. Definitely thin as a rail and will need another 15-20 pounds at least to not get manhandled at the next level by bigger, stronger receivers. Good use of length and speed to be an effective kick blocker off the edge.
Conley makes two CBs in this class and likely closes the position for this year outside of a super like a Fuller, Hargreaves, or Willis. The coaches wanted a taller kid for the other CB spot and looks like they got what they wanted once again. Conley may be an under the radar type of kid that gets a bit more attention in his senior season than he's gotten thus far. I've read some very promising things from the guys that know Ohio football and they seem to like him a lot more than his current rating may suggest. Other offers at the time of his commitment were from Northwestern, Toledo, and West Virginia. Hopefully a diamond in the rough.
Going Forward
Rumors abound about the RB position with Ty Isaac in Ann Arbor all last weekend and Deveon Smith scheduled to come in this weekend. I'm hearing VA RB Derrick Green may also be in town this weekend for an unofficial of his own. I truly have no idea what is going to happen there, but if I got to choose it would be Isaac, Green, Smith in that order. All of them are very good RBs though and I would/will be thrilled with any of them. Things seem like they will be winding up on the RB front in the next week or two but anything could happen including a much more extended timeline. It just seems headed for a conclusion sooner than later. I will get up an expected visitor list in the next day or so.
Tourney Time
To basketball now, as the weekend also held some events of importance on the hardwood. First, on Saturday the basketball team played Ohio State in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament. No word on the outcome there, so we'll just assume things went swimmingly. Seriously though, that was awful and hard to watch (truth be told I shut it off with about eight minutes left) and let's never speak of it again. Sunday was a new day, however, and the day the Wolverines found out their NCAA Tourney road.
A four seed in the Midwest Regional originally angered me a bit, mostly because I was expecting a three, but it turns out may be more beneficial than the three in the same bracket. Georgetown got said three seed and will play 14 seed Belmont. Those that know more about this than I say that Belmont has a very good chance to win that game and is a very tough draw at the 14 spot. Michigan, on the other hand, will play 13 seed Ohio. It seems the tournament committee has a sense of humor in setting up this match-up. While this match-up is apparently a better one than facing Belmont, don't expect theBuckeyes Bobcats to be a pushover either. Brian did a Q and A with someone who knows the Bobcats better than any of the rest of us yesterday. A good read. The game will be Friday evening on TNT. Most recent line I've seen is Michigan minus 6. Thanks for reading and Go Blue.
The reel above shows very good speed and excellent length. I had heard the comparison to Steve Breaston in his stride and it is dead on. He probably isn't as fast as Stevie was/is, but the running style is very reminiscent. Shows good leaping ability and timing, as well as the body control to adjust to the ball in the air. Definitely thin as a rail and will need another 15-20 pounds at least to not get manhandled at the next level by bigger, stronger receivers. Good use of length and speed to be an effective kick blocker off the edge.
Going Forward
Rumors abound about the RB position with Ty Isaac in Ann Arbor all last weekend and Deveon Smith scheduled to come in this weekend. I'm hearing VA RB Derrick Green may also be in town this weekend for an unofficial of his own. I truly have no idea what is going to happen there, but if I got to choose it would be Isaac, Green, Smith in that order. All of them are very good RBs though and I would/will be thrilled with any of them. Things seem like they will be winding up on the RB front in the next week or two but anything could happen including a much more extended timeline. It just seems headed for a conclusion sooner than later. I will get up an expected visitor list in the next day or so.
Tourney Time
To basketball now, as the weekend also held some events of importance on the hardwood. First, on Saturday the basketball team played Ohio State in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament. No word on the outcome there, so we'll just assume things went swimmingly. Seriously though, that was awful and hard to watch (truth be told I shut it off with about eight minutes left) and let's never speak of it again. Sunday was a new day, however, and the day the Wolverines found out their NCAA Tourney road.
A four seed in the Midwest Regional originally angered me a bit, mostly because I was expecting a three, but it turns out may be more beneficial than the three in the same bracket. Georgetown got said three seed and will play 14 seed Belmont. Those that know more about this than I say that Belmont has a very good chance to win that game and is a very tough draw at the 14 spot. Michigan, on the other hand, will play 13 seed Ohio. It seems the tournament committee has a sense of humor in setting up this match-up. While this match-up is apparently a better one than facing Belmont, don't expect the
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Beat Ohio
Again.
Update:
The last time Michigan played OSU in basketball was a few weekends ago. Over that weekend, the Maize and Blue picked up eight football verbals and beat the Buckeyes in a thriller. This afternoon, a berth in the Big Ten Tournament Finals is at stake when the two teams play again. There also appears to be one or more commitments for the football team ready to drop as well.
Ohio CB Gareon Conley tweeted yesterday that he would make his commitment today. Since he is on campus, it'd be pretty shocking if that choice was anyone other than Michigan. Some outlets have already reported that the commitment has happened, but I have not heard anything I would deem official.
Of course, the big fish on campus is IL RB Ty Isaac. If Shane Morris is able to work his considerable recruiting magic on Isaac, this could turn into another blockbuster weekend in a hurry. I don't know how likely that may be, but Shane has really been on the money with his recruiting pitch to uncommitted guys. We'll see what happens.
This is the basketball team's day though. After they clawed back from what I thought was elimination last night, they will have to turn it up considerably to repeat their feat against Sullinger and company. It would make a nice birthday present to me though! Once again, Beat Ohio and as always, Go Blue!
Update:
The last time Michigan played OSU in basketball was a few weekends ago. Over that weekend, the Maize and Blue picked up eight football verbals and beat the Buckeyes in a thriller. This afternoon, a berth in the Big Ten Tournament Finals is at stake when the two teams play again. There also appears to be one or more commitments for the football team ready to drop as well.
Ohio CB Gareon Conley tweeted yesterday that he would make his commitment today. Since he is on campus, it'd be pretty shocking if that choice was anyone other than Michigan. Some outlets have already reported that the commitment has happened, but I have not heard anything I would deem official.
Of course, the big fish on campus is IL RB Ty Isaac. If Shane Morris is able to work his considerable recruiting magic on Isaac, this could turn into another blockbuster weekend in a hurry. I don't know how likely that may be, but Shane has really been on the money with his recruiting pitch to uncommitted guys. We'll see what happens.
This is the basketball team's day though. After they clawed back from what I thought was elimination last night, they will have to turn it up considerably to repeat their feat against Sullinger and company. It would make a nice birthday present to me though! Once again, Beat Ohio and as always, Go Blue!
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Big Ten Tournament
Click here for full size.
The Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament gets underway tomorrow morning with the 8/9 game between Iowa and Illinois. That's the first of four games tomorrow that make up the first round. Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, and Wisconsin have byes.
I was going to preview these first round match-ups, but the guys over at Maize 'n' Brew have already done so in a much better fashion than I could have so go over there for your previews.
Michigan will play the winner of the NW-Minnesota game on Friday evening at 6:30 ET on BTN. I will try to have a preview for that game.
Commit #14
Trotwood-Madison (OH) LB Mike McCray made it public yesterday that he had chosen Michigan to play his college ball. McCray is a 6'4" 230 pounder that Rivals has tabbed as the 44th best player in the country. He is the first LB to commit in this class and continues the hot streak the Wolverines have been on overall, but especially with LBs over the last two classes. If memory serves, McCray is the first player from Trotwood-Madison to come to Ann Arbor since the trio of Roy Roundtree (Happy Bday to him today btw), Mike Shaw, and Brandon Moore in 2008. I have heard some rumblings about his potential, at his size, to grow into a DE but I think he is going to fit nicely into the SAM LB spot and be the heir to Jake Ryan. McCray committed over offers from Arizona, BC, Illinois, Ole Miss, Nebraska, NC State, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and a handful of others.
The writing was pretty much on the wall for this commitment over the last couple of weeks. McCray announced he would be visiting U-M on March 6th and then announcing his decision on the 8th. Guys don't generally visit someplace and then turn around and commit somewhere else two days later, so this was generally expected to be a Michigan decision. Having said all that, this is still a very exciting commitment for several reasons. First off, this kid can flat out play. What I see on the film I've looked at (including the above reel) is a kid that has a great feel for the game and instinctively knows where to be on the field to make plays. He shows pretty good speed for a kid his size and he can bring the lumber when he gets to the football.
Secondly, I love the position Michigan is in for very high caliber LBs in this class. Some of my more specific thoughts can be found here. With two more spots and at least the trio of Gedeon, O'Daniel, and Levenberry listing M as their leader, things get interesting. I read somewhere (I can't find it now, sorry) that Gedeon recently said he may have to alter his decision timeline to make sure he has a spot if he decides he wants to be a Wolverine. All of these guys (and the handful of other LBs that are also high on U-M) know that there won't be room for everyone. Things may start to heat up soon and the possibilities are exciting. Levenberry has maintained that he will not decide until the All American games, but he is the one I would expect the coaches to hold a spot for. What that tells me is that the next LB that wants to commit will get the only other spot that's not reserved. Who will it be? My guess is Gedeon.
And the thing about this commit that I just love to death, is that OSU will not get this kid. They didn't even offer. This article in the Dayton Daily News (HT to mgoblog) has some great quotes from McCray's head coach in which he all but says that the Buckeyes screwed this one up and he doesn't sound real happy about it. My favorite is when he said:
Going Forward
I don't really have much to add here since the piece I did a couple days ago. As I said above, I think Gedeon takes the next LB spot and the last one will be reserved for Levenberry if he wants it. Where does that leave O'Daniel who is supposed to visit for the Spring Game with his five star teammate CB Kendall Fuller? I don't have an answer for that. It's possible they could take him as a SS if they want him bad enough and don't have room for him at LB. That's probably a stretch though.
Weekend Visitors
This weekend is shaping up to be a big one with the talent expected to be in town. Don't expect an eight commit blowout like we saw a few weeks ago, but there could be a couple more names on the commit list sooner than later. Shane Morris and David Dawson are the only two commits that will be in town. Morris has already been talking a lot to Ty Isaac about hanging out with him this weekend and you can bet he will be in his ear about coming on board.
Here is the list of uncommitted kids I have heard will be on campus this weekend:
Illinois RB Ty Isaac
Illinois OT Colin McGovern
Ohio LB Shane Jones
Ohio CB Gareon Conley
Ohio CB Jaleel Hytchye - I don't know a thing about this kid other than what you see on his profile
Maryland WR Zach Bradshaw
All of these kids except Hytchye have offers. Isaac is the big fish. There are also a number of commits and prospects that have said they might come, as well as some 2014 kids too. I'll update as these things get more concrete.
The writing was pretty much on the wall for this commitment over the last couple of weeks. McCray announced he would be visiting U-M on March 6th and then announcing his decision on the 8th. Guys don't generally visit someplace and then turn around and commit somewhere else two days later, so this was generally expected to be a Michigan decision. Having said all that, this is still a very exciting commitment for several reasons. First off, this kid can flat out play. What I see on the film I've looked at (including the above reel) is a kid that has a great feel for the game and instinctively knows where to be on the field to make plays. He shows pretty good speed for a kid his size and he can bring the lumber when he gets to the football.
Secondly, I love the position Michigan is in for very high caliber LBs in this class. Some of my more specific thoughts can be found here. With two more spots and at least the trio of Gedeon, O'Daniel, and Levenberry listing M as their leader, things get interesting. I read somewhere (I can't find it now, sorry) that Gedeon recently said he may have to alter his decision timeline to make sure he has a spot if he decides he wants to be a Wolverine. All of these guys (and the handful of other LBs that are also high on U-M) know that there won't be room for everyone. Things may start to heat up soon and the possibilities are exciting. Levenberry has maintained that he will not decide until the All American games, but he is the one I would expect the coaches to hold a spot for. What that tells me is that the next LB that wants to commit will get the only other spot that's not reserved. Who will it be? My guess is Gedeon.
And the thing about this commit that I just love to death, is that OSU will not get this kid. They didn't even offer. This article in the Dayton Daily News (HT to mgoblog) has some great quotes from McCray's head coach in which he all but says that the Buckeyes screwed this one up and he doesn't sound real happy about it. My favorite is when he said:
They sent him a letter last Thursday telling him to hold on, that they were still evaluating linebackers.Well, take your time Urban. No rush. Coach Hoke and Coach Mattison and the rest of the boys from 'That School Up North' don't mind you taking as long as you want in your evaluations. They'll just keep bringing in big time recruits while you finish up. Oh, and thanks. Did I mention that McCray's dad (who is also the LB coach at Trotwood) played at OSU when Meyer was there as an assistant in the late 80's and was even a team captain in 1988? Ha, I just love it too much!
Going Forward
I don't really have much to add here since the piece I did a couple days ago. As I said above, I think Gedeon takes the next LB spot and the last one will be reserved for Levenberry if he wants it. Where does that leave O'Daniel who is supposed to visit for the Spring Game with his five star teammate CB Kendall Fuller? I don't have an answer for that. It's possible they could take him as a SS if they want him bad enough and don't have room for him at LB. That's probably a stretch though.
Weekend Visitors
This weekend is shaping up to be a big one with the talent expected to be in town. Don't expect an eight commit blowout like we saw a few weeks ago, but there could be a couple more names on the commit list sooner than later. Shane Morris and David Dawson are the only two commits that will be in town. Morris has already been talking a lot to Ty Isaac about hanging out with him this weekend and you can bet he will be in his ear about coming on board.
Here is the list of uncommitted kids I have heard will be on campus this weekend:
Illinois RB Ty Isaac
Illinois OT Colin McGovern
Ohio LB Shane Jones
Ohio CB Gareon Conley
Ohio CB Jaleel Hytchye - I don't know a thing about this kid other than what you see on his profile
Maryland WR Zach Bradshaw
All of these kids except Hytchye have offers. Isaac is the big fish. There are also a number of commits and prospects that have said they might come, as well as some 2014 kids too. I'll update as these things get more concrete.
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