10 best bball wins in A Decade Of Beilein
Don't think this has been done yet. Saw one for Harbaugh a few weeks ago so I thought, given the bigger sample size, this one would be more fruitful (for now until football gets the ball really rolling). This should be further ammunition to silence the Fire Beilein Clan, if you ask me. Amazing how many great and memorable wins he's had here
My personal list:
1. 2013 Sweet Sixteen Round vs. Kansas
2. 2017 Big Ten Tournament title game vs. Wisconsin
3. 2013 Elite Eight Round vs. Florida
4. 2014 home vs. MSU (pivotal win to propel us to outright Big Ten title)
5. 2012 home vs. OSU (led to an eventual share of it)
6. 2017 Second Round vs. Louisville
7. 2014 game at the Kohl Center
8. 2011 game at the Breslin Center
9. 2016-17 2K Classic title game vs. SMU
10. 2008-09 home vs. Duke
Honorable mentions: 2011 First Round vs. Tennessee, 2014 away vs. MSU, 2014 away vs. OSU, 2017 home vs. MSU, the two game sweep vs. Big Ten champ Purdue
Either the final B1G regular season win over Minnesota in 2009 that got them in the tourney and broke the streak or that Clemson win in the first round.
Also, from a purely sticking it to doubters level, the thrashing of VCU in 2013 is probably an honorable mention.
I remember when we beat MSU during Darius Morris's second year and thinking we were finally a legit team for good. There was no turning back. Glad we got Beilein. Great coach and a great man.
Get the fuck off my court.
Not only did you not rank the Final Four win over Syracuse #1 (there is literally only one win that could have been bigger, the Louisville NC game) but you didn't even put it on your honorable mention list. Wow.
I've only been a fan since 2012-2013 season.
My list:
- Kansas 2013 Sweet Sixteen
- Syracuse 2013 Final Four
- Michigan State 2013 in Ann Arbor (Burke steals it clean from Appling)
- 2017 Big Ten Tournament vs. Wisconsin
- 2014 Big Ten Tournament Semis vs. Ohio State
- 2014 Michigan State in East Lansing
- 2017 Round of 32 vs. Louisville
- 2014 Michigan State in Ann Arbor
- 2013 Ohio State in Ann Arbor
- 2014 Sweet Sixteen vs. Tennessee
The 2013 home finale (vs. Indiana for the conference title) was such a thrilling game - sucks that we lost it.
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We absolutely dismantled Tennessee in that game. My friends and I were shocked by how thoroughly we humiliated the Volunteers.
One of the most fun games I have ever witnessed. It's a close second behind the Kansas miracle.
Glad to see the Kansas game #1
Trey Burkes long ass 3 pointer is defintely something Ill remember forever
I dont agree with the 2017 Louisville one though. I think the Oklahoma State game was way better
People forget that Burke had a number of 3s go in and out at the end of games throughout his Michigan career:
at Arkansas 2012
at Ohio State 2013
Ohio State 2013
Wisconsin (iirc)
I might be forgetting one other one...
But when we absolutely had to have it, he delivered. And I loved that Steve Kerr and Marv Albert was calling our game.
I will always be salty about the loss to Louisville. The refs f***ed us repeatedly in that game (Burke's early foul trouble, McGary's early foul trouble, the ridiculous call on Burke's clean block, letting Chane Behanan get away with murder in the post, etc.)
In general, I accept that most Final Four teams are made possible by some illegal things. But that was a truly clean Michigan team and it deserved to win. It was built by the confluence of great evaluating and good fortune.
By comparison, Pitino and his goons assembled that Louisville team with illegal perks (like sex with prostitutes).
Yeah it was the worst officiating imagineable. After 4 years of not even watching highlights of the game, I finally got myself to watch the first half on youtube a couple of weeks ago and the officiating was absolutely as bad as I remembered (which was surprising considering how worked up I was at the time compared to watching it years later in a calm state).
I agree about Florida. I cannot remember another Michigan game that was so exhilarating right from the start. Close games are exciting; a wire-to-wire blowout of a quality opponent is exhilarating. Everything was clicking on all cylinders, the threes raning down, the Florida defense shredded. I kept waiting for Florida to make a run , but I don't think they ever got closer than 18. There have been others like that, but that one just sticks with me.
Kansas is a definite #1, but that 2011 win at Breslin is one of my favorite victories. Stu's 3 pointer, Zak Novak going apeshit on the bench to fire up the team. Some very good games to pick from.
What a great thread! I couldn’t choose just 10, so here are my top ten in the tourney and my top ten in the regular season. Definitely a tough job weighing the importance of each win, how good of a game it was, plus how thrilling/gratifying it was for me at the time.
Top Ten NCAA Tournament wins
1. 2013 - Kansas
Trey Burke
2. 2013 – Florida
Expected a really tough game against a really tough team to make the Final Four, and instead we just destroyed them.
3. 2013 – Syracuse
Amazing, tight win to make it to the Final.
4. 2017 – Louisville
Seemingly the worst matchup imaginable for an incredible team that looked like it could make a deep run if we could just get by Louisville. It turned out to be an amazing win overcoming a lot of nearly impossible breaks.
5. 2014 – VCU
It looked like we got the toughest 5 seed imaginable but we wiped the floor with them. It was the moment that it started looking like we could make a run after a tough end to the regular season.
6. 2011 – Tennessee
The biggest blowout in an 8v9 matchup in history. A fantastic exclamation point capping the greatest season turnaround I’d ever seen at the time.
7. 2014 – Tennessee
A nail-biting win to make it to the Elite Eight. Maybe Jordan Morgan’s greatest moment.
8. 2009 – Clemson
Our first NCAA tourney win under Beilein! It was the first one in 11 years at the time.
9. 2009 – Oklahoma State
An amazing performance by Michigan to get a heart-pounding win.
10. 2014 – Texas
A great performance against a solid second-round opponent.
Top Ten Regular Season wins
1. 2014 at MSU
An amazing road win at #3 MSU when they had their strongest team in years. It was an unbelievable performance in spite of criminally uneven officiating that eventually led to us winning the Big Ten outright in a really tough year. It might’ve been the best we’ve ever played under Beilein, considering the circumstances. “Win the game” + Stauskas blowing kisses to the crowd.
2. 2017 vs. Wisconsin (BTT final)
An amazing group led by Derrick Walton won a well-deserved championship trophy.
We beat up pretty bad on a borderline elite Wisconsin team that seemed like a favorite after they won their semi by 20+. For Derrick Walton, the trophy and tournament MVP honor was a just reward for one of the greatest Big Ten seasons by any individual in program history.
3. 2011 at MSU
I’d never been less excited going into a Michigan-MSU bball game, but instead of getting humiliated again, we won at the Breslin for the first time since I was a little kid. That game was really the catalyst for an unbelievable turnaround that eventually took Beilein from the hotseat to the NCAA Final. Years later, that still might have been the most important win of Beilein’s tenure here.
4. 2014 vs. MSU
Most of the way through the most thrilling regular season of my lifetime, Michigan had already accomplished so much and yet if we didn’t beat a really tough State team at home, it felt like we were likely to end up with nothing at year’s end. Instead, even though State played great, the boys were just at another level and dismantled State in the second half. At the time, it was our 6th win out of 8 against MSU.
5. 2011 vs. MSU
After an amazing turnaround and a number of really memorable wins, we still had to beat State at home just to make the tourney and to avoid them evening the season series. The boys played fantastic and got it down. Darius Morris to MSU: “Get the fuck off my court!”
6. 2008 vs. Duke
Manny and Peedi and the guys were just unbelievable in what, at the time, was probably our best win since the 90s. The atmosphere was also the best it had been since the 90s. That win really got Beilein’s program going. What a day.
7. 2012 vs. OSU
An amazing, tense home win that helped us win the B1G for the first time in 25 years. It really felt like we legitimately outplayed a top 10 team that day.
8. 2014 at Wisconsin
A road win over the #3 team in the country at a venue where we always lose. I assumed we’d lose. Instead, we played absolutely amazing, we won, and all of a sudden we were *maybe*a contender in a loaded Big Ten (and we did end up winning the title!).
9. 2009 at Minnesota
An amazing double-digit comeback on the road that got us into the tournament for the first time since the 90s.
10. 2008 vs. UCLA (pre-season NIT)
A neutral-court win over a top 5 opponent when we had been picked to finish last (!!!) in the Big Ten. It was kind of our first real show of life under Beilein, and amazingly that momentum probably played a big part in us going on to beat Duke and eventually make the tourney.