10 greatest U-M Bball teams ever
Any season qualifies, including pre-tournament era. Feel free to give me your rankings. My personal list would go:
1) 1989 (national title is self-explanatory)
2) 1965 (won Big Ten title and beat Duke help them break a virtual tie with 1993)
3) 1993 (incredibly dominant but sorta didn't cash in at all)
4) 2013 (six pros leading a resurgence of the program with an insane Final Four path)
5) 1964
6) 1976 (another great team we had at an inconvenient time where another more dominant team was in the Big Ten)
7) 2014 (winning the Big Ten by three games PLUS elite eight run made this a rare team in the modern era with both conference play and March Madness success for us)
8) 1977 (#1 in the rankings most of the regular season plus Big Ten title eases some of the pain from Charlotte upset)
9) 1992 (great cinderella team that was very frustrating in regular season)
10) 1985 (tough break getting upstart red hot giant killer Nova in their bracket that year)
...and Steve Grote and Johnny Robinson and Dave Baxter. Memory is weird. I can name the starting lineup plus the 6th man (Baxter), and weren't Len Lillard and Tom Bergen on that team too? I think they were.
That was absolutely one of the best Michigan teams ever, but they didn't put up the record that they should have, because they had to play 3 games against one of the best teams in the last 50 years of NCAA basketball.
Crisler always loved those big awkward guys who played in the last minutes of blowout wins. Bergen, Lillard, Leo Brown, Steve Stoyko, etc.
There's a blast from the past. I loved Steve Stoyko.
I just read up on that 84-85 team. They had the best winning percentage in UofM hoops history. Maybe they should be ranked higher than #10. I mean, just based on names alone:
Leslie Rockymore
Antoine Joubert
Steve Stoyko
Chuck DeGlopper, wait a minute, CHUCK DEGLOPPER!!! Could be on the Mount Rushmore of Michigan athletics names.
Garde Thompson, who was perfectly named to play guard.
16-2 in the Big 10, won the league by four freaking games. Next best team was no slouch either, our perenial rivals, Illinois, who was ranked #12 that season.
Those Indiana games were the team's only losses, right?
Edit: Because that team predates me, it feels like ancient history. But Michigan won a title 13 years later (I remember that quite well) and is actually closer chronologically to the Fab Five era than the 2013 team. That's kind of insane.
They had a 25-7 overall record, so there were 4 other losses.
Good observation; it's like (in football) Ron Johnson seems to me like ancient history but Rob Lytle is part of the "modern era," even though they were separated by less than 10 years. The coaching change in 1969 also helps make the divide between Johnson & Lytle seem that much bigger.
And Tom Staton, Ferndale High class of '75 was on that team.
'76 should definitely be #2 on that list, 2013 #3. Then the Fab 5 teams, '93, then '92 (blowout loss in Final) - appearances in the NCAA Title game outrank any other accomplaishments, to my mind!
Then put the other teams in any order that tickles your memory bone. I have no problem with the teams mentioned though. I wish we had so many there was spirited debate about it here, but we all seem to agree on the teams, just not the exact order.
beat a 31-0 rutgers team.
He was coaching UD by then
Wayman Britt!
1976 NFL Draft, round 13.
| 13 | 363 | Detroit Lions | Mel Jacobs | WR | San Diego State |
| 13 | 364 | Washington Redskins | Waymon Britt | DB | Michigan |
| 13 | 365 | Buffalo Bills | Will Wilcox | OG | Texas |
| 13 | 366 | Miami Dolphins | Bernie Head | C | Tulsa |
| 13 | 367 | Oakland Raiders | Craig Crnick | DE | Idaho |
| 13 | 368 | Houston Oilers | Dan O'Rourke | WR | Colorado State |
| 13 | 369 | St. Louis Cardinals | Greg Brewton | OT | Michigan State |
Wayman Britt's not forgotten by me or the rest of the Flint Northern alumni. He led the Vikings to back-to-back state championships in 1971-72 (under coach Bill Frieder) before both came to UM.
Britt was a great defensive player and top rebounder at Michigan, despite only being 6'2". Each year, the team's top defender is presented with the "Wayman Britt Outstanding Defensive Player" award (last year won by Zak Irvin.)
I like the OP's list.
The 1985 team won the Big Ten title, but the conference was really weak that year and the next (when they won again). Roy Tarpley, the high-ceiling player, was very good but still developing. Richard Rellford (who played a few minutes in the NBA) and Butch Wade were role players. Antoine Joubert was a greatly overrated shooting guard listed a couple inches taller than his actual height. Gary Grant was a pretty awesome player and one of Michigan's best ever, but his outside shot was streaky. (That was a weakness of that team. It mattered less in the pre-3 era.)
I think the 1990 team had a lot of potential and really underperformed, though they did manage the last win against Duke for many years. Mills, Vaught, Higgins, Robinson, and a decent supporting cast (including Eric Riley, who'd eventually play in the NBA). Unfortunately, they decided to *not* play to their relative strengths in the tourney and lost in the 2nd round to the famous Loyola Marymount team.
I was really young for that game but I remember thinking LMU had a funny name and we were the champs. No one could beat us.
Then Bo Kimble entered the picture and I soon realized they were going to play like a team posssessed. We scored 115 points and still got blown out! How does that happen?
I hate Loyola Marymount to this day and the showboat left handed FT shooting Kimble. (I was young and very impressionable!)
he was shooting left handed in honor of Gathers. But yeah, they did run us out of the effing gym in spectacular style.
That was 27 years ago and I still occasionally hear the announcer saying "Fryer is on FIRE" in my head as Jeff Fryer rained down 3s on us...
Then Bo Kimble shot and made FT left handed in tribute to his late teammate and close friend Hank Gathers. The '90 team was very good, and could have made a Final 4 run if they hadn't drawn Loyola-Marymount - but there was NO WAY they were beating LMU that day - None, Zero...
Not a criticism of that team, just a fact of the Universe that anyone sentient that day will admit,
This is meant to be a silly comment, but it is especially silly given how much emphasis in college basketball is placed on postseason performance. The team likely bows out in the first weekend of the NCAA tournament and is a footnote. However, if the shooting gets hot and Irvin hits a couple of within-the-offense three pointers and Wagner stays out of trouble, this team (like many in the tournament every year if things break right) could streak its way into the Final Four and merit consideration for this list.
I've occasionally wondered what would have happened to Michigan if Burke doesn't sink that 30-footer against Kansas. That season would have been, in my opinion, a disappointment. Burke would've left anyway. Perhaps, without that run on his resume, Beilein has already been fired at this point.
On the other hand, if that shot misses but the Kentucky shot against us the next season also misses, Michigan might've won it all in 2014.
The margins are so small. And the important ones are all in the future.
in the game against Louisville...what if...
If Mitch McGary had undergone back surgery in November (as he considered) instead of trying to tough it out and finally going under the knife in January, he would have been in the lineup for the 2014 tournament (he nearly made it back as it was). Add McGary to that team and that's probably your national champion.
Didn't feel like making a thread about this, but an Indiana blog took a look at the success of Big Ten programs over the last 5 years. The reason I bring it up is that Michigan features in the analysis.
If you don't want to click on the link: Michigan has been the 3rd best program in the Big 10 over the past 5 years behind Wisconsin and Michigan State.
The "Fire Beilein" chant has been muted over the last few weeks (lose to Nebraska and the threads will be back, though) but this is some strong evidence in his favor, even if things haven't always been as sunny as we might like. Conference wins, tournament wins, they're all there.
Some might argue about trend lines, and there are some issues there, especially if the team bows out early this season and struggles next season. But the team that is close on Michigan's heels in that chart at #4 is Ohio State, and their trend line is even worse.
Which leads me to wonder: Is Thad Matta in trouble? I honestly haven't heard anything about him one way or another, but OSU is worse than Michigan this season, isn't going to the tourney, and hasn't had significant tournament success for a longer period. Do they want him fired?
I saw every one of these teams play.
Missing here is the 73-74 team which was one of the great Michigan TEAMS of all time, any sport. Picked to finish 8th in the conference, they won the Big Ten and finished as high as 6 in the polls.
Campy Russell, C. J. Kupec, Waymon Britt, Steve Grote, Joe Johnson and pretty much no bench with the exception of Lionel "The Main Train" Worrell played a style of basketball that combined just a vicious, nasty, mean spirited defense with the single most innovative offense I have ever seen in a lifetime of watching basketball. This includes the wonderfully innovative offenses of John Beilein.
I'd set them at #6, behind (in order) 1989 ( self explanatory), 1965 (lost to UCLA in the finals) 2013, 1976 (lost to undefeated Indiana in the finals), 1964 (lost to Duke in the round of four, beat Kansas State in the consolation game)
I do think 89 beats Fab Five & Co but it's close so maybe 6-7 times out of ten. While Rumeal would struggle with Jalen, 89s front line would wear down Fab Five. For those naysayers, fine, older Eazy E out plays younger Eazy E.
I will defer to the old timers who saw Cazzie Teams & 2013 team, there seems to be general consensus that Cazzie Team would win.
The question isn't who would win on the floor (comparisons across eras are always tricky, and the game has changed quite a bit even between the Fab Five and today) but whose accomplishments are better. 1989 gets the clear nod here because they won it all. Teams that lost in the title game get preference over teams that bowed out early, etc.
I could make a compelling argument that the 2016 football team (with its coaching staff) would wipe the floor with the 2003 football team (and its staff) but one of those teams won the B1G and beat Ohio State, and one didn't. Which had a better season?
It seems likely you spent some time at Yost, as well.
So I have a question for you.
Do the name Mike Zuke mean anything to yuhs?
The '75-76 team may not have been the greatest MBB team of all time, but they had the best Afros ever. Rickey Green, Tom Staton, Alan Hardy, Dave Baxter (by far the best of the bunch!), Joel Thompson, and even Steve Grote and Tom Bergen.
I know championships matter, but I would still consider putting 1993 above 1989. Both were great teams, but the '93 team beat Kansas & North Carolina in the pre-conference, and then Kentucky in the tournament. They ended up with 31 wins versus 30 for '89 team. Also, the 1989 team as I recall got beaten badly by Illinois twice during the season before beating them in the final four.
Again, both teams were great but I put would '93 slightly ahead despite their loss in the finals to the Tar Heels.