Michigan moves up one spot to #24 in AP poll
This is remarkable! When's the last time a team moved UP in the polls despite not winning a game all week after the previous poll? Not a believer in moral victories but man we sure did gain some respect with that near miss at Mackey
January 29th, 2018 at 12:28 PM ^
for MAAR to build off that performance at Purdue and take the Walton-jump toward the end of this season.
January 29th, 2018 at 12:54 PM ^
tell him he doesn't play tough.
It worx.
January 29th, 2018 at 1:40 PM ^
He really is a puss. He needs to take those awful pink shoes off, it doesnt do him any good. ;)
January 29th, 2018 at 1:43 PM ^
ohhhh, could it be another sudden unexpected jump in production like we've seen in almost every year of Beilein's time here? I mean this happens at every school, but the leap is often greater and more sudden here than most: Walton, Burke, LeVert, Stauskas, DJ, and more.
January 29th, 2018 at 12:56 PM ^
in 23 games this season, Purdue has won by less than 10 pts 6 times and lost twice. The two lowest win margins are both against Michigan. The average margin of victory is 21 pts. Like you said, no loss is good, but this is as good of a loss as you can have. The first close game at home could have been a fluke that Michigan had an exceptional night. The return trip to Purdue and 4 pt loss shows Michigan is closer to a peer team than a fluke played up to competition team.
January 29th, 2018 at 12:28 PM ^
Awesome! Good days are ahead!
January 29th, 2018 at 12:33 PM ^
Let's take care of business tonight vs NW and go on a streak. Minn-NW-Wisc-Iowa are all winnable games for this team until they get some vengeance against the Buckeyes. Time for the Beilein February Run. LET's GET IT. GO BLUE!!
January 29th, 2018 at 12:58 PM ^
Wisconsin is definitely winnable and that program has regressed hard since Bo Ryan left. But the game is still in Madison, which has historically been a very difficult place for Beilein to win in. They could give Michigan a very tough game.
January 29th, 2018 at 1:13 PM ^
The Kohl Center was difficult for everyone to win in when Ryan was there. He had an unbelievable home record.
Actually, Beilein's teams have often played well at Kohl, only to lose in agonizing fashion (most notably the Ben Brust halfcourt shot).
January 29th, 2018 at 1:19 PM ^
Even just thinking about that game again makes me cringe, but it did feel good watching Stauskas bury that team in Madison the following year.
That last three-pointer was as cold-blooded as it gets.
January 29th, 2018 at 1:47 PM ^
I didn't finish his last sentence because I knew where it was going, and I didn't want to think about it. Then I read your post and immediately it made me think about thinking about it, and damn, I just saw that damn play in my head, in slow mo and HD. Fuck.
January 29th, 2018 at 2:31 PM ^
January 29th, 2018 at 12:37 PM ^
January 29th, 2018 at 12:38 PM ^
I maintain it's possible for Michigan to win out now that the schedule includes some under-acheiving opponents. I think M would be favored in all of them, no?
1/29 vs NW
2/3 vs Min
2/6 at NW
2/11 at Wisc
2/14 vs Iowa
2/18 vs Ohio St
2/21 at PSU
2/24 at MD
They should win the next 5 games before OSU comes to town.
Realistically, I think we drop two before the end of the regular season because Madison is notoriously tough for us to play, the schedule bunches up again near the end, and college sports.
January 29th, 2018 at 12:44 PM ^
yes, it is looking good for us. Technically, I don't think we have the advantage at Maryland per Ken Pom. Let's win some games!
January 29th, 2018 at 12:51 PM ^
January 29th, 2018 at 1:05 PM ^
but he's correct that if the game happened today, we wouldn't be favored by kenpom, and probably not by vegas (despite vegas liking us by a point or two better than kenpom lately). Conference road games are hard.
Also, I'd love to go on a 7-game winning streak, but highly unlikely that happens even if we keep playing great. Again, hard to win the on the road (PSU is playing well, NW is playing pretty well, Wisconsin you know is going to play one of their best games of the year against us). So I'd agree with you that the most likely scenario is 2 more losses. Holding out hope for better, of course.
January 29th, 2018 at 1:18 PM ^
Terps were in control in the first half yesterday vs State and let them win the game. Frustrating! Maryland is like a somewhat good team(?) but doesn't win games. They look really good for stretches but never put a full game together.
January 29th, 2018 at 4:03 PM ^
they have to be super frustrating from a fans standpoint. They blew a big lead against us, only to get it back and then blow it at the end.
I watched the end of their game at IU. A game that would be a big boost to a bubble team's resume. And they were up 5 with 5 min to go (84% chance of winning per kenpom), had pretty good control of the game and then completely melted down with really stupid plays and TOs the rest of the way. Even I was frustrated because we want teams we play twice to beat teams we play once, so I have to think an actual fan would have been pulling their hair out.
They have some good players and are a solid team but wow are they frustrating.
January 30th, 2018 at 12:16 AM ^
I suppose anything is possible, but that's being generous. At least the OSU game is at home.
January 29th, 2018 at 12:38 PM ^
A few minutes separate us from going 1-2 to 3-0 against the two top 5 teams. I like our chances at avoiding the 8/9 or 7/10 matchup if we can win out in the regular season. If everything holds, we could have a semifinal matchup against Purdue. It would be great to get the #4 seed so we could win and play Purdue on the same amount of rest.
January 29th, 2018 at 12:42 PM ^
Now we can really solidify that ranking with our upcoming schedule. Let's keep this up. The defense that this team plays keeps us in any game. It is very different from previous teams. I do not feel as vulnerable against terrible teams. If MAAR takes the Walton leap, this team could be special!
January 29th, 2018 at 12:54 PM ^
A lot of respect being given to Michigan for being the one team in the Big Ten to go toe-to-toe with Purdue twice. Losses are losses, granted, but Michigan shot the lights out of the building, in an effort that would win you the game 99.99% of the time, and Purdue still won. That's not a bad reflection on Michigan. They played their best possible game. Purdue is just that good this season.
This may have helped Michigan get off the 8/9 line for now. Beating OSU in a couple weeks would be huge to further cement that, but as long as they don't have any bad losses they'll be fine. I know expecting this is blatantly unreasonable, but if they play every game the way they did on Thursday night, they won't lose to anyone left on their regular season schedule.
January 29th, 2018 at 1:02 PM ^
and Purdue's offense was way off (except Haas). They missed a lot of wide open threes (they were 5-18, despite IU doubling Haas sometimes which gave them a lot of open looks). I was like, argh, if only they hit just one fewer three against us at Crisler, we're sitting squarely on the 5 seed line and still in the conf title race.
January 29th, 2018 at 12:57 PM ^
January 29th, 2018 at 1:07 PM ^
January 29th, 2018 at 3:23 PM ^
13 in the AP this week.
January 29th, 2018 at 1:08 PM ^
We are the only team in the entire country to put up 1.3 points per possession in a game this season and lose. It appears the voters took note of that performance and recognized that we didn't deserve to drop out for doing that against a top 5 team on the road.
January 29th, 2018 at 1:09 PM ^
MD's Defese has been suspect since Durkin took over...... oh, wait, nevermind.
January 29th, 2018 at 1:11 PM ^
January 29th, 2018 at 1:16 PM ^
One game at a time. Northwestern will be a tough game tonight. Even though I see we are favored by 10. This is one of those games, we have to play above average to win.
January 30th, 2018 at 12:13 AM ^
It still amazes me how that Nebraska loss didn't hurt us more.