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Are people still pretending…

Are people still pretending like the Director's Cup means anything material? Stanford (the king of the Director's Cup) just had to beg to get into the ACC. Whether Warde and others want to admit it, his job depends on the football program. If they're going to get in the business of penny pinching, it's probably not going to end well for him and company.

One of my biggest complaints…

One of my biggest complaints last season. Don't care as much for the small games, but they should be blasting the music and hype videos for the big games. Have been to about half the Big Ten stadiums at this point and they absolutely do it for the big ones.

And please email that video…

And please email that video to OSU’s coaching staff with a read receipt, then self report on the violation. 

Know this is semi off topic,…

Know this is semi off topic, but anybody else getting a little annoyed with the death of the 3:30 kick for Michigan football? Happy the Iowa game is at noon. It's just frustrating to see nearly every game (and certainly every meaningful one) end up at noon or night.

Just for context, Michigan has announced seven kicks so far this year. Six are noon and the other was at night. It's also hard to see MSU/PSU kicking at 3:30 either. I'm expecting a noon kick for PSU and a night game for MSU. That only leaves Rutgers, Nebraska, and Illinois. Not exactly big ones. On top of that, Michigan only had two 3:30 kicks last year (Rutgers, Maryland), none in 2020 due to cancellations, and a single game (Indiana) in 2019.

Get this will probably come off as a niche complaint and I understand why it's happening with the FOX and Big Ten contracts. It's just frustrating as a season ticket holder. Every game either has like an hour for tailgating or a drive home at 1 am. Fingers crossed the new deal fixes things.

FOX has the game and they're…

FOX has the game and they're sending their A team with Johnson and Klatt.

Really don't understand this…

Really don't understand this consensus that's formed that whoever Michigan hires needs to be a "top notch recruiter" or it will fail.

Harbaugh is almost certainly getting fired (or forced into a resignation) after 2021 if the team struggles. Even if the next DC is the greatest recruiter known to man, it won't matter if Harbaugh is gone after next year.

Have you watched this season?

Have you watched this season?

Go look how elite CBs like…

Go look how elite CBs like Ramsey performed early. The ones that worked out were almost instantly good. Even Slay started turning heads pretty early and he was far from the No. 3 pick. 
 

Okudah will almost certainly underwhelm given his insanely high selection. 

MileHigh hit on most of them…

MileHigh hit on most of them above. La Sagrada Familia is really awesome. One of the coolest places I've ever seen. There's tons of other sites to see around town as well, including the Olympic village. A great water fountain as well.

We took the train. It was around a 2 hour ride each direction, if I recall correctly.

We went to Barcelona and…

We went to Barcelona and Madrid last year. I would recommend checking out the palace and the main park downtown. Both were really great. I forget the names, but there are also a number of cool plazas. Obviously, the Prado is also a must see.

Also, not sure if this applies, but we stayed in Barcelona for most of our stay and did a day trip to Madrid. We left first thing in the morning and came back late at night and we didn't feel too rushed. Definitely think Barcelona might be a place to consider for you as well.

Hope your trip goes well!

I agree with the Ohio…

I agree with the Ohio comments and I think a big part of this has been Urban's all-out approach to killing Michigan. He played a big part in crushing Michigan's recruiting hopes in Ohio. It's made things much more difficult.

There was an interview with…

There was an interview with one of the players earlier this week where they basically asked whether they prepare for OSU everyday like OSU says they do for Michigan, with dedicated practice segments, etc. The player hesitated and then just made a general comment about how they're thinking about them everyday. The implication was pretty obvious.

OSU puts every fiber of its being into this game. I don't think it's the main reason they win, but it's the big reason why they continue to outperform expectations against Michigan. It's one thing to lose a close game. Michigan is losing on a Rutgers-esque level in this one. It's why Hoke's teams consistently competed in this game, despite collapsing in just about every other week.

Yeah, Ohio State by 20.

Yeah, Ohio State by 20.

We've had five years of the…

We've had five years of the College Football Playoff. People can disagree with this, but actions speak louder than words and we've seen what the committee values. These the factors they look at and in this order:

  1. Power Five/Notre Dame status.
  2. Number of losses.
  3. Nature of losses.
  4. Nature of wins.
  5. Eye test/everything else.

We know Michigan fits the first factor automatically, so the number one factor to making the Playoff for the Wolverines is losing as few games as possible. We can debate after that, but the evidence is overwhelming at this point. They don't care about who you play and where. They care about how many times you lose. You don't even get to be in the Playoff discussion unless you finish with two losses or less. It doesn't matter if you played the most brutal schedule out there. If you lose three or more games, you're toast.

From my perspective, the AD should be doing everything in its power to increase the chances Michigan is in that discussion at season's end. We don't even get to debate the nature of losses or wins, unless Michigan can first get to two or fewer losses. Just look at Minnesota. The Gophers could realistically enter the final week of the regular season with Playoff hopes, even if they drop a game before then. In large part because they've played nobody.

Scheduling Notre Dame over a generic team undeniably increases the chances that Michigan loses another game. Take this scenario for instance. Let's just look at this year. Say Michigan had pulled off the comeback last week and enters this weekend with one loss. Let's say they lose to Notre Dame, win out, and then miss the Playoff with an 11-2 overall record. If Michigan had played (and beaten) CMU instead of Notre Dame, they'd make the Playoff. That's a clear self-inflicted wound.

Moreover, I agree with you. If Michigan loses to Notre Dame in non-con play and then wins out, Michigan probably makes the Playoff. However, if Michigan plays (and beats) CMU instead of Notre Dame and wins out, the result is virtually guaranteed to be the same. You lose out on the "fun" of playing Notre Dame, but your Playoff chances are certainly better.

That's fine. Adding…

That's fine. Adding difficult teams to your schedule is one of the easiest ways to screw your Playoff chances entering a season, too. Your win-loss record is also the clear metric used for bowl game selection as well. It likely won't matter this year, but imagine if playing Notre Dame cost Michigan a trip to the Rose Bowl or the CFP. The risk isn't worth the reward.

People do realize that…

People do realize that Michigan still has an open date in 2022 and 2023, right?

We all know where this is headed. They're going to add Notre Dame. An absolutely idiotic decision that will screw Michigan for two more seasons.

Thanks for adding Notre Dame…

Thanks for adding Notre Dame to the schedule to . . . boost morale?

Yeah, they went out and…

Yeah, they went out and hired a bunch of really good coaches. That league has drastically improved over the last few years.

The AAF actually got pretty…

The AAF actually got pretty good ratings. The issue was that they didn't get enough initial investment to stay afloat during the first season and/or to renegotiate a TV deal with CBS.

Boooo

Boooo

What exactly makes this team…

What exactly makes this team more talented than the 2016 group? I don’t see it. 

Agree with the top of the…

Agree with the top of the list, but Army at 9th? They were a legitimately good team last season and while transitions for service academies are tough to rate, not really seeing Indiana and Maryland being more difficult. Think people are really overlooking the Army game. 

Went to Hawaii last summer…

Went to Hawaii last summer to honeymoon. Here's what I would say about Oahu. It's very commercialized and large segments of it are basically a city. The North Shore and Wakiki are really cool beaches, but if you are hoping for a more "natural" setting, some of the other islands might serve you better. We also went to the Big Island and Kauai. A lot more nature stuff there, if you are into that. 

All that said, Hawaii is pretty amazing wherever you go. Just my two cents.

The current direction of the…

The current direction of the Pistons is really questionable and the trade for Griffin was absolutely horrendous. Everything had to go perfectly to even have a shot at making it past the first round. 

However, is anyone actually convinced the 76ers’ model works? The 76ers were unwatchable for the better part of a decade and are now barely better than the Pistons.

Per BPI, the 76ers have a 2.3% chance of winning the NBA title this year. There are 7 teams with better odds outright and 2 more with the same or virtually identical odds. We always hear about how the 76ers’ strategy was so great, but they’ve won nothing and are a fringe top 10 team in the league now.

And are we even convinced it will get better? There are a lot of marquee contracts up this year and players like Davis and Durant could be heading east. If so, they might not even be in the top half of the conference.

Sorry for the rant, but I don’t get why people push the 76ers narrative so hard when there are way better routes to winning. How about Dallas? They picked up two potential superstars In the last calendar year and are closing in on another top five pick. 

I did this for ~2 years. It…

I did this for ~2 years. It's about 20-30 minutes too long of a commute to do regularly. The mornings won't be too bad going from AA into Detroit, but the evenings going to AA will be brutal.

The other thing that's frustrating about the commute is that there aren't a ton of natural spots to stop along the way to break up the commute, imo. If you are planning on trying this long-term, look at getting your shifts moved so you can avoid the evening rush hour and/or stopping at a gym in Lincoln Park every night or something.

No.

No.

Well, Bill Connelly had…

Well, Bill Connelly had Indiana above Northwestern heading into this weekend and Maryland was essentially even. And we needed some big plays down the stretch to walk out of there with a win. 

He doesn’t count garbage…

He doesn’t count garbage time stats, so my guess is a lot of the team’s great special teams plays have been ignored. 

That three number is a…

That three number is a minimum, not a maximum.

Do people honestly believe…

Do people honestly believe that you can only work on aspects of your team during games? This is something that has always seemed laughable to me. You can get confidence and improve, but your biggest strides are going to be in practice.

When you're a ranked team playing garbage at home, you should only have three goals. They are: (1) win; (2) avoid injuries; and (3) win by enough so you can play backups . . . to avoid injuries. 

Michigan achieved all three of these goals against WMU on Saturday. I don't really care how they did it from a yardage perspective, etc.

Not to sound like a skeptic,…

Not to sound like a skeptic, but is it *that* insane to think Notre Dame could fall off substantially this season? If their offensive line regresses, their offense could very reasonably become one-dimensional against high-end competition. With games against Michigan, Stanford, Florida State, and USC looming, an 8-4 record is *possible* under those circumstances.

My guess is Notre Dame will be better than 8-4 this season, but could a win over Notre Dame look progressively less impressive as the season continues? Seems like a real possibility to me.

 

Here is BTN claiming the…

Here is BTN claiming the oline would take steps forward last summer:

http://btn.com/2017/08/11/dienhart-5-things-i-learned-at-michigan-fall-practice/

You honestly think the tight…

You honestly think the tight ends this year are going to be better than Jake Butt? Because he was the best tight end in the nation that year.

Just the ole hitting on eight

Just the ole hitting on eight positions offseason question.

All the excess TV contracts

All the excess TV contracts have done is allow Big Ten schools to dump unnecessary funds on facilities and administration. I mean, does anyone feel like the Big Ten is more competitive because it got more money? The only reason football improved was because they finally went out and hired real coaches.

And let's not pretend like the TV contracts made it possible for Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State to hire real coaches. They paid the old coaches a ton of money too.

The unbundling is going to be awful for sports teams and fans. However, it's going to be great for just about everyone else. The most expensive cable channels are the sports channels, yet like half the population doesn't even watch them. Not having to pay for those channels is going to save them a lot of money.

If I was a Big Ten Athletic Director, I would be researching my options for what happens after this bubble finishes (it already started) bursting. Schools like Michigan and Ohio State are going to be carrying around dead weight like Maryland and Rutgers. Once the TV contracts disappear, teams need to reconsider the option of going independent.

Let's hope the new food table

Let's hope the new food table fixes the pass blocking.

Not really. Michigan

Not really. Michigan athletics pays for Michigan athletics. And I don’t think anybody would support a concept of the athletic department subsidizing the school.

From the rumblilngs I had

From the rumblilngs I had heard, it seemed like he wanted to go with Fisch, but he jumped to the NFL. Guessing he's going to wait for the dust to clear now and then pick where he wants.

Nebraska has a losing record

Nebraska has a losing record away from home this season. Michigan will be in good shape.

Would never argue that Rich

Would never argue that Rich Rod was the guy, but I think people really forget about the other factors at play in the 2009 and 2010 offensive numbers. Everyone seems to forget how absolutely horrific the special teams were those years.

Our special teams would consistently force our offense to start at our own 10 or 15 yard line and leave Tate/Denard with 90ish yards to go on every drive. The field goal kicking was also terrible. It cost us the Purdue game in 2009 and certainly didn't help Denard in 2010. 

Not trying to make excuses, but is it really that crazy to think the offense slowed down when it had to drive 90ish yards consistently against good to elite defenses?

Remember this exact same

Remember this exact same article about John O'Korn?

http://mgoblog.com/content/scouting-john-o%E2%80%99korn-ian-boyd%E2%80%…

Michigan will absolutely have

Michigan will absolutely have shot, especially if they can win some games down the stretch and avoid facing a one or two seed in the first weekend.

However, I don't know why people keep thinking this, but Michigan State is not going to be anywhere close to a one seed on Selection Sunday.

Lol, cantina?

Lol, cantina?

Livers isn't even the most

Livers isn't even the most athletic player on this team. I really like his game and how he's progressing, but this is pretty insane. And we don't even need to get to GR3, who could very well could have been the most athletic player in Michigan basketball history.

Scouted him in high school.

Scouted him in high school. Rarely will meet a nicer kid with nicer parents. Pathetic move by MHSAA.

I would love to see Michigan

I would love to see Michigan go independent in football and play absolutely nobody save MSU, ND, and OSU. Would give you insanely high odds to make a NY6 bowl every year.

What exactly do you think ADs

What exactly do you think ADs are there for?

Why? Everybody is upgrading

Why? Everybody is upgrading facilities. Moreover, Minnesota needs major personnel upgrades and a legitimate QB. It’s possible, sure. Don’t think is anywhere close to a guarantee though.

Because the most important

Because the most important factor (by a mile) as to who makes the Playoff is simple win-loss record and Penn State has a better shot at ending up 11-1 than Ohio State does. Moreover, Ohio State also gets the short end of the stick of likely going to Indy to play a Wisconsin team that is capable of winning that game. 

Also, I don't get why people think the Committee "learns" anything year to year. They do the same thing as the AP Poll, but pretend it's more thought out. The members also change, so it's impossible for the group to learn from year to year.

How has nobody mentioned that

How has nobody mentioned that they kept their starters in forever? The game was eerily similar to our game with them last year. Never in doubt.