Post-Signing Day BTB Roundtable hosted by Zombie Nation.

1. Were you pleased with this year’s recruiting class? Where did your team excel? Where did they fall short?

I was pleased to the tune of about a B+. Michigan picked up 2 QBs, which were desperately needed, a few good athletes, and some big bodies up front. They could have done better recruiting a couple more DTs (obviously, they lost two on Signing Day), and some linebackers. Other than that, it was a very good class, especially coming off a 3-9 season.

2. Name one or two players you want to see get on the field ASAP, and where you think they will fit in.

Tate Forcier is the obvious choice for most Michigan fans, as the QB play for Michigan last year was a choice between a healthy Nick Sheridan or a hurt Steven Threet for most of the year. I’m also pumped to see Will Campbell (along with Forcier, one of Michigan’s 7 early enrollees) at defensive tackle, Justin Turner in the secondary, and any number of the speedy little bastards Rich picked up in ’09.

3. This one’s purely for the sake of argument. Much has been made about the SEC’s recruiting ‘dominance’ over the Big Ten, particularly this year. Either validate that claim, or try to prove it wrong. At least vent a little bit. You know you want to.

Michigan in particular, and the Big Ten as a whole, just need to win. The Wolverines recruited ridiculously well, all things considered. The Big Ten needs to shake its national perception (fair or not) that it’s a weak conference. Of course, I think the Big Ten, top to bottom, is unlikely to ever recruit as well as the SEC, because an overwhelming majority of the nation’s top players come from the Southeast.

4. Going into next year (already), where does your team need to focus its efforts? How about the Big Ten as a whole? What can the conference/your team do better to attract more highly-regarded recruits, or is it even an issue?

Defense should be Michigan’s #1 priority, as they got a couple top guys (Campbell and Turner), but missed out on players like Jelani Jenkins (who would have considered the Wolverines much longer than he did, save for the 3-9 season), Darius Winston, and the two defensive tackles, Pearlie Graves and DeQuinta Jones. With a more successful 2009 (fingers crossed), the Wolverines should have an outstanding 2010 class, especially with all the top prospects they’re in on early.

One word/number answers…

How many freshmen (in your class) redshirt in 2009?

13 (of 22)

Did you watch live TV coverage on signing day? If not, how many times did you hit ‘refresh’ on your browser on signing day?

I had it on in the background as I was moderating the world’s most stressful LiveBlog. I didn’t refresh at all, and most of the information I got was actually from readers pitching in during the blog.

Are you going to your spring game?

Yes.

For the record – it was impossible to answer those questions with enough detail to make them interesting, while only using one word.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Hosted at College GameBalls.

1. By now everyone has heard that if there is a three way tie in the Big 12 South the highest ranked team in the BCS will play in the Big 12 Championship Game. That means the humans (66% of the BCS Poll) will determine the Big 12 South representative. Let’s assume Oklahoma sinks the pirate ship at home next week. Try to sway the pollsters by arguing which team you think should face off against the Big 12 North.

I’d like it to be Texas Tech, if only because they’re certainly the most exciting team of the three. Of course, assuming an Oklahoma victory on Saturday, they’re probably the least likely to head to Kansas City, on account of historical reputation (unfair) and having played two 1-AA teams (fair). Assuming that those two factors hurt Texas Tech too much, it’s narrowed down to Texas and Oklahoma. In that case, the head-to-head result favors the Longhorns.

2. ESPN is aggressively bidding on the rights to the BCS when Fox’s contract expires after the 2009 season. My half baked theory is if they do win the rights they will push for a +1 system. Lucrative television deals have landed ESPN in bed with each of the BCS conferences. The revenue a playoff would generate could be a huge motivator for the four letter to be the common denominator and unifier among the conferences that finally helps them all to see the light of why a playoff would be good for college football. Help expand upon or debunk this theory.

A +1 system would likely result in a lot more revenue for ESPN, though it would certainly take away one thing for their analysts to complain about all the time. I think, however, that the current BCS system is a little too entrenched for ESPN to have that much of a say, considering their 3-year contract isn’t exactly a show of ownership of the BCS system. I think University presidents (particularly of the BCS conferences) would have a slight issue with this, as it means there are 2 fewer at large teams, and therefore less money for their schools. A playoff is eventually going to happen, but I doubt ESPN’s BCS contract is going to be the factor that turns the tide.

3. Rivalry week is around the corner. How do you think your team will fare? Feel free to talk a little or a lot of trash.

Bad. Nick Sheridan doesn’t always equal death, per se, but his presence certainly implies some form of impending doom. I foresee nothing good to come out of this weekend’s game with Ohio State.

4. And now for a little fun… Assemble your dream announcing team. Pick a play-by-play announcer, color commentator, sideline reporter and for the hell of it celebrity guest that drops on by.

I like the Nessler-Griese pairing, and if I could just eliminate Maguire, it would get exponentially better. I also like Chris Spielman, and it might be worth an experiment to throw him into that grouping. And, because I’m a sports blogger, I’m obligated to say Erin Andrews would be the sideline reporter.

Posted under Football

Hosted this week at Maize N Blue Nation.

1) With two weeks left in the season, it’s safe to say that most schools have reached the point where the year has been a success or a disappointment. How has your school fared this year in your opinion? Or, is the jury still out?

Michigan has performed well below expectations this year, though (in all fairness) many of those expectations were a little inflated. I think the Toledo game was a huge turning point in the season, and after that, many defensive players seemed to give up on the season, since it was apparent this team wouldn’t win no matter what happened on their side of the ball. The Minnesota game may lead to a snapping out of that, and hopefully a successful end to the year.

2) Is your school heading to a bowl? If so, which one? And if not, WTF?

No sir. The Wolverines had a transition year, and underachieved somewhat on top of that, causing Michigan to miss the bowl season for the first time in approximately forever.

3) The Big Ten has recently had a hard time getting respect among the national media as a top conference. Has the Big Ten taken a step forward or a step backward in this debate this season?

This has been something of a down year for the Big Ten. That said, pissing matches between conferences are some of the stupidest crap out there, and another of the many reasons that ESPN is a curse to sports, on top of occasionally being a blessing. The differences between the top conferences aren’t that great, and even still, I’d contend that, top to bottom, the Big Ten could compete with the SEC with ease. Aside from the top two teams (maybe the top three, though that’s not for sure) the SEC is significantly worse than the Big Ten all the way until you get to Purdue and Indiana.

I personally wish instead of worrying about “which conference is teh rulz,” we’d objectively look at who the teams actually play (Penn State’s schedule, should they have gone undefeated, is leaps and bounds more difficult than that of, say, Alabama). That said, we live in a world with ESPN, Gary Danielson, and a host of other idiots, so I’ll always cheer for the Big Ten out of conference.

4) Would the Big Ten benefit from adding another school to create two divisions like the SEC, Big 12, ACC and MAC? And if so, which school should be added? Or, should we drop one school?

I’m more a fan of dropping a school and playing a true round robin, like the Pac-10. It’s a better way of determining a true champion in my opinion, prevents teams from getting good breaks in the scheduling department, and doesn’t force a potential title contender to risk losing a late game.

Of course, I’ll agree with the popular sentiment here and say that Northwestern should be the one team that is eliminated from the Big Ten. They aren’t a great fit for the conference, as the only private school and the conference University with by far the lowest enrollment. In sports with Big Ten Conference competition (sorry, that means no women’s field hockey), the Wildcats don’t regularly compete on an annual basis in a majority of them, though they’ll occasionally have the big year in football, and may have something good going with their soccer program.

Of course, kicking out the Cats also serves to make Michigan the best academic institution in the conference, so a little bragging rights are to be gained as well. In the end, this argument is all academic, since the conference won’t be kicking out anyone any time soon.

5) Do you agree with President-elect Obama that college football should have an 8 school post-season playoff?

I personally am an advocate of the MGoPlayoff, which would be a six-team competition, preserving the bowl system as is (though appropriating the Rose bowl for its purposes). It’s a damn good system which rewards the top 2 teams with a bye and homefield advantage, the next two teams with homefield advantage in the first round, and still gives #5 and #6 a chance to pull off a could upsets and make a run at the title.

there are several reasons I like this system: It preserves the bowls, it keeps (increases?) an emphasis on the regular season, gives any team that has a reasonable argument for inclusion a chance to win the national championship, and (one of the most important factors to me) doesn’t easily allow for future expansion, which I think would ruin college football. I may be one of the few people who isn’t in favor of an all-out 16- or 32-team brawl, but I simply think those types of contests aren’t in the spirit of the game.

6a) Who is your favorite network television play-by-play announcer/color commentator/sideline reporter?

I like the announce team of Nessler and Griese, though they unfortunately are joined in the booth by Paul Maguire. I also really like Chris Fowler. On GameDay and play-by-play he always seems intelligent and prepared, and can rattle off some hilarious one-liners (the statement about Iowa fans “circling the combines” was priceless). On top of that, he seems to genuinely love college football and enjoy the hell out of his job, for which I respect and envy him.

6b) If you listed Erin Andrews, please provide a photo/video to back up your pick.

I didn’t pick Erin Andrews, nor will I share a multimedia item starring her. Instead, enjoy this ABSOLUTELY TRUE story about her from EDSBS.

Posted under Football

Hosted by Nittany White-out.

1. We’re approaching week 9 now, are you pleasantly surprised or already waiting for basketball season?

Uh, neither. The season is going crappily (though only slightly worse than expected), though basketball season won’t be much better. I think the rest of the season is going to be crucial to the mental well-being of many a Michigan fan.

2. Describe one specific play from this season you would alter for a different outcome if you had the chance to.

Just one? How about the “fumble play” every time we’ve run it. Doesn’t count? I guess the failed 2-point conversion against Utah to tie the game could have set an entirely different tone for the season, so for lack of better options, I guess that. One of the early fumbles in the Notre Dame game that really gave them momentum are regrettable as well. I guess the pick-6 against Toledo was the catalyst for the low point this season, so that will be my final answer. THERE ARE JUST SO MANY OPTIONS!

3. How could it (#2) possibly impact the way your season is going?

The Toledo pick would have just changed the outcome of that one game, which would have been a highly desirable change, I guess. However, if the Utah game had ended in a Michigan win, who knows where we might be right now? 5-2, probably.

4. Big Ten player you just can’t stand, why?

Pryor. Only because I covet him.

5. Boo’ing your own team (we’ve seen quite a lot of this across the Big Ten this season), your feelings on this.

Hate. Hate hate hate. I wrote about about this when it first happened against Wisconsin, but I don’t really think it’s that necessary to link it. The reasoning should be obvious enough. By the way, why is there a bonus apostrophe in the word “booing?”

Bonus Round

1. Number of beers or alcoholic drinks consumed by week 8 (or a good estimate)

Enough, but not too many.

2. Most annoying commercial seen this season

Any of the terrible Wisconsin or PSU ads that are seen primarily on BTN. The Penn State ones are particularly eye-gougingly corny, in a completely “One Shining Moment” way.

3. Your prediction for the next coaching change in the Big Ten (Joe Tiller exempt)

Have to think Ferentz is out at Iowa if they don’t make a bowl, considering they have had tons of off-field troubles this year. Paterno is likely gone one way or the other, and definitely so if PSU makes it to the championship game.

Posted under Football

Hosted by The Only Game that Matters.

1) Jay Paterno and the Spread HD

What is: maybe JayPa isn’t that bad after all, and Anthony Morelli is just clinically retarded? Obviously, he knows how to craft a functioning offense of some sort. Maybe it was Morelli, not Jay holding the team back in 2006 and 2007.

2) Joe Tiller’s Mustache

What is: the inspiration for Danny Hope’s Mustache?

3) The Color Purple

Please see this video, 15 seconds in:

4) Brains

What is: Joe Paterno’s entire diet? Oh, and Ovaltine. Brains and Ovaltine, yummy.

5) Hawkeye State

Is this supposed to be some sort of reference to Iowa? Hey, I answered in the form of a question and I didn’t even mean to! Either way, both teams in the state of Iowa kinda suck.

6) Rudy

Who is: Shitty midget?

7) Knee Ligaments

What is: the least functional portion of Sean Lee’s body?
(Note: I said least functional, not least used. Interpret that as you will).

8) Terrell Pryor

Why am: I fucking terrified of Ohio State?

9) Mark May

Who is: someone who only appears intelligent because he is alongside Lou Holtz.

10) Rich Rodriguez

Who is: going to terrorize the big Ten within a few years (I hope)?

Posted under Analysis

01. We’re all basically in conference play now, sans Purdue who played visitor to Notre Dame over the weekend. What did you see in the conference opener that you liked? What did you see that sucked noodles? If you’re one of the Purdue blogs, what did you see against Notre Dame that has you nervous (or even optimistic) for your conference opener against Penn State this Saturday? Oh, and, have fun with that game, by the way.

Posted under Analysis

Q: Of the four presumed national title contenders to go down this past week–USC, Florida, Georgia, Wisconsin–which team has the best chance to get back in the race by the end of the year?

Posted under Analysis, BlogPoll

Hosted at Boiled Sports

1) We’re all car guys here at BS. So your task is to assign your own program a vehicle. Is Purdue an all-terrain vehicle like a Jeep or a Hummer? Something befitting a brawny Boilermaker? Is Ohio State a slow, conversion van being passed by Corvettes with USC markings? Is IU a John Deere tractor with a hillbilly riding on it? Get creative and let us know both what your school is if it’s a car as well as assigning a vehicle to as many of the other Big Ten schools as you like. (I’d require you to do them all but I know attention spans are short and counting to 11 is hard.)

Offensively, Michigan is a car that’s pretty badass, but needs a lot of fixing up in terms of replacement parts. It’s kind of new and progressive, but all the pieces aren’t put together quite right yet. Take the hot new sports car of your choice, introduce a state of disrepair, and Ta-Da! Michigan.

2) In Week 1 in the NFL, the New England Patriots learned how precious things can be when Tom Brady had his knee blown out by a former Boilermaker. Let’s say your team wins out from here to the end and is in a BCS bowl game with a chance to do the school and conference proud – what ONE player on your squad would you most likely cry about having his knee blown out in the first quarter? That is, who is truly indispensable?

Stevie Brown, obviously. In all seriousness though, this is a particularly tough question. Nobody on the offense is that indispensible, because Michigan is either feast-or-famine at every spot. At running back, Sam McGuffie is probably the offense’s most exciting and best player, but if he went down, there are other guys behind him. Steven Threet wasn’t even good enough to beat out Nick Sheridan for a starting position at the beginning of the year, so maybe the dropoff isn’t as precipitous as fans have perceived it through three games. There is virtually nobody on the offensive line, with injuries, defections, and the like. Even when one of Michigan’s best linemen, Mark Ortmann, went down, the backups filled in capably. I guess, since the quarterback position is so central to the offense, and Nick Sheridan has looked kinda crappy in his playing time, I’ll have to go with Steven Threet here.

On defense, Michigan has pretty good depth everywhere, but not good top-end talent in the back 5 (linebackers and safeties). If a defensive lineman went down, I think the backup to step in wouldn’t be a major downgrade. Michigan is already playing with a huge linebacker rotation, so if one went down, they wouldn’t be hurting to badly (though Obi Ezeh would be the most painful loss). At safety, Michigan already has a rotation of a couple guys as well, so one injury among the 3-4 co-starters means very little. I guess that leaves Morgan Trent and Donovan Warren as the most important cogs on defense, since the backups are freshmen of varying degrees (although Troy Woolfolk is technically a sophomore, he has garnered very little playing time thus far in his career). If either of the two went down, it would probably be open season for the opposing teams’ quarterbacks.

3) Purdue plays Notre Dame this week and, well, we detest Notre Dame like probably no other program. Let’s say I have the power to force you (maybe you lost a bet to me) to wear another Big Ten school’s colors to an away game for that team. That is, you’re wearing OSU colors to a game being played at Michigan, or something like that. And I’m talking, dorky, head-to-toe… goofy-ass sweatshirts and flat-brimmed, ridiculous-looking hats. If you have to choose, which program would you be able to stomach wearing? (Remember, you’re going to an away game, so people won’t like you and accept you and you’ll be taking this abuse for a school you’re not even affiliated with.) And by the same token, what program could you absolutely not EVER stomach wearing, under any circumstances?

I’m such a huge fan of college gear that I could conceivably pull this off with almost any Big Ten school (RIP my PSU sweatshirt), at least in terms of actually wearing the gear. I guess any of the lower-tier-ish programs would be fine, since the home fans would be more patronizing or pitying than anything. Therefore: I would be totally OK with wearing Northwestern gear anywhere. Schools whose gear that I really wouldn’t want to wear to an away game are those like Ohio State and Penn State, since their fans are generally assholes to visitors, and the favor would likely be returned to me.

4) I like big butts and I can not lie. Share your embarrassing guilty pleasure music selection that you know other people might laugh at. Bonus points if you can send a YouTube video of an awful music video with it. Many/most of us grew up and/or went to college in the ‘80s and ‘90s so I know you’ve all got some Nelson After The Rain on the iPod.

This song is something of a guilty pleasure, but gets major points here for having an awesome video:

Posted under Analysis

Posted under Analysis

Your hosts may be found over at Maize n Brew.

1. We’re two weeks in and everyone in the Big Ten, minus the two Michigan schools and Illinois, are undefeated. This week marks the end of your early “tune-up” or serious OOC play. Are you satisfied with the way your team has played against the cupcakes on your schedule, or happy with the way they’ve competed against serious competition?

Ever since the third quarter of the Utah game, I’ve been pleased with the defensive effort. However, the offense has been pitiful against both Utah and Miami. Overall play is going to have to improve, or this team is destined to be Notre Dame 2007.

2. You knew this was coming. This week’s OMG Game of teh Century!!!!1!!1!! until next week’s OMG Game of teh Century!!!!1!!1!! is Ohio State versus Southern Cal. Who are you pulling for and why? Further, if you’re pulling for one particular team tell me why they’ll win, or won’t. If you’re like me and will be attempting to cure a sunburn from over exposure to the sun during the Michigan Notre Dame game by drinking large quantities of whiskey instead of watching the game, state your excuse.

I’m pulling for Ohio State, because I’m a pretty big believer in conference loyalty, and I’d love to see the Big Ten win a statement game. Also, my dad went to Ohio State, and I’ve always liked them as one of my favorite teams, and even cheer for them in most Big Ten matchups, because it gives more meaning to The Game for each team to be good.

3. Besides the above mentioned Game of the Century, there are actually some decent match ups this week in the Big Ten. Purdue v. Oregon; Wisconsin v. Fresno State; Michigan v. Notre Dame; Michigan State v. Florida Atlantic; or Iowa v. Iowa State. I said decent. I didn’t say they were all good. Pick the best game from that group, pick the worst game from that group, and Minnesota and Illinois bloggers must post an apology for scheduling Montana State and Louisiana Lafayette respectively.

If you like offense, I think the Purdue-Oregon game might be pretty entertaining. Of course, Oregon’s defense isn’t that bad, so it might be the Ducks doing all the scoring. If, on the other hand, you hate offense, Michigan-Notre Dame is the matchup for you. The worst matchup is probably Iowa-Iowa State because I simply couldn’t care less about the outcome, and neither team is particularly exciting at this point in the year.

4. Out of Conference scheduling is always something that draws the ire of journalists and bloggers alike. You all know how weak your OOC really is. Admit it. You’re sad. So fix it. Pick two teams out of conference you really wish your school would schedule. Nursing colleges and the Center for Veterinary Sciences are verboten. Pick two major conference middle to heavy weights or two heavy weight non-BCS conference programs to add to the schedule. (Please note you get to keep your two patsies per season).

This year, I would be happy playing 4 crappy out of conference teams (I’m lookin’ at you, Northwestern and Indiana) while the team can, like, learn to play football. Of course, this year isn’t going to be an easy one, and the Wolverines already have a mid-major heavyweight (Utah) and a tradition-rich program with lots of five stars (Notre Dame, and thankfully Charlie Weis sucks). However, assuming we aren’t locked in to the Notre Dame game for all time (which we are), I would love to see home-and-home series with teams like Georgia, UCLA, and other teams that are near but not always at the top of BCS conferences.

5. All college football fans love to tailgate. Even you, you mothers’ basement dwelling bloggers, you. Name your beverage of choice on game days. Alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage, your readers need to these things about you, to judge you. Confirm all their suspicions.

I don’t drink before games, but afterwards, it depends on the situation. If it’s on someone else’s dime, I’ll drink whatever’s available. Otherwise, I’ll either go for a PBR-type (cheap and not quite terrible) or Oberon-type (not cheap but better than PBR) beer. After a game that I go to, I’ll often need to hydrate with Gatorade or water before starting the heavy lifting.

Bonus Question!

6. Rivalry games dot the schedule this week. If your team is playing in a rivalry game, say something nasty about your opponent then predict a lopsided score to infuriate the opposing fanbase. If you’re not playing a rival, then start a rivalry by saying something nasty about your opponent and then predict a lopsided score to infuriate the opposing fanbase. Or just give me a non-offensive prediction and a reason to watch.

lolCharlie Weis is fatlol. Michigan will win by a score of Charlie Weis’s weight-Rita Rodriguez’s dress size.

Posted under Analysis