Crazy 4 Maize and Blue

After that sloppy loss to Minnesota on Sunday evening, the 17-10 Wolverines are teetering back into desperation mode. We knew the Gophers were going to be a tough out, but they were clearly the better team in that game and deserved the win. Hand it to the Wolverines for never giving up and taking it to overtime after trailing most of the game, but don't deny the fact that this team lacks any quality depth and elite-level leadership at the moment. And one more loss will instantly put them right back to where they were two weeks ago - facing elimination from the NCAA tournament. Realistically, it looks like this team is a year away from really making run at anything, with a healthy mixture of youth and experience returning for the 2017-2018 season. Senior point guard Derrick Walton Jr. has made a great effort offensively to keep this team hanging around nearly every game, but he has had lapses of motivation on defense along with some untimely mistakes with the ball in his hands tha

During an ugly 10-9 run from November to February the Wolverines were one of the most unwatchable teams in the nation. They had no fire. They were boring. And they capped it all off with a February 4th home loss to Ohio State. As a fan I was left wondering if this program was beiginning to crumble out from underneath Coach Beilein. Had his stoic ways eroded any passion the players had? Where was that promising team that had an exciting run to the Big Ten Tournament semifinal last year? Nobody seemed to have an answer. But that was two weeks ago. On February 7th the team walked into the Crisler Center building and put up a game for the ages with a 29-point blowout of the rival Spartans. Since then they have added two more huge wins on the road at Indiana, where they rarely get a win, and at home against #11 Wisconsin, who they rarely ever beat. They are currently 17-9 and slowly rising up the conference ladder. The differences of the team playing right now and the one that was jus

It is amazing what a little desperation can do for team chemistry. Sometimes the weight of all the pressure can be crushing enough to cause a complete meltdown within the program, resulting in coaching firings and player transfers. For a great example of this just look back to the end of the Brady Hoke era in 2014. At other times, having their proverbial backs to the wall can bring out some emotion in a group of players, collectively raising their game to new heights. Since the the Big Ten schedule started back on Janurary 1st, the UM men's basketball team has been inconsistent and completely boring at best. While posting a 5-6 conference record, they have struggled to find any sort of rhythm and have appeared lost on the court. The seniors have not provided the leadership that the roster needed, and the youngsters still looked like high school kids trying to play college ball. They all lacked any sense of urgency. It was ugly. Then they lost to their two biggest rivals in back t

It's not debatable, recruiting matters. Why? Well, Alabama has consistently dominated the national recruiting scene over the last decade and look at the results - four national titles in eight years. Ohio State has been consistently near the top of the recuiting rankings, just behind Alabama, under both Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer. They have made the playoffs twice in the last three years - winning it all in 2014. Recruiting matters. And those teams that can consistently produce the better haul of prospects finds themselves in good position to win championships year in and year out. So where does this year's crop of Michigan recruits rank on the national scene? By all accounts, they are solidly in the top five. Alabama is the run-away winner with what could be one of the best classes ever assembled. Ohio State is solidly in second place with a group that is very top-heavy. Harbuagh and company come in third, just a hair ahead Georgia. The Wolverines and the Bulldogs both have

Grading System: 91-100 points - True "five-star", once in a generation-type of player with elite physical tools and brings a big-boy's game. These guys have a higher chance of contributing right away for most programs. 81-90 points - The top of the four-star athletes, these guys are generally highly coveted by most big-time programs and can usually find a role on a team very quickly. 71-80 points - This range of prospects consists of some of the four star prospects and upper echelon of the threes. These recruits have a high chance of being a contributing factor for most programs but may need a few years to develop. Believe it or not, most of the NFL is made up of guys in this range. Often, the guys that get these rankings are simply late-bloomers that need a little more time to grow. 61-70 points - This range of prospects are players that will most-definitely need some time to work on their game and hit the weight room, but they can often develop into great players t