U of M thread (in the Lions Forum) :)

[jaadam4]

People don't like the spread for many reasons, not just because M used it last year and sucked at it.

There was a huge tradition of 'in your grill' football M used to play, and the spread just does not look right being run by the bat-winged helmets.

I particularly don't like them lining up as if the play is going to be run, and then they all stop, turn and look at the sidelines for the real play. To me it looks very stupid.

exactly

[jaadam4]

Oh well. Harris says he's coming back for another year. I very proud of U of M for getting as far as they did. Coach B did a great job with the kids after a unreal start beating Duke and UCLA.

The played like crap in the middle of the season but rallied strong. If we get some bigs that can play we'll be tough.

[Kstat]

Harris right now is a 2nd round pick at best. He had no other alternative.

If he stays all 4 years he could be a lottery pick, but he needs to grow a lot more.

[Masspartan]

Of all the major sports, I find basketball to be the worse officiated. I have not watched basketball for many years for that very reason. And as a Michigan fan, I have always admitted that the foul that put Rumeal Robinson on the line to beat Seton Hall in the championship game was totally bogus.

I watched the last 5 minutes of that game the other day Rocky ... and have to agree with you. I wanted U-M to win that game (who knows why) and therefore at the time tried hard to see that as a foul. Not so much now. In today's game, that isn't called for sure.

[SeattleLionsFan]

It was a great season, and a lot of fun to see the boys back in the tourney..

[fredsue]

I was pleased with the effort that UM played with. They were out muscled inside. they really battled but they would have had to be real hot from the outside to win this one.

The officiating was very iffy. I can live with the Manny's second foul...do not fully agree with it but the undercutting looked bad. The foul called a little after that where the UM guy had Blake clearly boxed out and was continuing to box him out, as is coached at every level of bball, Blake was not close to the ball and jumps and reaches over the guys back clearly..that was either a no call....no impact on the play...or a foul on blake. NO WAY is that a foul on the michigan player.

Numerous times Novak/Cj got run over on blakes move but no calls were made either way. Very very physical game. I guess NCAA allows for blood on uniforms...I thought they had to change?

[nhwbrooklyn]

Ran into the top player in the country (kinda like the Spartans getting Matt Ryan and then Stafford/Moreno in bowl games)... tough draw... but the first round upset was fantastic and sealed this year as a success for you UofM fans.

[Mschottey1985]

Now that they're in the sweet-16 can we get a recant from the 'Zona doesn't deserve to be there" crowd?

[froot loops]

No they didn't deserve a bid. That they happened to win two games doesn't mean that the committee exposed themselves as hypocrites. Especially when they say the last 10 game performance is what matters.

[Masspartan]

Schottey .... I knew that would come up and I stand by my statement.

I never doubted that Zona was one of the best 34 at-large teams, just that they didn't deserve to be in based on what they did in the regular season. They got in 'on paper' not performance.

My thinking is that teams who performed better during the year should get the reward ... not a team with NBA lottery picks who couldn't stay above .500 in their conference. I realize I probably stand in the minority regarding this issue, but I'm cool with it.

Another sticking point regarding the Big East ... I hope people don't make a big deal about having 5 in the sweet 16. They had 3 #1's ... They should have that many. #1 seed is almost guaranteed ticket into the final 16.

[Deuce]

Schottey .... I knew that would come up and I stand by my statement.

I never doubted that Zona was one of the best 34 at-large teams, just that they didn't deserve to be in based on what they did in the regular season. They got in 'on paper' not performance.

My thinking is that teams who performed better during the year should get the reward ... not a team with NBA lottery picks who couldn't stay above .500 in their conference. I realize I probably stand in the minority regarding this issue, but I'm cool with it.

Another sticking point regarding the Big East ... I hope people don't make a big deal about having 5 in the sweet 16. They had 3 #1's ... They should have that many. #1 seed is almost guaranteed ticket into the final 16.

Good point. The Big East has 16 teams and they pay zero attention to territorial restrictions (not that they have to). Big East fanatics cannot point to power rankings and have it mean something unless they put a cap on the number of teams that a conference can have. Take away the midwest section of the "Big East" and you have a conference not unlike the Big 10 and Big 12 filled with a few good teams and some poor ones (Providence,Seton Hall,St.Johns,Rutgers).

Take these teams away:

Marquette
Cincinatti
Louisville
Notre Dame
West Virginia


If only every conference just cherry picked the best teams from fledgling conferences. Gonzaga could be adopted by the basketball Pac-10, Memphis could join the SEC, and the Big Ten could have taken any of the "Midwest" section of the Big East.

[Mschottey1985]

My only problem is that any time you have a system that is not "The 34 best at-large teams" It can become arbitrary. You can't say St. Mary's deserved it more...because that could be argued. (once again, they didn't beat Gonzaga) You said before that its a better story...Cinderella-esque but since when did athletics being judged for monetary purposes become Kosher. If its an arbitrary system put in the 34 teams with the biggest markets.

If you do "best seasons" it kills the Cinderella factor. Period. Mid Majors wouldn't schedule non conference tough games because they wanted the record to get in. Then they'd get demolished.

Gonzaga is the king of the mid majors because they started scheduling tough opponents long ago. If St. Mary's wants to talk the talk, they need to walk the walk.

[froot loops]

Mid Majors wouldn't schedule non conference tough games because they wanted the record to get in.

You have that fundamentally wrong. Big schools will not schedule Mid-Majors once that school gets to be pretty strong. They are cowards and they definitely won't go on the road.

[Deuce]

Mid Majors wouldn't schedule non conference tough games because they wanted the record to get in.

You have that fundamentally wrong. Big schools will not schedule Mid-Majors once that school gets to be pretty strong. They are cowards and they definitely won't go on the road.

They can enter non-conference tourney's. They are usually invitationals, but they usually invite mid-majors. Siena i believe got to play some tough teams this year on neutral courts via this route..

[Masspartan]

My only problem is that any time you have a system that is not "The 34 best at-large teams" It can become arbitrary. You can't say St. Mary's deserved it more...because that could be argued. (once again, they didn't beat Gonzaga) You said before that its a better story...Cinderella-esque but since when did athletics being judged for monetary purposes become Kosher. If its an arbitrary system put in the 34 teams with the biggest markets.

I certainly see your point ... Schott and like I mentioned I'm sure I stand in the minority with this issue.

If you put up Creighton, Mt. St. Mary's, Penn State, San Diego State and take their accomplishments during the regular season vs Arizona ... then I would take 1 of those 4 over Arizona for the tourney since they had a regular better season ... even though Arizona has the most talent.

19-13. 9-10 conference record. The under .500 record bothers me way to much.