Advertise on podcast: MGoBlog: The MGoPodcast

Things Discussed: Spring Game standouts: Hiter obviously. Buchanan, Tatum looks like a safety, Patterson, Edokpayi, and Palepale. Concern about Bryce? Nah, the situation was not conducive to seeing what Bryce can do; if you play Cov2 back all day for real we'll run like 2021 Washington. It was a better situation to show off what Carr can do. QB run game: rehash last year's issues: tactically it was there; strategically they hadn't run it so they screwed it up). Hoops transfers: Juke Harris or John Blackwell? For this team: Harris. Needs work on defense but Juke makes his own shots. Craig: how do the pieces fit together? Craig thinks Juke is a three. Is he coming? Sam was close to a gut feeling, but why have things dragged out? NIL numbers? Tennessee numbers embellished. Is it a bidding war? Don't know. Sam thinks Liburd is good enough that they don't need all their eggs in that basket. Thiam? Going against Pitino for him so that's big boy battle. Rez: Opt-outs might be moving him up the Draft; the Florida guys coming back has bumped him. If he's in the teens he's in the Draft for sure. Landon DuPont: first-ever status (can play younger) player in CHL, #1 overall potential, Denver/Michigan battle. Michigan hockey summer: Hage is coming back.

1 Hour and 37 Minutes With David Nasternak and Alex Drain This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games. Segment 1 Which NHL match-up are you most excited for? Ottawa vs Carolina is intriguing. Avs vs Kings will probably be non-competitive and un-watchable.  Evaluating the offense: TJ Hughes - Hobey Baker level season.  Jayden Perron - Dramatically exceeded expectations. Led the team offensively in the post-season.  Nick Moldenhauer - Previously minimal production, huge breakout season. Michael Hage - High-end playmaker, season cut short due to injury.  Malcolm Spence - Up-and-down freshman season, started hot.  Adam Valentini - Limited in size but played a bigger role as the season progressed. Cole McKinney - Strong in faceoffs but underwhelming offensive production.  Will Horkoff - Highly productive, highly streaky.  Aidan Park - Depth freshman, lacked consistent impact. Keenan Draper - Praised for role mastery, leadership, and penalty-kill value. Josh Earnesty - Depth player who improved on offense and defense. Kayson Musket - Exceeded expectation in limited minutes.  Teddy Spitznagel - No meaningful playing time before leaving the program.   Segment 2 Evaluating the defense and goalies: Luca Fantilli - Unexpected breakout senior year. Became a reliable leader. Tyler Duke - High effort and physical despite his size. Took too many penalties. Ben Robertson - Dependable, steady presence on the blue line. Garrett Shifsky - Elevated his game late in the season, gets a special shout out. Drew Schock - Limited as a freshman, grew throughout the season. Dakota Raemel - Inconsistent with turnovers. Asher Barnett - Excellent as a freshman. Everyone else didn't contribute enough to get a fair grade. Jack Ivankovic - Delivered high-level all season when not hurt. Steven Peck - Exceeded expectations as a backup.   MUSIC NHL on ESPN Theme "One Thing Leads To Another" -- The Fixx Ice Hockey (NES) theme

2 hours and 54 minutes The Sponsors Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com. Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, Venue by 4M where record this, and Introducing this season: Radecki Oral Surgery, and Long Road Distillers. 1. Spring Game - Offense Starts at 0:51 Seth has a hypothesis that you can define running backs by the sound you involuntarily make when they carry the ball. You can practice this in the shower. Ohio State had a high scoring spring game, also a lot of rain. Bryce's play was concerning. He didn't look comfortable in the pocket and scrambled a lot. The defense wasn't allowed to do anything fancy or blitzed, they mostly played in a Cover-2. That said, not ever having the starting offensive line together does not help the quarterback. Tommy Carr was able to sit there and do some three step drop stuff, which are throws that Underwood didn't throw. He doesn't have the arm strength but he was making better decisions. Who would you compare him to, Tate Forcier? Dylan McCaffrey? Alex Smith? Did Michigan lose a year of Bryce Underwood's development? Kyle Whittingham has a track record of developing good running quarterbacks, so maybe what we saw in the spring game was not super relevant. Maybe Bryce is like a freshman Cam Newton or redshirt Freshman Vince Young. Even if they don't have a great passing game they can still run a good offense with the running tools they have. Some of the scrambling may have been a result of pass rush and playing against Cover-2. Poor Jordan Marshall getting ruled down after four yards. Savion Hiter is absolutely going to be the real deal. It was an up and down game from the wide receivers but they also didn't get many opportunities. There has never been an elite wide receiver who has worn #3 at Michigan. Browder had a ball bounce off his face mask but then got a nice catch later. Hogan Hansen has barely been able to play football for the last year and a half. The gang argues over fullback snap counts. Guys getting wrecked against defensive tackles is fine because we want to see progress from the defensive tackles (in the spring game).  2. Spring Game - Defense Starts at 43:54 It was generally encouraging that the defensive line beat up the offensive line. Sprague lost to Edokpayi a couple times. Cam Brandt beat Frazier at one point. Nate Staehling hasn't been available at all so there's still some hope that he'll be really good when he arrives. All the linebackers are defensive backs right now. Palepale really stood out. Benny Patterson was a defensive end to keep an eye on. What did we see from the linebackers? Uhhhhhh. Taylor Tatum might be a real safety? Corner has four names for three spots which is a good spot to be in. A kicker missed a 29 yard field goal, they should've faked a field goal for the game winning touchdown since they weren't trying to block kicks.  3. Hot Takes and Basketball/Hockey Portal Starts at 1:06:36 Takes hotter than the Kitchener Rangers GM after the Michigan hockey team stole from them. The portal has been slow enough to include both basketball and hockey. The roof of Yost fell off to conserve the vibes of the roster. Perron remains the only question mark. They're also about to get the top two picks out of the CHL. The roster is pretty much done, they don't even need to go to the portal. This team should be the #1 team in the pre-season poll next year. Michigan men's basketball turns its attention to Cincinnatti center Moustapha Thiam. A 7'2" rim defender who could replace a likely Mara departure. Apparently there is a situation with a handler from Senegal. It's looking more like Mara is gone and Morez is back. Is there a chance Mara returns? Probably not, but he needs to make a decision. Brian doesn't want to throw the whole bag at Juke Harris. Overall it's been quiet and they need to start making some moves.  4. Gimmicky Top Five Moments of Basketball Season Starts at 1:48:33 Everyone's top five moments of basketball season, plus Seth's 74 honorable mentions. Elliott Cadeau going 2-15 and controlling the Arizona game, undefeated on the road, and Dusty sitting in front of the Michigan State bench. They didn't just boat race those teams in Vegas but they broke the point system. Oscar Goodman thunder dunks. Scooping up confetti is like the fan version of raising a banner. Jeremy Fears kicking a Minnesota guy in the balls signified that it was not just a Michigan thing. Then Izzo fouling Michigan for ten minutes and complaining about Michigan getting more free throws. The Arizona win stamps this season as "one of the best teams of the last 25 years." You can just sit on a couch in a certain way and piss off Michigan State fans now. McKenney's mid-range jumpers in Breslin were the coldest mid-range jumpers ever. What have been your favorite tournament blowouts? Michigan's mascot should be Mitch McGary in an oversized Mitch McGary suit.  MUSIC: "Spring Game"—Biz Markie "Going Shopping"—The Srokes "Baby Steps"—Olivia Dean “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra   

Things Discussed: Best Michigan team ever? Seth: This team would destroy any previous Michigan team. The game gets better, the training gets better, the strategy gets better. They played together like they were together four years. Championships are not easy. This team vs Fab Five: Fabs had to score at the rim, and you can't do that against this team. 1989 team? The way Rice was shooting they could beat anybody, and they had more shooting. 2013 team? They were so good offensively but they'd need a ridiculous shooting day from the backcourt. Remember they didn't let Terry shoot threes, but perhaps he developed that in the NBA. The refs hated the Fabs so much more than this team too, and they didn't really have a developed post game until Juwan was a junior. But imagine if you could put college C-Webb on a modern team, making him a switchable five? Oh man he'd be so good now. This is the next evolution of hoops: consistent twos are better than threes, because threes will die on you. Hunter S. Thompson: Sports journalist. Loy = Morez? No. Program golden age? They're going to continue to be very good, but this year will be among the best. It took a lot of luck to have a guy like Mara going unused by Mick Cronin and have a guy like Yaxel who's the best player of last year who wasn't in the NBA this year. It gets harder to rebuild this team, because even Izzo is in the portal for rim protectors. The market at the rim has gone way up after they saw this team. JP Estrella will help them on ORebs: he was one of the best on that team of bears. Break: Our what-might-have-been team: Sam's is Kelly Baraka, Seth's is Antonio Bass as Rich Rod's 2008 QB. Football: Hiter hype is off the charts. Sam thinks he's going to be an amazing zone runner. Reliving Najee Harris: there were two flights; he was sitting next to Tua Tagovailoa on the other one, so you can't criticize him too much. Sounds like a really good OL: Sam takes his Frazier victory lap. Gwar and Sprague and Norton, LG is Link, Efobi or Gach. How much will they run the QB? 1) They flipped an Illinois commit, and 2) Whittingham's an Urban Meyer assistant.

1 hour and 58 minutes The Sponsors Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com. Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Venue by 4M where record this, and Introducing this season: Radecki Oral Surgery, and Long Road Distillers. 1. Hockey - Recapping the Frozen Four Starts at 0:51 We gotta talk about the hockey tournament. The fake hockey tournament. Whether they won or lost, it doesn't change anything about who this team was. Michigan played well enough to win, but one shot in nine minutes ended it. Almost every year it's not the best team that wins, it's usually Duluth or Denver. Denver is like the UConn men's basketball of hockey. There's no emotional story to apply your fandom to when it's just randomness. Denver's lack of penalties that were objectively bad no-calls just doesn't make it feel fair, especially the way they called Michigan's penalty in OT. even Alex and David think it was egregious, the players that poured their hearts into this deserve better. There is something wrong with this tournament, there would be a lot more respect for Buccigross if he would say something along those lines. There's not something wrong with Michigan, there's something wrong with the tournament. Imagine if in basketball they just stopped calling fouls in OT.  2. Hockey - Looking Ahead Starts at 27:50 Moldenhauer and Hage have announced returns. Apparently players have been informed to avoid the AHL if they can, college is a lot more enjoyable. Jack Nesbitt is the 12th overall pick and could be coming in, he's a TJ Hughes replacement. He's in the OHL playoffs and might not make a decision right away. Cameron Reid could also be coming in from the OHL, 21st overall to Nashville. Perron is the biggest one on the fence, if you get him then all your holes are plugged. JP Hurlbert is coming in regardless but he might wait a year to contribute. Nick Seaman is coming in as a 4th liner, Cooper Dennis might get deferred (and is Alex Drain sized). A lot of teams will be better next season, but Penn State had Gavin McKenna and weren't that great. Michigan State isn't missing a beat. There are a lot more, and better, options than just going to the NHL these days. They should be a pre-season top three, or maybe even top one.  3. Hot Takes and Basketball Portal Starts at 59:16 Takes hotter than the Denver Pioneers. The Red Wings need to make David Carle their head coach so they can win while being out-shot 2:1. This information might be outdated by the time you hear it! What is happening in the portal right now? Not much. Michigan gets JP Estrella out of Tennessee. He's a high efficiency but low usage player which is weird. He's a moneyball play vs getting Flory Bidunga. Otherwise there's not a lot of chatter. We're starting to expect Morez Johnson to return. Michigan needs a true rim protecting center and could probably also use a starting three. Juke Harris is worth going after but not worth the big bag, give that to the Seton Hall center, Najai Hines. Freshman Brandon McCoy went to a camp and looks like a guy you could have for 20 minutes a game. There's a trust of Dusty in the portal that the fanbase didn't have with Juwan. The Big Ten runs college basketball now. How would Beilein have done during this era?  4. Spring Game Preview Starts at 1:38:41 Spring Game is this weekend at 2pm, 12-18 starters will be sitting out. Bryce will probably play since they don't have enough quarterbacks, we better see Savion Hiter. Position groups are going to be split into balanced squads rather than have a draft, making it more like a controlled practice than a real game. In years past it was frustrating to see future NFL linemen with a walk-on running back behind them, you can't learn much from that. We expect to see a more evolved version of the offense with more quarterback runs. There is Travis Johnson buzz at wide receiver. Brian doesn't want to hear about Kendrick Bell. Hogan Hanson is generating excitement and the offensive line has intriguing positional battles. Evan Link is back and might play, Babalola is not playing yet. Whittingham is good at running the quarterback, it won't be the 2011 offense but it should be effective. The coaches apparently like the depth on the defensive line and think it's the strength of the team, which, ehhhh. Brian breaks down why this is not true. They trust Palepale. Do you prefer EDGE or ED? Linebacker depth is a concern, they don't really have anyone to back up the three main guys. The secondary should be settled in. Shamari Earls is making a move at corner. Who's at nickel now? If Rod Moore isn't on the field in the spring game then enjoy a nice coaching career. Kerry Coombs brings a lot of old guy energy and gets mic'd up a lot. Jay Hill is like the mormon kid from South Park. Don't blame us if it rains. MUSIC: "I Root"—Michael Nau "Sitting Still"—Michael Rault "Sails Across the Sea"—Boz Metzdorf “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra   

1 Hour and 21 Minutes With David Nasternak and Alex Drain This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games. Segment 1 Do you gamble? Being a sports fan is just betting with emotion. As it turns out, Vegas offers a lot more than actual gambling. And it has THE SPHERE. We'd revisit despite initial skepticism. It's tough to continue emotionally gambling on a team that never wins the Frozen Four. Somehow Michigan keeps coming up against elite goaltending. Despite the disappointment, the team was resilient throughout the season. But still, sigh. Denver got frustratingly few penalties in this game, and some were objectively bad no-calls.    Segment 2 Dave talks about the game until Alex tells him to stop. Denver controlled the opening minutes and scored off a Michigan turnover. Michigan scored twice in a minute. Michigan was taking control of the game while holding a lead into the 2nd period. It was a third stringer for Denver that ended up tying it. Denver goalie, Johnny Hicks, was insane, though. Shots were 52-26 in favor of Michigan. The eventual game-winner in OT came from a Michigan break-down. Michigan always plays well enough to win but just can't win in the Frozen Four, it's emotionally taxing. Player returns are already being announced. Jayden Perron is the main unknown. A pair of first round picks from the CHL are incoming! If Michigan gets everyone they want in the offseason they'll be a top three team.    MUSIC NHL on ESPN Theme "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" -- En Vogue Ice Hockey (NES) theme

Things Discussed: Seth shares his story in the hotel lobby: Thank you to Champions Circle!!! How this team was built: Michigan cared about fit and personality. If you're trying to copy this and you spend more in the portal you're doing it wrong. Would any of these guys be as good if they stayed at their old schools? Will Izzo hate this team more, or when Flint product Trey McKenney leads them to a repeat? Dusty May future: perfect for this era where you pick whom you play for. Portal: Can they get John Blackwell through admissions? If he can graduate from Wisconsin. Portal: Juke Harris? Craig said he's a four; Seth says he is not a four because he's 200 pounds, and Wake was wrong. Hockey preview: It's random, but the story is USNDTP won hockey this year. Best goalie, best route, best seed, get the nice locker room for both games. NCAA took CHL players and it turns out NCAA hockey is stronger. Denver's goalie is super hot, their goalie is the Hurley of college hockey. Who's favored? Nobody. 1/4ths.

2 hours and 9 minutes The Sponsors Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com. Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Venue by 4M where record this, and Introducing this season: Radecki Oral Surgery, and Long Road Distillers. 1. Just Won a Natty/Indianapolis Vibes Starts at 0:51 No crying this time, but we do think we can have nice things now. You get out of it what you put into it; the UMHoops guys are probably experiencing the highest of highs. The 2023 football championship was a thing no other fanbase has experienced; this is what a normal natty feels like. Some of us survived the 2023-24 team. The story begins with the Ellerbe years, the Beilein era absolutely helped build this. Don't resent the Fab Five, but they unfairly had to represent what Michigan could be. Reconsidering the Juwan era, the heart condition, how badly he needed a GM. Beilein was spiritually (and literally) present for this team; loudest the stadium got before Michigan hit a three was when they showed him. Very unselfish team. Built through the portal—Cronin was never going to be a good fit for Mara, Rez wasn't going to have a role after Illinois got the other Ivisic, Cadeau was struggling in a bad system at UNC, Yaxel used the portal to get here from JUCO via UAB, Roddy Gayle was the national glue guy of the year, Nimari was here three years through two coaching changes, and Will Tschetter was a five-year player who took a smaller role: nobody can make a good faith argument that any of these guys don't belong here. [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]  2. The UConn Game Starts at 27:50 Takes hotter than the rims during the final last night. Story of the game was UConn fouling the crap out of Michigan from literally the tip. Miss the first Cadeau and-one, then hit 24 free throws in a row to offset the terrible threes, until Roddy missed his pair. Snakebit shooting because Rez/Mara/Yax kept getting mismatches down low, but Michigan was able to play their bigs together, and that just made it impossible for UConn to score. Felt like Lendeborg was himself on defense; offensively he was obviously hobbled. Their communication was fantastic, and there weren't mismatches for UConn to hunt. A time or two they got Mara versus Karaban on the perimeter or something, but they didn't get backcut once. Tarris was basically shut down by Mara. Only thing they got were those ORebs, which were hat tips to them and also related to Michigan taking way the three. Next year Trey McKenney; graded on a curve he made 2 of Michigan's three jumpers, including the dagger. The Rube Goldberg three. Cadeau vs the Cadeau we thought we were getting. 3. How this Team Came Together Starts at 59:16 Revisiting how the roster came together, May's eye for talent, because every guy he got at FAU wound up a star somewhere. You can't actually build from the portal; if that's the lesson they're taking from this team they're going to get lit up. Cadeau cleaned up the TOs (but still commits them at the end of the game his banana peel). On the human to athlete personality spectrum, Mara is a normal human being, who never should have been paired with Cronin—all little guys who play basketball are born killers because you have to be, but it's common for bigs to be like that. Mara was the best player; he developed into a beast by the end of the year. Transfer teams: if you look at the rest of the top ten four didn't make the Tournament; Michigan was the only protected seed that took a lot of transfers. St. John's and Louisville were the others. Once you're been at a school a year you're not a transfer anymore. Cig vs May: Cignetti relied more on his JMU transfers. It's especially hard to recreate what Michigan did defensively, because at the end these guys won a title by doing the best job of anybody of playing with each other. Introducing the Bobby Hurley Index: How many photos do you look like Jim Carrey in The Mask? 4. Next Year Starts at 1:38:41 Are they looking at the portal list or the list of guys projected to the late 1st/early 2nd round? Mara and Rez are probably done—small chance they get Rez back. Cason going to redshirt. Gayle, Burnett, Yaxel are out of eligibility. Cadeau and McKinney: best backcourt in the country next year? McCoy is Charles Matthews-ish, going to be a major defensive presence; if you get two years out of him he's a big get but he doesn't have a deep shot, might be freshman Darius Morris or what we wanted Rubin Jones (PG who can guard 1-4) to be. Recruited lots of SFs: Grady? Liburd? Brown? All going to be 6'5" gumby-armed switchable guards. Backup PG: can McCoy or McKenney can play point for 10 mpg. Do they have a wing? Want that guy to be switchable; Seth thinks they're going to have a big war chest to find an NBA four who can play the three in addition to two bigs. Goodman will be next year's Tschetter. Need three portal bigs. Is Dusty May the #1 coach you would want to have if you were looking for one right now? UNC search was Tommy Lloyd and Dusty May right? MUSIC: "La Di Da"—Heavy Weighs the King "Don't Be Mad"—PiranhaMob    "Up and Away"—Cursive        “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra   

1 Hour and 18 Minutes With David Nasternak and Alex Drain This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games. Segment 1 Between college hockey and the NHL playoff race the past few weeks have been exhausting, but worth it. The Eastern Conference is an extremely tight race, the Western Conference is the Avalanche, the Stars, and then everyone else competing for third place. The Red Wings have a weak rebuild and a lack of young star power like a lot of other rising teams. Previewing a red-hot Denver team with exception goaltending. Both Michigan and Denver have similar metrics. At one point this season the Denver goalie gave up 17 goals in 15 games. Is this sustainable against Michigan? Michigan should prioritize shot quality over quantity. Denver has an experienced defense but not as explosive of an offense as Michigan. If Michigan can exploit Denver's goalie early they may finally break their Frozen Four curse.    Segment 2 Previewing Wisconsin and North Dakota. North Dakota is a more consistent, well-rounded team with strong possession metrics, balanced scoring from a core group, and solid special teams. Their goaltending is good not great. Wisconsin is more volatile: they can compete with anyone if they get strong goaltending and finishing, but their inconsistency, weaker penalty kill, and reliance on high-end performances make them less reliable.North Dakota is more dangerous overall, but Wisconsin is higher variance and can use that to compete with anyone. Both opponents would be difficult for Michigan for different reasons - we've seen what Wisconsin can do to Michigan.   MUSIC NHL on ESPN Theme "Arrhythmic Glow" -- Mortimer Nyx Ice Hockey (NES) theme

2 hours and 3 minutes The Sponsors Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com. Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Venue by 4M where record this, and Introducing this season: Radecki Oral Surgery, and Long Road Distillers. 1. Final Four vs Arizona Starts at 0:51 Dave has a new nickname. Was this game... a let down? You could have maybe predicted that Arizona would struggle to score based on their over-reliance on twos. You probably could not have predicted that Michigan would put up over 90 points without Yaxel. Arizona was extremely physical which resulted in foul trouble, but when they got away with it they could score. Michigan forced Arizona into an ungodly number of two point jumpers off the dribble. They were 10-of-32 from mid-range. Arizona missing a dunk felt like the dagger. Michigan's maturity showed, they didn't seem blinded by the lights of the big stage. Elliott Cadeau had the greatest 2-of-14 half of basketball. Yaxel goes out the first time because of foul trouble and Arizona couldn't be more physical than Michigan's guards. Arizona has one way of playing that nobody else could stop, except for Michigan, and Arizona didn't know how to react. When shooting was tough, Trey McKenney stepped up. 16 points on 6-9 shooting, he has changed how we feel about mid-range shooting. [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]  2. Hot Takes and National Championship Preview - UConn Starts at 33:42 Takes hotter than ADAY MARA. Connecticut is #9 in Kenpom which feels like a relief, but they do have weird tournament joujou. That's better than having to play Duke at least. Michigan vs Tarris Reed for a national championship is crazy. Tarris has matured into a hoss and is their center, his backup, Eric Reibe, is a freshman and a drop-off but still a good player. They don't really play a second big. Alex Karaban is their second biggest player and he's been around college basketball for forever but he's a big wing. This is a game where Tschetter can play. Michigan can play two bigs and put one of them on Karaban but it might only be for 15-20 minutes of the game. Should Michigan make this into a shooting fest and maximize possessions? Tarris Reed is very difficult to ware out. Braylon Mullens is a freshman 6-6 195 lbs wing that Michigan can overwhelm. Silas Demery is a transfer from Georgia, the point guard, top 25 assist rate, top 100 steal rate. Gets to the line a ton, not that great from two. Solo Ball takes most of his shots from outside of the arc, he has also been seen wearing a boot. Expect UConn to show a lot of different coverages. How much Yaxel will we get? Expect it to be a Blake Corum vs Ohio State situation. He came to Michigan to play in this game so you gotta feel for him if he can't play much. UConn's biggest advantages are blocking two point shots and assists, which Michigan should be able to take advantage of. Their path to victory is to replicate what Purdue did in the Big Ten Championship game. Once again, the difference in this game will be Aday Mara. No Paul Szelc won't be officiating this game!  ADDENDUM - Solo Ball was reported as being in a boot while this was recorded. If he's not able to play that is a huge drop-off. Even if he plays he's not going to be 100%, much like Yaxel.  3. Hot Takes and Gimmicky Top Five Commercial Takes Starts at 1:20:48 You know AI companies are running out of money because they can't even get Snoop Dogg on their commercials. Charles Barkley will say anything. Has Jennifer Garner acted in anything besides Capital One commercials in the last decade? AT&T did predict the Michigan Tennessee game. Are they putting the cocaine back in Coke? Tall Boozer looks like a normal Boozer, small Boozer looks like an AI recreation of a Boozer.  4. Potpourri: WBB, Hockey, and Football Bits Starts at 1:34:22 Women's basketball was dumptrucked, but at least we now can empathize with all the teams that played MBB. The game has gotten two chalky; it's the same four one-seeds, repeats of the same games. Is there a ceiling on this team, unless they suddenly double the money they put into it? David's hockey takes: Denver is not like or MSU who's going to take the puck off your stick, and those are the teams that Michigan struggles with. He likes Michigan with four lines and snipers versus a smaller goalie—shot quality game. Brian hates that it's Denver in the tournament. Is there a team that's looked better than Michigan in the Playoff? Wisconsin-NoDak is a pick 'em but matchup-wise Wisconsin would rather be playing Michigan. North Dakota got walked to the Frozen Four. If we lose Seth has to wear Denver jersey to the podcast. Football bits: We're in the ping-pong table removal phase. It's okay that Underwood's throwing interceptions, because he's trying them. Non-insane QB run approach. Next QB is Carr. Hiter hype continues, Salesi Moa is popping. Eli Owens fullback talk. Brian doesn't buy the talk of Babalola starting when he's been hurt, but Sprague at RG can only mean that because Frazier is securing a spot. Defensively the DT situation is good on Palepale and not good that Lea'ea is "smart" vs "much larger." Seth loves the Edokpayi talk, Benny Patterson is a Mike-Mo. Kind of a good sign the three young LBs are getting a lot of talk (albeit with a simplification). Good sign that Bracy is getting talked up for his coverage. MUSIC: "The Wino I Know"—Jimmy Buffett "Ruby"—White Denim "Long Weekend"—Cut Worms “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra   

Things Discussed: Has Michigan found that November stride? More that Tennessee and Alabama didn't have the size; difference was Bama's PG went off. It's a two-point game now. There's never been more than two teams that shot 60%+ from two; this year there are eight.    Looking at how size matters (I recap yesterday's Jimmystats). The perfect guy to defend Arizona is Moussa Diabate. Note that Zona's main weakness seems to be extremely athletic rim defenders who can make them less efficient at the rim. Utah State, Cincy had those guys. Matchups: Should they put Mara against Krivas? Not sure that will be efficient, but Mara in the 15 mins that Krivas sits should be a MAJOR advantage because Peat is a freshman super-wing and Awaka is a Tennessee big. Zona will play drop coverage, M should have some offense planned to get lops off that. Peat: you can push him from the basket; he's taken 165 shots at the rim and 130 pullup Js and there's a MASSIVE difference in efficiency. Kharchenkov another outstanding freshman who can be pushed off his shot. What Zona does is rebound and get free throws, and Michigan is set up to stop that. What Michigan does is oversize you and overmatches Yaxel vs guards, and Arizona is set up to stop that. If Yaxel vs Kharchenkov or Peat is our big matchup win Brayden Burries vs our guards is theirs. He may be one step too fast for Nimari, think this is a March Roddy Game. Super impressed with Cadeau's defense; he anticipates screens and that has saved Michigan from getting into bad matchups. Bradley: Weird thing is it doesn't even matter where he's taking his twos from. Would be good on a Will Wade team. Tschetter: salute to his play vs Tennessee in the 1st half. Sometimes you need that kind of effort. Illinois or UConn: We disagree. Illinois is a better team, UConn can switch 1-5 and beat them in MSG, though that was back when it wasn't abnormal for Wagler to score 3 points. Duke vs UConn: Biggest choke play ever? Hockey: What's different? Sam asks if we have the best goalie in the Tournament: yeah, by a little. What's different about this team from the ones that didn't win? Brian: Nothing. Seth: Not as talented up front but they hit on all of their USNTDP guys; the United States' ability to develop hockey players has been the story of the year, and we're a part of that story.

1 Hour and 50 Minutes With David Nasternak and Alex Drain This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games. Segment 1 Alex is a consistent sleeper who naps easily unless exhausted. Early start times negatively effect students. Who else has slept in an airport rather than get a hotel? Anyways, hockey trip time, the gang meets a Bentley grad. Michigan beats Bentley in what you'd want to see in a #1 vs #16 matchup while also being able to bench injuries and rest starters. Bentley traveled really well, the loudest moment of the game was their one goal.    Segment 2 Penn State vs Minnesota Duluth was one of the best games of the opening round. Which team would you have preferred? Gavin McKenna hype was overblown. Duluth was always dangerous and capable of a big run. A 3-0 lead was nice but felt dangerous. We like when Michigan scores short-handed goals. Despite holding a 4-1 lead in the third and being the stronger team, Michigan nearly collapses. Should it have been goalie interference on one of the Duluth goals? Duluth also had too many men on the ice for a solid 15 seconds. Garrett Shifsky's goal line stand might've been the play of the year. A "Sparty Nooooo" is one of the worst collapses in the history of the tournament. Next year's Michigan roster looks really strong. Denver is almost a mirror of Michigan. Would you rather beat up Wisconsin or North Dakota in the chamionship game?   MUSIC NHL on ESPN Theme "Deceptacon" -- Le Tigre Ice Hockey (NES) theme

1 hour and 56 minutes The Sponsors Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com. Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Venue by 4M where record this, and Introducing this season: Radecki Oral Surgery, and Long Road Distillers. 1. Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight Review Starts at 0:51 Almost a stress-free weekend. Michigan overwhelms a pair of top SEC teams that couldn't be any more different from each other. Brian credited March Roddy a little, Alabama preview a lot, as they got worn out. Labaran Philon was a hero: 39 minutes, 35 points, kept them in it. They didn't have bigs; they had one Morez Johnson-like object who got worn out. Wrightsell was hitting tough threes early but as he exhausted they were falling shorter and shorter until airball. 1st round picks Amari Allen and Nate Ament are freshmen not highly valuable college players, like Diabate, and can't get anything vs Michigan's size. Lendeborg is nailing threes since Dukes started going under screens; they're practice jumpers...against top-25 teams. Tennessee very different game: ball sitting on the floor for a minute and Lappas is so confused (how does he have this job??). Officials call bad foul on Mara then have to call everything; they get three incidents of goaltending or cylinder violations and went 0/3. Gillespie couldn't be Labaran Philon and that was it. Brief spasm of irritation when Vols are getting ORebs and Mara gets a 2nd foul, then 21 balanced points; it's over when JP Estrella tries to thunderdunk on Tschetter. Everyone was complementing Yaxel. Happy when Trey McKenney shoots a three. Salute to these seniors. [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]  2. Final Four Preview Starts at 33:00 Meta game: Everyone is at the rim now because there's a much higher floor so you aren't (like Beilein) subject to the triple gods. Arizona is a lot like Michigan but they're even more extreme, and their jumpers are usually twos. When they do get a three (rarely) Bradley and Burries can knock them down. Concern is whether they can bully Mara; NBA people will be watching his battle with Krivas, defensive impact is understated because he's a mountain you can't move. Lost to Kansas because KU was able to muscle up and push them away from the rim. Everyone packs the paint against them; if you can actually push them away from the rim they're in the 100s in 2PT distance and they're not good at 2PJs, especially Koa Peat (34% on 130 attempts). Also: Jaden Bradley (46% on 157), Ivan Karchenkov (42% on 62), and Brayden Burries (46% on 92). Difference: Arizona has three freshmen, Michigan has one, and Michigan's three-big lineup can probably make Peat inefficient to be just enough. Burries is McKenney.  Game of the century? Illinois we know; they're huge and they shoot, and they play the wrong Ivisic. Alex pulled off one of the great jinxes to get UConn over the line. Tarris Reed's final form is the switchable five who is a monster shot blocker and scorer, could be major trouble defensively for Michigan because they don't have to go under screens, takes away Yaxel's threes. The rest of those guys though? Karaban is a 6'8 version of Nimari Burnett, have some shooting guards in Braylon Mullins and Solo Ball; Solo has gone full sophomore THJ from the arc; he can't hit one in the Tournament. Silas Demary was injured to start the Dance but is a wonderful creator. Illinois question: Andrej Sotjakovic is going OFF! Is that because he found something or because he can take advantage of space as a driver against unathletic teams like Iowa? 3. Hockey Starts at 1:11:12 Bentley game: didn't dominate them but once they got the free goal (Brian was even a little upset) at the end of the 1st period; the only way Bentley wins this is if Michigan gives that up. UMD game: Alex didn't like this draw—North Dakota got an engineered free trip to the Frozen Four and Michigan had UMD. Alex also dislikes going up 3-0 early leads because you stop trying to score, and UMD was getting a lot of good looks. Got great looks, Michigan gave up too many good entries, UMD hit a post and a bar, their top line was out there like 35 minutes, Ivankovic stood tall. Tyler Duke's defense was not good on those two goals. Asher Barnett's penalty shifts the momentum. Michigan's goals: great tip, Valentini scores on a dime of a saucer from Moldy—so happy he's activated his inner fullback. Schifsky's shortie. Frozen Four preview: four teams with the most national titles. Brian DOES NOT like to play Denver in the Frozen Four; are they the favorites now? They've been playing VERY hot. North Dakota hasn't been there forever; it's been 10 years. Wisconsin we know. 4. Hot Takes and Women's Basketball Starts at 1:38:06 Takes significantly hotter than Dusty May when Mara picked up a B.S. foul 30 seconds into the game. Worst day in MSU winter sports history. NCAA could find a way to put Duke back in it but that would kill Bill Murray. WBB plays TONIGHT against 1-seed Texas. Smoked Louisville: not one but TWO 16-0 runs. They weren't transition baskets because they didn't cross midcourt; they're just 'sition baskets. No points for 7 minutes then dominated for three quarters—gonna have to play FOUR quarters from here on. BQD has seven offensive rebounds, against a huge Louisville team. Delfosse has really come on the last few weeks, Olson and Swords carried offensive, very impressed with how they dealt with Laura Zeigler; Sofilkanich handled her. Good sign for Texas's size, though they have a midrange assassin. Michigan's going to have to shoot well from three and hope Booker isn't effective from range. Home game for Texas in Fort Worth. GO BLUE!!!! MUSIC: "Gut Feeling/Slap Your Mammy"—Devo "Baywatch"—Drug Cabin "Paradise"—The Mattson 2 “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra 

Things Discussed: Wisconsin out, Texas in: Brian still wants the entire university excised from the Tournament. St Louis didn't have a second big, didn't have the guards to do what Wisconsin did. Good news for Sweet 16: ISU (minus Jefferson) and Alabama (minus Holloway) don't match up. Beautiful basketball: Dusty to Craig, no way to guarantee it's that pretty. Yax be a star time. A yard never looks that good unless there are major basketball feelings going on. Threes are random, five-out shooting teams (Wisconsin, Alabama) have random results, but you need a guard (e.g Nick Boyd) who can take advantage of the space created by pulling the center out. Labaran Philon is a dude, gotta fight through screens. Thing about Alabama is they only have one big—most of the team are 6-8 wings, and they can only play Sherrell 20mpg. Don't force TOs. Can't rebound! They should get ravaged in the paint. Texas, Georgia, Zaga, Purdue all got massive OReb rates. Long rebound luck game: where do the missed quick threes carom? Need to have everybody put up a poster dunk in practice and prepare to get back after. Also without Holloway they only have two guards on the roster. They play fast, might run Philon out of juice. Painful basketball teams: Will Wade back to LSU? Ben McCollum turns basketball into an Iowa football game. Funny how if you just asked, in a neutral state, if both Alabama's football and basketball coaches would rather be at Michigan they'd take you up in a heartbeat. Iowa State: Dead in the water without Jefferson, no way that injury is okay by Elite Eight right? He couldn't put weight on it. Tennessee are bullies up front, fear them more than non-Jefferson ISU. Hockey: This stupid tournament format means we can't make predictions because being the #1 overall seed doesn't matter—you go to Albany and get Penn State in the 2nd round. Women's Basketball: Like their chances to beat Louisville because we can pest them out of the building, but beating Texas in Texas is tough. Put a "4" over the quarter number on the scoreboard so Swordsy thinks it's the end of the game. UNC a threat to take Dusty? His new contract should be a $7.5M buyout (saw $4M reported?) but that's not as big as some others. Think if we survived Indiana we survived UNC, which is Job #2 in a worse conference than the Big Ten, where Michigan is Job #1.

1 Hour and 35 Minutes With David Nasternak and Alex Drain This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games. Segment 1 There is no need for the NCAA hockey tournament selection show to be drawn out as much as it is. It took 20 minutes to find out anything interesting. It's just hostage-taking for fans just wanting the bracket. What are the pros and cons of neutral site games? Campuses are better atmospheres but at least it's fun to explore host cities if you travel. Hosting the tournament in smaller, less prominent locations makes the tournament feel like the minor leagues. Empty arenas diminish the viewing experience. Anyways, Michigan won the Big Ten Tournament. Some penalties felt controversial and rewarded embellishment. Michigan's depth and skill took over late. Hopefully Hage is okay. There's a perfect satisfaction that comes with beating Ohio State in the championship game more than anyone else.   Segment 2 What do the other conference championship games mean for the tournament? Bentley beats out Sacred Heart, Dartmouth beat Princeton, and Merrimack wins a surprising Hockey East title. Discussions of Pierre Maguire's broadcasting quirks. Denver was resilient in not blowing it in double overtime after having a big lead in regulation. Michigan should be a heavy favorite over Bentley but they're better than a typical low seed. Michigan's scoring should be sufficient if they keep out of penalty trouble. Are they more likely to play Minnesota-Duluth in the 2nd round than Penn State? Alex likes Western Michigan over Denver in a regional game in... Denver. Are there enough UConn fans to watch their hockey team play instead of either their men's or women's basketball games? Who is possibly going to come out of Sioux Falls alive? North Dakota hasn't made the Frozen Four in ten years. Michigan plays Friday at 5:30 on ESPNU.    MUSIC NHL on ESPN Theme "Wolf Like Me" -- TV On The Radio Ice Hockey (NES) theme