March Madness Picks

Now that the quarter is over I've finally got some time to update and what better time than March Madness. I had started catching the fever as UCI made its run through the Big West Tournament, but it was not to be as they lost in the Big West finals to a very dangerous Cal State Fullerton team that wouldn't be shocking to make some noise in the tournament. Heading to Vegas tomorrow for the opening weekend of the madness as I've done the past 3 years and for those that haven't gone yet during this time, I highly recommend it as a sports fan, there's nothing like it. So here are my picks, to save space in the first two rounds just calling the upsets, everything else I'm taking the favorite:

East-First Round: Saint Josephs over Oklahoma
Second Round: Butler over Tennessee
Sweet Sixteen: UNC over Washington State, Louisville over Butler
Regional Champ: North Carolina

Midwest-First Round: Kansas State over USC, Davidson over Gonzaga, Cal State Fullerton over Wisconsin
Second Round: None
Sweet Sixteen: Kansas over Vanderbilt, Georgetown over Kansas State
Regional Champ: Georgetown

South-First Round: St. Mary's over Miami
Second Round: None
Sweet Sixteen: Texas over Stanford, Memphis over Pittsburgh
Regional Champ: Texas

West-First Round: Baylor over Purdue, Arizona over West Virginia
Second Round: Drake over Connecticut
Sweet Sixteen: UCLA over Drake, Duke over Xavier
Regional Champ: UCLA

Final Four: North Carolina over Georgetown, UCLA over Texas

National Champion: UCLA

College Football Saturday Night

ABC/ESPN announced part of the schedule for Primetime College Football on Saturday night. Probably due to the lack of big time non-conference games this season's schedule none of the game stand out as OMG MUST WATCH!!! like Texas-Ohio State was last year but still there are some quality games, and I'm sure more will be added as the ACC, Big XII and Big East portions of the schedule have not been released. There is one major complaint I have with the schedule and that is the lack of games on September 8th and October 13th as the network will air Nascar instead. I was born and raised in Southern California so I have no idea how or why Nascar is so big. It is stupid and boring. Let's watch a bunch of cars drive around in an oval 500 times and see who wins. I don't care what game you put on, it could be a I-AA game for all I care and it would be better than watching Nascar, but that's just my opinion.

What has me really excited about the schedule is that two games that I plan on attending this season are on the schedule. Those games being the September 1st game Tennessee at California and the October 6th Notre Dame at UCLA. Michigan has one game on the schedule so far which is the October 20th contest at Illinois. I've always been a fan of night games because I think playing under the lights just adds more excitement and buzz to the game as most of the time it is a big time game so it is intensified. Granted I never want to see Michigan-Ohio State as a night game, but I wouldn't mind one day to see some night games at the Big House. With constant pressure from TV for Michigan to host a night game it wouldn't shock me to see one in the next few years, but I also know that the administration will try to hold it off as long as they can.

Hello and Goodbye

Hello to Elliott Mealer, Welcome to Michigan! Mealer became the 3rd commitment of the 08 recruiting class for football last night. Listed as a 6'6" 280 lb OT he is the second OT to commit after Dann O'Neill earlier this year. In a year where OL recruiting is vital, Michigan has been able to pick up a second solid OL and we will need more. After Ohio State picked up Michael Brewster over the weekend as well as the impending official announcement of J.B. Shugarts as well it looks like Ohio State is done with their OL recruiting for the year which probably explains the lack of OSU offer for Mealer. I was thinking the exact same thing but Brian beat me to it, but the Buckeyes loss is the Wolverines gain and I am happy to have Elliott at Michigan.

Goodbye finally to Alex Legion who will be signing with Kentucky. Sure he's a great talent but his commit, de-commit, re-commit and sign, then de-commit/release from his LOI has not endeared him to Michigan fans, especially considering that Laval Lucas Perry most likely would have committed to Michigan had Legion not taken the last spot by re-committing the day before Perry was set to announce. He's got too many voices in his ear and for his sake I hope UK was really where he wanted to go and not where one of his handlers or his mother pushed him to. It's only fitting that he goes to Kentucky where another previous Michigan decommitment ended up Joe Crawford. The crazier thing is the similarity between Crawford and Legion in the fact that they probably ended up costing Michigan another quality player. For those that don't remember Crawford was expected to go to MSU, while his teammate Malik Hairston was considered to be leaning towards UM. Then out of nowhere Crawford commits to Michigan, and Hairston has no scholarship available for him. Later on Crawford de-commits and goes to Kentucky while Hairston ends up at Oregon because Michigan had too much ground to make up and was not able to. I'm just glad I won't have to hear about Legion anymore and we can concentrate on the guys that will be playing for Michigan this fall. Weeks after the announcement I am still pumped up about Michigan basketball and can't wait for them to take the court later this year.

What is going on here? Legion back to UM?

In what may possibly be the weirdest recruiting story I have ever followed for potential Michigan player it looks like Alex Legion may end back up at Michigan which would be the first time I have ever heard of a player committing to a school three times. MGoBlog and Maize n Brew have their thoughts on the situation which has new information on Legion's recruitment brought today from the Detroit Free Press.

According to Fox Sports yesterday, Legion was no longer considering Michigan and I really didn't feel like it would have been that big of a loss after the whole committing and de-committing twice. There had always been rumors about Tim Green's involvement in Legion's recruitment and it looks like they were true. I was upset yesterday because as I didn't want someone that doesn't want to play for Michigan. By asking out of his letter of intent, it would mean for the second time that Alex Legion did not want to come to Michigan and I had enough of his games. But it looks like he really is being pulled in many different directions and doesn't know what to do as everyone is in his ear.

I feel bad for him as he can't make a decision by himself due to all these outside influences. Hopefully the time he has now until May 15th, the end of this signing period, he will be able to make a decision for himself that he comes to. Not what his AAU coach, or what his mom want him to do, but what he wants to do. When I was making my college choice my parents did not want me to go to Michigan but I did anyways. It wasn't anything against Michigan it was just far from home and they didn't want me that far away. But they supported my decision and I can say that it was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. I hope Alex gets to make his own decision and it is one that he can live with for the rest of his life. If that decision is Michigan, that is great and I will be happy to see him suit up for the Maize and Blue, but after reading this article which confirm all the rumors about what has been going on behind the scenes I won't have a problem if he decides some other school is best for him.

Alex Legion released from LOI

As expected Alex Legion has been granted a release from his Letter of Intent he signed with Michigan. The article states that Michigan will still recruit him but I hope we do not. Numerous scouts and people who follow basketball closely have said that Legion would be a great fit with Beilein's offense. He is just looking for an excuse to get out and he got it. Legion initially committed, then de-committed, only to re-commit and sign his LOI before he asked out for it now. There is no need for Coach Beilein to waste his time and resources to recruit him and he should look elsewhere if he wants to bring in another player for this class.

Also of note is Reed Baker will be leaving the team, which opens up 2 scholarships with Legion asking out now. So Coach Beilein could bring in 2 players for this class but considering how late in the game it is I doubt that will happen. This will leave either 2 or 3 scholarships for the 2008 class dependent upon if another player is found for this class or not. I think it would be better to wait considering most of the top players are already signed and with the good season I expect from this team next year it would open up more doors to many recruits in the 08 class.

Spring Practice comes to a close

Lost in all the hype of the John Beilein hire, Spring Football has been put on the backburner for most Michigan fans for the first time I can ever remember. But before we discuss football there is an article from Andy Katz at ESPN discussing all the new coaching hires and here's what he has to say about Michigan:

Michigan : This also is a contender for best hire of the coaching carousel. John Beilein is arguably one of the best coaches in the country, let alone one of the smartest. Michigan will be well-coached, well-schooled and hard to beat from this day forward. It doesn't matter how he recruits Detroit or the state. He will win. You watch.

It's great to hear that Coach Beilein is so respected among his peers and although he's not the big name that many hoped for I truly believe he will take Michigan back to national prominence.

Now to football, there were a bunch of injuries that prevented a lot of players from practicing in Spring Ball and it just got worse. As rumored last week, Kevin Grady did tear his ACL and will most likely miss the 2007 campaign. Reports were that he was performing well in practice and he was the #2 back but with this injury it looks like that will go to Brandon Minor.

Another rumor that has been floating around surrounds Carlos Brown and his possible transfer. After some time off and debating it looks like he will not be leaving Ann Arbor. Not sure if Grady's injury played into the decision in any way as Carlos had moved to CB but it is great to hear that he will be returning. With the lack of depth at RB, he may be moved back, or more likely he will probably play a little of both since there is not much depth at either position. I wish Michigan would start televising their spring practice like numerous other programs have been doing on ESPNU but I don't see that happening anytime soon so I'll have to rely on reports online. I am very excited to hear about what Ryan Mallett does tomorrow.

Great news to start the day

Woke up to a text message this morning that just made my day. My boy from New York sent me a simple two words that immediately woke me up: "Manny Staying!" That's all I needed to jump start my day and then I got to work to read "Harris says he will attend Michigan after all" There was a great deal of trepidation on my part as I wrote on Monday:

Onto Coach Beilein's attempt to keep together this 07 class, it doesn't look good. Both Alex Legion and Manny Harris met with Beilein this past week and I believe it would be miraculous if he was able to keep both players.

Thankfully, it looks like I may be wrong on this one. Also, the article on Manny staying also has a quote from Alex Legion stating "I'm starting to like Michigan more and more," and Coach Beilein is expected to go see Legion in Virginia this weekend. Props go out to Coach Beilein, and also to Coach Jackson for re-securing Manny's commitment, let's finish it out and lock up Legion again. There are also rumors that the schedule will be upgraded next season which would include a renewal of the Duke series, which I would be glad to see cause I can't stand them and I would love to beat them after all the blowouts they had against us when I was in school.

Onto other College Basketball news now is the time that many players declare their intentions to stay in school or declare for the NBA Draft. Starting with the players that are leaving: Kevin Durant of Texas, Arron Afflalo of UCLA and Julian Wright of Kansas. Durant's announcement was expected considering he took the College Basketball world by storm, sweeping every major award out there and being the first freshman to win a number of them. It was reported he really wanted to stay but was scared off by the Shaun Livingston injury as they are of similar build and did not want to risk something like that. It would have been great to see Durant in college for another season but there's no way you can fault him considering he will be at worst the 2nd player picked in the draft.

Then there's Arron Afflalo, who I believe could use another year at UCLA and win a national championship in the process. He is a borderline first round pick and unless he wows the scouts he could very easily fall into the second round. UCLA must also wait for Darren Collison's decision as well. Considering the weak PG class he could decide to make the jump, and if he does it would be a huge blow to the Bruins. Hopefully he will decide to stay and play with Kevin Love and lead UCLA to a 3rd consecutive Final Four.

Julian Wright declared but has not signed with an agent, leaving the potential for him to return to Kansas. But as he is projected a top 15 pick I doubt that happens. Brandon Rush is also expected to declare, which would be devastating to Kansas.

With these defections the big winner in all this is North Carolina where Tyler Hansborough, Tywon Lawson and Wayne Ellington have all announced they will return next season. UNC is now my odds on favorite to win the title next year, with or without Brandan Wright who has yet to announce. The deadline is April 29th to declare and I'm sure there will be many more announcements that will have impact on the upcoming college basketball season.

And it just keeps getting worse

After a victory in Seattle on Friday, the Lakers led the Nuggets for 6th place in the West by 1/2 a game. By Lakers tipoff against Phoenix on Sunday there was no more lead as the Nuggets beat the Clippers on Saturday to close the gap. Following the Lakers latest loss on Sunday they are now 1/2 game behind Denver for 6th. That brings tonight's pivotal game at Denver. With only 5 games left in the season a 1 1/2 game lead would be extremely difficult to overcome so tonight's game is about as must win as a regular season game can be. The defense is still not there and that is a major concern heading into the playoffs.

There are a number of concerns with Michigan as Spring Practice comes to a close and as new basketball coach John Beilein tries to keep the 07 recruiting class together. The rumors of a Carlos Brown transfer popped up a few weeks ago, then died down, but now they are back up again. We will have to wait and see but many believe that he is headed out. It would be a big loss not only because of the depth at CB/RB we would lose, but it could be a big loss for recruiting in the future, especially in the South. Many teams negatively recruit Michigan and the Big Ten because the teams are slow and don't know how to use speed, and losing Carlos Brown would only add fuel to the fire.

Onto Coach Beilein's attempt to keep together this 07 class, it doesn't look good. Both Alex Legion and Manny Harris met with Beilein this past week and I believe it would be miraculous if he was able to keep both players. I believe Kelvin Grady will stay and before reading this article I thought it would be Manny that would join him in Ann Arbor with Legion bolting elsewhere. But after reading the article, I have a feeling Grady may be the only guy left. Regardless what Legion says, I just don't have a good feeling about him and think he's gone. But with Manny saying that he is going to look at other schools it has me extremely concerned. It would be a disaster if only Grady stayed on because there wouldn't be much depth on the team for next season. There are rumors that Assistant Coach Mike Jackson, who left a couple weeks ago for Illinois State may come back and that could help. Coach Beilein knows he needs someone on the staff with local ties and we will have to wait to see who that is but I would definitely be glad to see Coach Jackson back. He has a lot of ties in Detroit and could turn the tide with Manny back in our favor.

Update: Great news. Coach Jackson is back. He has resigned at Illinois State and will return to Michigan.

I wasn't able to address this last week but Coach Eddie Robinson of Grambling passed away last week at the age of 88. He was a great coach, amassing 408 wins in his 57 year career, but more important than the wins and losses was the lessons off the field he taught his players during the civil rights era. He coached over 200 players who would later play in the NFL as well as 4 Hall of Famers but that is nothing compared to the struggles he had to endure during the segregation era. People think coaches nowadays have it tough with the pressure of wins and losses on the field. But no one has to deal with what Coach Robinson did off the field. From the ESPN.com article linked above:

Robinson began his storied career at Grambling with no paid assistants, no groundskeepers, no trainers and little in the way of equipment. He lined the field himself and fixed lunchmeat sandwiches for road trips because the players could not eat in the "white only" restaurants of the South.

Coach Robinson is a legend of College Football, may he Rest In Peace.

I can't believe I'm this excited this early

Probably due to quotes I've heard from other coaches regarding how good of a Coach, Coach Beilein is and also helps when I read this quote today:

"I am excited about this new opportunity at Michigan," Beilein said. "I wouldn't go there if I didn't think they could win a national championship."

For those that haven't seen, MGoBlog has a great post up on the 1-3-1 Zone.

Update: AA News is reporting that Michigan isn't responsible for the buyout. Which would be big, considering some did not feel that Beilein was worth paying the buyout. If this is correct then Bill Martin did an even better job than we thought.

Welcome Coach Beilein!

As numerous media outlets are reporting, John Beilein will be the next head basketball coach at the University of Michigan. Coach Beilein is well respected by his colleagues as one of the best coaches in the game and I am excited to see him on our side.

Maybe I am expecting too much at this point but I can't wait to see this team on the floor next season. After 9 years of not making the tournament I hope that Coach Beilein can help change that next year. As I've said before I grew up with Michigan basketball and lived through some bad teams when I was in school. But I never gave up on them and I always went to the games, even when I was walking from Geddes down to Crisler to watch Ellerbe's last team. The basketball team hasn't been high on the priority list for many Michigan fans but I believe that is about to change. The press conference is scheduled for tomorrow so we'll probably learn more then about assistant coaches and other information.

There were reports that as many as 5 players were going to leave if Beilein was hired but that doesn't seem like the case as Deshawn Sims and Ekpe Udoh have both said they are staying. Now we wait for Beilein to meet with the incoming recruits and see what happens. I hope everyone stays but won't be surprised if Alex Legion decides to bolt. Michigan basketball is back and I can't wait to see it.

The Final Four

As the madness draws to a close we have the Final Four tomorrow. I got half my Final Four right this year which isn't very good so let's hope I can pick these games better.

Georgetown - Ohio State - I had both of these teams to the Elite Eight so I didn't completely miss on them. I like the Hoyas in this matchup and that's not just because I'm a Michigan fan. Oden has yet to go up against another big man his size in Roy Hibbert, and Jeff Green makes plays. This Georgetown team is definitely more experienced than Ohio State and I believe that will be the difference in the end. I said all along the Buckeyes are too young to win it all this year and I'm going to stand by that statement.

Florida - UCLA - This is the half of the Final Four I had correctly and I'm going to stick with my bracket and take the Bruins over the Gators. Last year UCLA was pretty much dominated by Florida but as numerous articles have mentioned there are two big differences for the Bruins this year, they have Josh Shipp, who didn't play at all during last year's run, and Darren Collison manning the point. DC has shown that he is one of, if not the best PG in the country this year and I believe he makes enough plays to put the Bruins over the top. The Gators return in tact from the team last season and have played great basketball to get back to the Final Four, but in the end I believe the revenge factor from last year motivates the Bruins enough to get the job done.

The coaching search narrows

according to the Ann Arbor News, to John Beilein, Kevin Stallings and Chris Lowery. MGoBlog is all for Beilein, while Maize N Brew isn't necessarily opposed to Beilein but doesn't believe he's the best man for the job. Initially I had my top three realistic candidates in Tony Bennett, Chris Lowery and Lon Kruger. But after reading about Beilein I was sold on him. My only concern, as many other had, was the fact that Michigan was not actively going after a lot of other top names but apparently they did behind the scenes. According to the Spokesman Review, Michigan contacted Tony Bennett's agent and "was especially vigorous in its pursuit of Bennett."

In addition there was a rumor on the radio that there is a big name mystery candidate that is in the mix. Who that is we can only guess. I wouldn't be upset with Beilein or Lowery but one guy I do not want is Kevin Stallings. One of my best friends is a Vanderbilt alum and he was shocked that we would even consider him for the job. That's good enough for me, but there are also numerous reports online that he has problems with his players and that there was almost a player revolt against him this season. Take that FWIW but if a large group of Vandy's fans wouldn't mind him gone then I don't want him at Michigan. With the Final Four this weekend the coach should be in place after this weekend. Then the coach can work on making sure that this year's recruiting class stay in tact.

The Fab Five

After I watched the recent piece done by ESPN on the Fab Five it got me to thinking about how much those guys meant to Michigan, and also to me. It’s crazy to think that it took place over 15 years ago. To tell you the truth, I don’t remember as much as I thought I did about watching them play. I definitely remember watching the title game and seeing Chris Webber call a timeout he didn’t have and locking myself in my room afterwards because I was so distraught over it. Aside from that it’s all a blur, moment spliced together like a collage that kids put together of their favorite athlete or celebrity. The pictures pasted onto a piece of paper with no beginning or end, no sense of the time of which games I watched, but one great memory.

I was only 10 at the time so it’s understandable how my memory isn’t all there regarding them but I know I they were my team and that brings a great nostalgic feeling. It’s that feeling that made me apply to Michigan and eventually attend school there. I’ve mentioned before and I’ll say it again, sports plays a large role in getting students to schools. There are always reports from schools that win National Championships that there are an increase in applications the following year, which is why the new basketball coach hire is so important. To get back on track, after my memories of the Fab Five and Desmond Howard I told my parents around the time I was a teenager that I would be attending Michigan. Sure it seems natural to someone growing up in Michigan, but definitely not for someone who grew up in Orange County, California not even an hour away from UCLA and USC.

There was something about Michigan that drew me to them. A combination of a lot of factors, the Fab Five, Desmond Howard, the Winged Helmet, Charles Woodson and the 97 National Championship team. Combine that with top notch academics and I don’t think there is another school in the country that can compete with the total package that Michigan has to offer. Kids now are too young to remember the Fab Five and do not realize the tradition of Michigan basketball. There are Michigan fans out there that are ashamed of the Fab Five and want nothing to do with them but I am not among them. Wherever I go, I wear my Michigan gear proudly and the Fab Five is definitely a part of that. Without the Fab Five I may never have gotten to know Michigan and I may not have applied and attended school there. The group of five Freshman in the early 90’s represented Michigan to the fullest and I am proud to know that they are part of the Michigan legacy because without them, I may not be a Michigan alum today.

Sweet Sixteen Part 2

Well my picks were 3 out of 4 last night and I was way off on Texas A&M. I've been getting plenty of shit from my friends about my claims that Acie Law IV is the most clutch player in the NCAA looks like I'll have to take my lumps on that one. Although I was dead on about Ron Lewis, although I really wish I wasn't, as he had 25 to help lead the comeback/choke job in San Antonio last night.

Onto tonight's Sweet 16 games:

North Carolina-USC: The Trojans did a great job in containing DJ Augustin, allowing Kevin Durant to get his but allowing nothing to the rest of the team. That strategy will not work against North Carolina, a well balanced team with a decided advantage upfront in Hansborough and Wright. The run will end for USC here as North Carolina will be too much for them to handle.

Georgetown - Vanderbilt: I've always liked Georgetown since back in the day from when Allen Iverson played for the Hoyas but Vanderbilt is one of my adopted schools because of one of my best friends and the fact that they're usually not good at major sports so it's easy to root for them. That said, I really want Vanderbilt to win, but I don't think it will happen. I don't think that Derrick Byars and co. have enough firepower to keep up with Hibbert and Green.

Florida - Butler: I don't like Florida, I don't think they are as good as they are made out to be but there's no way they're losing to Butler.

Oregon - UNLV: I haven't picked any upsets to occur yet so I think this is where I will. UNLV has played very well getting to the Sweet 16 and they got W's with Kevin Kruger missing everything in sight. I think he gets back on track and the Runnin Rebels advance to the Elite Eight. Oregon does have the type of offense that can explode on you but I think that Lon Kruger will have the answers for it.

Lakers and March Madness

This was supposed to go up on Monday morning after the Michigan coaching search post but work got in the way so here it is. Now onto the other two big stories of the weekend, starting with the slumping Lakers who have now been brought back to life by Kobe Bryant. He dropped 115 points in two games, which is just ridiculous. I wasn't able to watch the Friday game in Vegas but damn, watching those highlights it was ridiculous. So with the Kobe explosion the Lakers have now won 2 in a row and need to get back all the games we lost during the losing streak. Two road games now against Memphis and New Orleans/Oklahoma City which will cause problems knowing how the Lakers usually treat these games. Let's just see Kobe drop 50+ again and get the W's.

March Madness in Vegas was awesome, as it was last year. Sure I didn't win money again but being in a place with that many people and that many TV's is a lot of fun. This year we stayed at the Aladdin and just watched the games at their setup which had 5 projection screens to take in all the action. The only negative is because it gets so packed you have to sit in your seats all day long. Even though I was with 3 other friends and we rotated through in pairs to hold our seats I got sick of sitting there. I've never gotten sick of just sitting in one place and watching sports. Next year I'll probably try a different venue but I will be there.

Sweet Sixteen tips off later today and let's see how my picks turned out after the first weekend:

Makes me look smart: Winthrop over ND, VCU over Duke and Vanderbilt to the Sweet 16.
Makes me look like a moron: Davidson over Maryland, Creighton over Nevada, Gonzaga over Indiana, LB State over Tennessee and the biggest one of all Texas to the Championship game.

In today's games:

Kansas-Southern Illinois: The Jayhawks have too much talent for the Salukis. I don't think Kansas is as great as a lot of the country thinks but they should have no problems with Southern Illinois.

Pittsburgh - UCLA: UCLA is the pick here, they are my National Champion pick and I'm sticking with them. They struggled at times with the offense against Indiana but when they needed the buckets they came through with them. The Bruins have yet to play their best and I think it starts tonight; the teacher will defeat the student and UCLA advances to the Elite Eight.

Ohio State - Tennessee: These two teams played earlier in the year with Ohio State getting by in a close one at Columbus. I don't think Ohio State is as good as their hype, they are too young, but they will take care of business against the Volunteers. After watching the Buckeyes a number of times this year I will say it again Ron Lewis is the guy you must watch for. Everyone focuses on Oden, Conley and the rest of the freshmen, but Lewis the veteran is the guy that makes plays.

Memphis - Texas A&M - The Aggies have homecourt advantage in San Antonio and are a team to be reckoned with in the tournament. Acie Law IV aka Ice in my book is one of the most clutch players I've ever seen and if it comes down to it he will make the plays to keep A&M in the tournament. But I don't see that happening I expect A&M to take control and win comfortably. I believe, once again, that Memphis is overrated and they will get knocked out in this round. The Tigers never play any legitimate teams in conference play and always walk into the tournament with an inflated record. The way the Mean Green of North Texas gave them a scare just adds to my opinion.

Who's got next?

Plenty to recap in the world of sports over the weekend but the most important story on my list is the firing of Coach Tommy Amaker. Although I have nothing but great things to say about Coach off the court, he wasn't getting the job done on the court and that's the bottom line. Through all my interactions with him he was a great man and I will always have great respect for him. Even moreso after reading all the various quotes from the media and how he has handled this whole situation. MGoBlog has a great summary of all the news regarding the firing. After reading all that as well as the letter he wrote to the Maize Rage I have nothing but great things to say about him as a person and wish him success in whatever he does down the road. The following is the letter that Coach sent out to the Maize Rage on Saturday after he was let go:

Maize Rage,

I just want to thank all of you for all of the support that you've
given our basketball program and me during my time at Michigan. You've
been phenomenal, and I will always be grateful for your support and
enthusiasm for our team.

I truly loved coaching and teaching at Michigan, and I will always be
grateful to have had this opportunity. I loved representing you, and I
wish you all well.

Please continue to support the team and the new coach--they need you
and deserve your support!!

Thank you again for everything you've done for me and Michigan
Basketball, and GO BLUE!

Coach Amaker

Now it's onto the million dollar question, who will be the next coach at Michigan. There's a long list of candidates out there as Michigan will probably be the premier job out there this offseason. It's tough to say premier considering we haven't been to the tournament in almost 10 years but it definitely is considering the tradition and name brand recognition that Michigan has. Many like to refer to Michigan as a "sleeping giant" which it definitely is. As long as the administration is willing to pay, we will be in a great situation to land a very good coach.

As of now my top list of candidates would be Tony Bennett from Washington State, Chris Lowery from Southern Illinois and Lon Kruger from UNLV. Bennett and Lowery are both young coaches who have strong midwest ties. I would lean towards Bennett due to his experience in the Big Ten at Wisconsin, although Lowery does have one year at Illinois with Bruce Weber. But what puts Bennett over Lowery IMO is the job he did this season at Washington State, a team that was projected to finish near, if not at the very bottom of the Pac-10 this season. He was able to guide the Cougars to a 2nd place finish in the Pac-10 and a 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament before losing the double OT thriller to Vanderbilt on Saturday. Lon Kruger is also a name high up on my list because he already has proven he can win in the Big Ten at Illinois and has turned the UNLV program around and led them to the Sweet 16. I'm sure there are other names that will emerge but that's the top of my list now, which can always change. Whoever is hired, I just want to be part of the Madness next year, and I hope the new coach can keep all the recruits we have lined up as well.

It's here, my March Madness picks

March Madness begins today and here's my chance once again to look like a genius or an idiot. I'll break down key picks by region.

Midwest: Davidson over Maryland and Winthrop over Notre Dame, Oregon over Wisconsin in the Sweet Sixteen and Florida over Oregon to win this region.

West: VCU over Duke, Gonzaga over Indiana, UCLA over Kansas to win the region.

East: Vanderbilt to the Sweet 16, Texas over North Carolina and also over Georgetown to win the region.

South: Long Beach State over Tennessee, Creighton over Nevada, Texas A&M over Memphis and Ohio State to win the region.

So my final four will be Florida-UCLA and Texas-Texas A&M, I like UCLA and Texas in the Final with UCLA coming out on top. No updates this weekend as I'm heading to Vegas to partake in all the fun that is the NCAA Tournament in the Sin City. For those that haven't been to Vegas during the tournament, I highly recommend it, it's definitely the most fun I have when I go to Vegas.

Now only a couple days away

Another Selection Sunday has come and gone and Michigan is nowhere to be seen. Of course it's not like it was a surprise. So now we'll see Michigan make another run in the NIT where nowhere cares, even if they win it again. The Wolverines will start the NIT with a home game against Utah State on Tuesday. I wish I could not care about it but it's still Michigan so I'll still want to know what happened.

The real madness will begin on Thursday. In what is becoming a yearly tradition I'll be making my way to Vegas for the weekend. The East Region is ridiculous. Carolina, Georgetown and Texas could win it all and they're in the same region. I don't see depth like that in any other regions. With Brian Butch out for Wisconsin I can't see anyone in the Midwest region beating Florida, they probably have the easiest route to Atlanta. Now I don't want to divulge all my picks while some of my friends in the same pools can take my picks so I'll have those up on Thursday morning after the games start.

How many second chances will we get?

Thankfully March Madness is close because I can't stand watching the terrible play of the Lakers lately. Michigan got the W, albeit in an extremely ugly, sloppy game and now sets up another showdown with Ohio State which could give us the boost we need to make it to the NCAA Tournament. Thanks to ESPN360 I was able to watch the game at work. I still can't believe that the team shot 27%, had less than 49 points and proceeded to win the game. I'm not sure if they would have beat any other team in the conference aside from Minnesota with that type of performance.

On the positive side, granted it may not be all due to the Michigan defense, but Minnesota's 40 points is the new low in a Big Ten Tournament game. This team showed that it can hang with Ohio State on Saturday, but it was not able to make the plays down the stretch to seal the deal. I can only hope that we are in a similar position tomorrow but somehow find ways to get it done. Once again, tomorrow is the season, a win and we would be looking very good for an NCAA bid, although some Michigan fans don't want to see it so Coach Amaker is fired. But regardless of what happens he will be with us for another season so you might as well root for your team. The positive sign of the day? Minnesota has lost to the eventual Big Ten Tournament Champion the last 3 seasons, let's hope we can make it 4.

We'll miss you Air Georgia

Lost in the disappointment of the loss on Saturday was Brent Petway's haircut which was dope as hell. When I first saw it I couldn't believe it, I had seen the Block M he put into the back of his head but to do the winged helmet as hell was awesome. I really hope for the players sake they can make a run in the Big Ten tourney, I will always hold out hope. MGoBlog has a great post about the season and about Petway which is what reminded me of the cut.