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Date Title Body
I disagree. The number of…

I disagree. The number of auto-bids needs to be proportional to the level of competition within each conference.

The B12 is super weak now. There's no way in heck they should have a similar number of teams in the playoff when they lack even a singular blue-blood team. Most seasons, even their conference champion will be undeserving of a spot in the playoff. 

ACC is at least a step above the B12, but perhaps not a large step.

Starting this year, over-all record is a largely meaningless metric considering the new membership of the B1G and SEC. An 8-4 team from the B1G or SEC is probably a better team than a 1 loss or undefeated team from the B12 and/or ACC. That needs to be captured somehow and I don't trust any playoff selection committee to do such. Autobids will avoid the politics. 

A fine for exactly what?

A fine for exactly what?

The Michigan/Harbaugh response letters call into question if there is in fact any violation of NCAA rules at all!

B1G should apologize to Michigan. 

Note: If you tend to stream…

Note: If you tend to stream though a web browser connected to your TV like I do, Peacock will not work with Linux, even with Chrome or Firefox. It will work with Windows. Not sure about Apple products. 

Gonna go with two: Ben Hall …

Gonna go with two: Ben Hall (RB) & O’Leary (WR).

Hall has a combo of size and speed and seemed to have decent vision to round out the main RB rotation that *hopefully* gets everyone through the bowl games without significant wear and tear injuries. Could become an H2 type back.

O’Leary has moxie. He is a hard worker and finds a way to get the job done. That has a place on this team. 

Bimbos for pizza

Micky Rats…

Bimbos for pizza

Micky Rats for video games

Red Hot Lovers for the dogs and cheese fries. 

CER for coffee

Convenient Market for coin shop

Campus Bike & Toy for bikes, boards and gaming 

Top of my list too.

I did…

Top of my list too.

I did stumble upon a still active location in Side Lake, Minnesota several years ago.

Same pizza, same signs...even had the old song sheets. 

The Hold Steady after the…

The Hold Steady after the football opener and Duran Duran late August, both outdoors at the Minnesota State Fair.

If I'm not mistaken, their…

If I'm not mistaken, their keyboardist is a Michigan alumni. 

@ Minnesota (both Metrodome …

@ Minnesota (both Metrodome & The Bank) several times

@ Iowa several times

@ Wisconsin several times

@ tOSU for the tie.

@ UCLA for the loss in 2000. 110 F.

@ Oregon for the loss in 2003.

Michigan VS Alabama in the 2000 Orange Bowl for the win!

I don't think Phelps ever…

I don't think Phelps ever graduated college? If that's true, he wouldn't meet the minimum education level requirement to coach at Michigan. 

Value of Stanford and Cal…

Value of Stanford and Cal would be them losing games to the big dogs. Can't have a conference full of alphas alone. Zero sum game.

Also, give two additional warm weather locations for televised night games in the month of November, as well as the potential for B1G After Dark. Very valuable. 

Regarding the weather:

1)…

Regarding the weather:

1) It's typ not THAT cold in November in Michigan / Wisconsin / Minnesota....

2) NFL plays outdoors into January and the fans are fine.

3) Dress for the freaking weather and take the extra TV money and national prime time exposure. 

As many as we want? Doesn't…

As many as we want? Doesn't seem like the number of 'ships even is a thing any more. 

Of course, YouTube TV would…

Of course, YouTube TV would have to provide channels worth watching.

I find it difficult to find even one channel worth watching at any given time on that platform as it now stands.

If it wasn't for Fox Sports and BTN (largely Fox owned) which don't have a streaming service like the other major networks, I'd just sh*t-can the whole thing and make do with a combination of Pluto (for local news and entertainment), Paramount+ & Disney+.

tOSU football under Day…

tOSU football under Day reminds me a lot of Minnesota football under Jim Wacker, just with 4* and 5* talent. 

Wackers' teams put up some good numbers on offense and could pass and pass to run, but they couldn't run clock when needed and their defense was always soft.

Could be when you build a finesse team that passes to enable the run, no matter the label applied to the type of O, you just get soft D since that's what they see in practice all the time? tOSU just has soooo much talent, their O works better than Wackers' ever did and the softness on D isn't as pronounced, resulting in many many more wins.

Perfect date for the Spring…

Perfect date for the Spring Game.

Both Bo's and Ufer's birthday. 

unless he logged in on a…

unless he logged in on a device already allowed by Duo for that particular account?

I doubt we'd really care…

I doubt we'd really care even if they were. All was going to be medicaled out otherwise and losing Cade only freed up another 'ship. 

Burgers at the Bighouse for…

Burgers at the Bighouse for National Signing Day!

Invite the whole team and have it catered by the Brown Jug.

Burgers for everyone!!!!

Yes. A good yet imperfect…

Yes. A good yet imperfect solution for an imperfect system - and - they system still worked as a defacto first round playoff (but not exactly as it would in the NFL) in your 4 loss Iowa win scenario because Iowa knocked off either Michigan or Ohio State from the semi-automatic bid (4 slots for 5 champs) and bumped them into the pool of 1 loss teams for consideration if four 0 to 1 loss conference champs are not available to fill all the slots.

Follow?

No, because two losses , per…

No, because two losses , per step 2 in the logic, would disqualify that champion from representation in the CFP. B1G would be the odd conference out of consideration. 

CFP would be made up of champs form ACC, SEC, P12 and B12.

If another conference had a similar situation, then that would open the door for Notre Dame or a highly ranked non-champion team to take the open slot... 

I agree conference…

I agree conference championships should matter. I'll take it a step further than that and say the Power Five conference championships should be considered as a defacto first round of the CFP itself.

Group of Five teams shouldn't be in the running in this 4 team beauty contest. Yeah, the very best GoF teams can upset mediocre to good P5 teams on the right day when stars align, but no, those same teams wouldn't survive the week to week grind of a B1G or SEC....or even P12 slate.

The rough logic the CFP committee should use IMHO:

1) If all 5 conference champions have 0 to 1 loss, then take the top ranked 4. You'll have a championship of champions in that case. Note: Notre Dame is not in contention since they're not in a conference.

2) If 2 or more of the conference champions have 2 or more losses, then that opens the door to consider Notre Dame and/or non-conference champion teams with 1 loss for one of the slots not filled by a viable conference champion. 

That's what I'm seeing too…

That's what I'm seeing too. I got in thru their ticketing app. Might be worth keeping an eye on I suppose. I recall years back they suddenly released a bunch of their tix adjacent to their student section for cheap week of the game.* 

what's the URL? I'm having…

what's the URL? I'm having trouble finding a link to purchase on that site. Just says sold out.

I could make an argument to…

I could make an argument to use them like pitchers.

JJ as the starter. Fast start, more passing based offense, get some quick scores. Most games, we'd only need him for 2 quarters then he could rest / not risk injury.

Bring in Cade as a closer. Switch the offensive gears toward run-heavy and short passing. Score less but run the clock.

Still use Orji as the red zone and short distance wildcat.

Glancing at some OK State…

Glancing at some OK State scores from seasons past, I think tOSU is going to need their offense to score a lot of points against good competition.

The 4-2-5 will probably work against a lot of B1G teams, but they will struggle against teams that can run the ball on their schedule like ND, Wisconsin and Michigan. Maybe also PSU and MSU if they get their OL issues figured out. 

Monkeypoxs 

Monkeypoxs 

Bingo.

It also would allow…

Bingo.

It also would allow the B1G to get rid of the NCAA silliness around NIL (rules against signing bonuses but no enforcement which screws over teams like Michigan that take the rules seriously)

Alabama had a lot of TV draw last season outside of the SEC footprint, but much of that was likely because everyone assumed they would be a playoff team and wanted to see what they were all about. If this larger big media market league didn't / wouldn't play these SEC programs, I doubt they'd get half the viewership they now enjoy, even if they were a good team "playing school".

It would be a bit like an NFL fan choosing between watching another NFL game VS the best CFL team. Yeah, the CFL game might be really entertaining, but the NFL fan is more interested in other teams in their league which they play regularly or might face off against in the playoffs. 

1) Hartford / New Haven is…

1) Hartford / New Haven is the #30 US media market. 

2) Same could  be said about Rutgers and NYC, but B1G still got the $$$ from the TV market. Houston is the #8 US media market and Rice is a good school, but like I said, would be a project. With a little investment, and in a rich recruiting area like Texas, could easily be like Northwestern or better. Simply gives the league a foothold in a very valuable state. 

3) Wake is a pretty highly ranked school and would be a fit in that way. If they don't bring enough to the table, then leave them out. If we got Duke and UNC, then perhaps that would be overkill in the NC market. NC has the #22 & #24 US media markets. 

His wife has been off in…

His wife has been off in California this whole time, right? 

Seems like Mark might have it better as a tenured prof with his side action in A2 than go deal with that.

If he were really leaving we…

If he were really leaving we'd know by now. 

WCBN SPORTS has very good…

WCBN SPORTS has very good live broadcasts which are easy to sync with a TV stream and have zero commercials. You will get a constant flow of content even on media timeouts. 

https://www.mitransfer.org…

https://www.mitransfer.org/michigan-transfer-agreement

The U of M, in the same spirit to the state agreement, could put together a similar B1G Transfer Agreement, MAC Transfer Agreement and/or Alliance Transfer Agreement.  Wouldn't take much time or effort from the U of M and would greatly improve transfer recruiting. 

After all, why shouldn't the same classes that would transfer from EMU or WCC not also transfer from Toledo, Wisconsin or UCLA?

Yeah that has to do with the…

Yeah that has to do with the Michigan Transfer Agreement.

If you take core classes at almost any in-state school, community college, MAC, MSU or otherwise, they 100% transfer.

If you take the same classes at an out of state school, MAC (other than EMU, CMU and WMU), PAC12, wherever...they may not transfer (other than as general credits).

Seems arbitrary. 

The U of M takes in ~1200…

The U of M takes in ~1200 transfer students per year.

3/4 of those come from 4 year institutions, 1/4 from 2 year.

Having 5 or 10 of those 1200 also playing football probably wouldn't water down our academic standards. 

Georgia has an 80% blue chip…

Georgia has an 80% blue chip ratio.

Michigan has a 58% blue chip ratio.

To say "Georgia is more talented", while true in terms of player recruiting stars, probably doesn't have much meaning in this context. Yes, 80% > 58%, but once we're in the playoffs, that doesn't seem to matter. 58% is enough blue chip power to win the whole thing. It would have more impact in terms of depth off the bench, etc. in the case of injuries, but right now, that's not a big concern. 

Georgia is starting a 3* walk-on at QB also, so the 5* sitting on the bench doesn't really help them at all, and may also neutralize any advantage they may or may not have at WR. We are better off with Cade!

Michigan has done a great job in player development, fitting scheme to personnel, expanding the playbook, play calling, etc...

Good story!

In this case I…

Good story!

In this case I am saying "run the ball" for what I feel are legitimate reasons.

Iowa is a bit undersized on D and playing a 4-2 look from what I read. They got something called a "Leo" which is sort of like our old Viper but really just an extra safety moving around.

The only way Iowa wins is if they get a lot of INTs.

Our beefy OL and tailback should be able to feast all night on Iowa's D, putting Cade in 3rd and short, or in very few third downs at all. Iowa will be destroyed by late in the 3rd.

Further, we want to put no new wrinkles in for Iowa. They're not worth it. They're a basic team. We need to save anything novel still in our playbook for Georgia, Alabama or possibly both.

Run the ball. Run it over…

Run the ball. Run it over and over again.

10-4. Yes, and points per…

10-4. Yes, and points per drive mean more than the RZTD metric, yup.

One other consideration, Michigan is ranked #11 in terms of TOP and #53 in plays per game. With our short pass/run, I'd think we'd have fewer drives per game on average than say a pass-happy team. That makes the high number of RZ opportunities we've had that much more interesting. 

Maybe? But also perhaps the…

Maybe? But also perhaps the perception of our RZ offense isn't fully in line with reality?  

Michigan is ranked #7 in the nation in RZO.

9 games, 45 RZ opportunities resulting in 25 TDs, 17 FGs 42/42=.933

Ohio State is ranked #4 in RZO

9 games, 38 RZ opportunities, 25 TDs, 11 FGs 36/38=.947

So, over the same number of games, we've scored the same number of TDs in the RZ as Ohio State, and also 6 more FGs, but also had 7 more RZ drives.

Few teams have gotten into the RZ as many times as Michigan this season. This might speak to the high probability O we are running so our drives don't crap-out as much, or when they do crap out, we're in FG range rather than being forced to punt?

We're actually rank VERY…

We actually rank VERY high in terms of offensive points per drive.

Michigan is getting 3.24 points per drive.

That compares favorably with Ohio State, Georgia and Alabama.

Odd, I know, given all the talk about how bad our redzone O is. Either we're getting a lot of FGs where these other teams are coming up empty on drives, or we are very good at getting TDs outside the redzone, or maybe we're doing better than we think in comparison to other teams?

Don't overlook Maryland,…

Don't overlook Maryland, ranked #14 nationally in passing offense, paying Sparty a visit this weekend.

Whichever color the players…

Whichever color the players want/vote for.

I'm headed to Duluth to…

I'm headed to Duluth to watch Michigan play hockey vs UMD.

Huh...this doesn't exactly…

Huh...this doesn't exactly follow.

PSU just picked up an in-conference loss, and have yet to play Michigan, MSU & tOSU.

For Iowa to be in the CFP, they'd have to run the table.

For PSU to be in the Rose, they'd need to beat U of M, MSU & tOSU then fall to Iowa again in the B1G Championship. That doesn't seem highly likely at this point.

All the polls are goofy still. PSU getting a lot of love as a one loss team while getting credit for beating now unranked Wisconsin and Auburn as well as a "good loss" to Iowa, who is ranked high largely due to beating Iowa State (now unranked)...

We're half way thru the season and still somehow lacking many meaningful benchmarks. 

Blue pants and yellow tops.

Blue pants and yellow tops.

Drew Henson. He's clearly a…

Drew Henson. He's clearly a better QB just sitting on the bench. I can't believe we're not playing him.

 

Oh wait, what year is this?

Rutgers DL off-season weight…

Rutgers DL off-season weight gains from 24/7

Mike Tverdov (SR): 254 to 275

Brian Ugwu (SO): 234 to 250

Mayan Ahanotu (JR): 275 to 285

Wesley Bailey (FR): 231 to 250

Shawn Collins (FR): 228 to 245

Robin Jutwreten (JR): 265 to 280

Rene Konga (FR): 265 to 275

Jamree Kromah (JR): 261 to 275 Note:

Dwumfour is gone. He was their best.

I know Rutgers run D is ranked fairly high, but this is an undersized DL...about the size of some of our TEs. Our OL is gonna have a fun time. 

We'll prob wear all maize…

We'll prob wear all maize for the PSU whiteout.

No reason to wear road whites to a whiteout. 

They should just switch to…

They should just switch to hexadecimal. Problem solved.