Michigan 71, Wisconsin 56: From January to champions

No matter what happened today, few would have envisioned this Wolverines run just five weeks ago.

The plane incident and the wearing of the practice jerseys are inseparable parts of this team's lore, and rightly so. Today's Big Ten Tournament championship game, however, was not necessarily about resilience or moxie, but a Michigan team culminating a spree of splendid basketball -- one that began several weeks ago -- with one more top-notch showing.

This team isn't a plucky underdog getting by on grit, some luck and hot shooting. This team is just good.

In case any doubt remained as to the growth and quality of this team, Michigan did well to quash it with a convincing 71-56 win against the Badgers Sunday afternoon in Washington D.C., good for Michigan's fourth win in four days and its first Big Ten Tournament title since 1998, the tournament's inaugural year (a title that was later vacated).

Led by another shining performance from senior Derrick Walton (22 points, six rebounds, seven assists, two steals and just one turnover), Michigan led for 39 minutes, 42 seconds (the Badgers led briefly, 6-5, early in the game).

This won't go down as the best or most talented Michigan basketball team, but they did something even those stacked teams of a few years ago -- rosters with Tim Hardaway Jr., Nik Stauskas, Mitch McGary, Trey Burke, Caris LeVert, Glenn Robinson III, Jordan Morgan, and so on -- failed to do.

This one won the Big Ten Tournament. Four wins in four days -- a new banner will soon rise.

The shaky Michigan of January, one for which a tournament berth seemed a dubious proposition, was ushered out the door long ago. In that January apparition's stead, a reforged Walton, increasingly confident Moritz Wagner and D.J. Wilson, and Zak Irvin, once lost but then refound, led the way on the road to March.

Since Michigan's listless Feb. 4 home loss against Ohio State, they've been one of the best teams in the country, winning nine of 11 coming into today (with losses coming in overtime at Minnesota and on a last-second shot for the ages at Northwestern).

After defeating Illinois, top-seeded Purdue and Minnesota, only No. 2 seed Wisconsin -- against whom they split the regular-season series -- stood between the Wolverines and a conference tournament title.

For all of Irvin's well-documented struggles in late January and into February, the senior notched solid regular-season performances against the Badgers, scoring a combined 38 points on 15-for-28 shooting. He tallied a quick six points early today en route to nine first-half points, but fellow senior was the star of the first 20 minutes, putting up his first 12 points by making four of his first five three-point attempts.

Michigan extended its lead to 10 at 30-20 with five minutes left in the half. However, a 12-3 Wisconsin run, capped by a Bronson Koenig triple just before the buzzer, cut it to one at the break. Koenig, who did not play in the matchup at Crisler Center, tallied 13 first-half points on 5-for-7 shooting.

Michigan came out of the second half with a 6-0 run, with Wisconsin tallying its first points 5 minutes, 19 seconds into the half on a pair of Nigel Hayes free throws (the Badgers didn't convert their first field goal until more than eight minutes had elapsed in the half).

Almost two minutes later, Irvin extended Michigan's lead back to 10 with a strong and-1 take at the rim, putting him in double figures for each of Michigan's four tournament games.

With Wisconsin's offense scuffling, struggling with turnovers and, quite frankly, failing to convert some good looks, Michigan looked to keep its foot on the gas and avoid a fate similar to its regular-season collapse against Virginia Tech.

With just over eight minutes to play, a Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman triple hit the rim, bounced up approximately five feet, contemplated the meaning of life before swishing in and giving Michigan an 11-point lead -- it was just that kind of day. The Badgers quickly cut the deficit to six, however, with six minutes to play.

On the ensuing possession, Irvin again answered the call, this time curling around a screen for a catch-and-shoot at the arc over Jordan Hill to beat the shot clock and push the lead back to nine. Not long after, Duncan Robinson buried a triple from essentially the same spot on the same curl. After a stretch featuring several dribble-heavy possessions, Michigan was, as they say, "running its stuff" with precision.

 And just to cement the fact that this was Michigan's day, a frantic loose ball situation after Wisconsin pressured on an inbound pass led to a Wilson outlet pass to Abdur-Rahkman for a breakaway dunk. Then it was Wilson's turn for a breakaway dunk, then Walton's for a breakaway layup.

Up 13 with 1:08 left, chants of "Let's Go Blue" rang out, presaging the celebration of Michigan's tournament title.

It's hard to believe that, after all of this, there's still basketball to be played. Michigan will learn its NCAA Tournament seeding later today (but indications are it might be a 6-seed).

Whatever happens, the last four days gave Michigan fans a ride they won't soon forget.

And with few teams playing better basketball than the Wolverines right now, another ride could be on its way.

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 11/7/13

This past Saturday was a rough one for the Wolverines to say the least, but the season can still be somewhat salvaged, record-wise; that begins on Saturday, when Michigan looks to remain undefeated at home in the Brady Hoke era. On to the links:

• Irrespective of the situation at quarterback for the Huskers, Michigan's defense will face a stiff test attempting to check the Big Ten's leading rusher, Nebraska's Ameer Abdullah. 

• Corn Nation previews Michigan, foresees the Husker offense being a good match for the Michigan defense but isn't sure about their chances in a "defensive battle."

• Philip Nelson regains the QB1 role at Minnesota. The Gophers take on Penn State this Saturday at home as they look to go 8-2 on the season. 

• Texas A&M supposedly has no plans of playing former conference rival Texas again in the regular season. It's always sad when the light goes out on a top notch college football rivalry (see: Michigan-Notre Dame), and Texas A&M-Texas was one of those. 

• Urban Meyer refuted reports that Luke Fickell had interviewed for the FAU job. 

• Bucky's 5th Quarter gets to know BYU. The Badgers face an interesting, oddly placed November non-conference tilt against the 6-2 Cougars, who rank 14th in rushing and 28th in points against. 

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 10/22/13

Hey, would you look at that, we're just one week away from the start of Michigan basketball. Ah, I remember that Final Four run as if it were yesterday.

• Speaking of basketball, Alex Cook has a breakdown of Michigan's nonconference schedule that's worth a read to get you up to speed. 

• Spencer Hall went to Ole Miss this past weekend. "Ole Miss is never more afraid than when Ole Miss is winning." This sounds oddly familiar. 

• Things are not looking so good for my other school; disillusionment is the word of the day in Evanston. 

• Bucky's 5th Quarter talks about Adam Miller, one of the few positives for the Badgers hockey team this past weekend out east. 

• Aided by teams ahead of them in the rankings losing, Minnesota hockey moves to the top spot in the polls. The Gophers have a big test against Boston College coming up this weekend. BC pasted the Badgers last Friday, 9-2, at Conte Forum. 

• Joel Stave's accuracy continues to be an issue; he badly underthrew a wide open Jared Abbrederis deep on Saturday for what would have been a touchdown. To be fair, it sounded like there was a pretty stiff wind in Memorial Stadium. Also at that link, Chris Borland should be ready to go for UW's next game against Iowa (the Badgers are off this week). 

• In unfortunate injury news, Alabama safety Vinnie Sunseri is out for the season with a torn ACL. 

• The NCAA will announce its ruling on the Miami investigation this morning. 

Badgers stave off second quarter surge, roll to victory as Gordon crosses 1,000-yard mark

After watching the relatively low-scoring Minnesota-Northwestern game at noon and Michigan's high-scoring monstrosity after that, I was looking for something in between from Wisconsin-Illinois. Given the final score, I suppose it technically was that.

The Illini looked to recover from the drubbing they took in Lincoln two weeks ago. At 3-2, a bowl game was still very much on the Illini's radar, especially with several winnable games remaining.

The bad news for Illinois is that the Badgers absolutely pasted Northwestern last week, spending most of the game without the services of Jared Abbrederis. Illinois would have to play its best game if they were going to prevent Melvin Gordon and James White from carving them up like Ameer Abdullah did in Lincoln.

Tim Beckman's squad stalled on offense after taking a 15-yard penalty. The Badgers forced a punt, then went on to score on their first drive for the first time since the second game of the season against Tennessee Tech.

After James White punched it in from two yards out, Melvin Gordon dashed into the end zone on a score of his own of 26 yards. With an early 14-0 deficit nine minutes in and any pregame esprit de corps in the stadium having evaporated, the Illini had to find answers fast.

On the ensuing drive, Nathan Scheelhaase mishandled an end around pitch from one of his wide receivers. Wisconsin's Ethan Hemer recovered the fumble, giving Gary Andersen's offense a short field. On third & goal, Joel Stave went to play action, hitting tight end Brian Wozniak a yard into the end zone. Very quickly, this game took on the feel of a Bielema era blowout of Indiana.

Once again, Bill Cubit's offense fell behind, this time looking at another 3rd & 13, which Scheelhaase couldn't complete. Through four offensive possession, the Illini had -11 total yards.

The Illini got their first good news of the game, however, finally stopping Wisconsin on third down. On the ensuing Illinois drive, Aaron Bailey took a Wildcat carry for 12 yards, their best play of the game thus far. Scheelhaase picked up another first down with his legs. On the next play, Scheelhaase bought time, rolled to his left and hit a receiver for a 20-yard gain.

For the first time, the Illini were on the move and looking good. Nonetheless, the Badgers took a 21-0 lead into the second quarter.

The long Illini drive ended with just a field goal, but the Illini added to their total with a touchdown score on their next drive, mostly via a 51-yard strike to Steve Hull, who badly beat Wisconsin cornerback Darius Hillary. The Illini cut the lead to 21-10, and were finally finding success, not coincidentally after UW's Chris Borland left the game with a right leg injury.

Wisconsin went back to its bread and butter on the ground, marching 75 yards in 10 plays, capped by a Gordon one yard plunge.

Scheelhaase continued to show improvement, tossing a 39-yarder to Ryan Langford to bring the Illini to the UW 4. On 2nd & goal, Illinois once again brought in Wildcat QB Aaron Bailey. Bailey took a half step forward, stopped, and hit a wide open Matt LaCosse in the back of the end zone.

After digging itself a 21-0 hole, the Illini regrouped admirably. Heading into the half down 28-17, the Illini offense and defense had much more to be positive about in the second quarter. Whether or not the Badgers would continue to struggle on defense without Borland in the second half remained to be seen; however, the Illini were beating UW through the air deep, not exactly Borland's domain.

The Wisconsin secondary was a problem against Arizona State and Ohio State, and it didn't fare so well in the second quarter tonight either.

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 10/15/13

Somehow we're already halfway through October...time flies when you're having fun!:

• Indiana continues to work on the two-QB dynamic with Tre Roberson and Nate Sudfeld. 

• On the heels of a crushing loss at Camp Randall, Sippin' On Purple asks where the 4-2 (0-2) Wildcats stand. 

• The Illini look to bounce back after their loss in Lincoln; unfortunately for them, they'll have to do it against Wisconsin. 

• Kyle Bosch is the newest name to enter the 2013 line blender. 

• Like Michigan, Wisconsin hockey is off to a 2-0 start. Also like Michigan, the Badgers have some difficult upcoming tests on the road. 

• Speaking of hockey, this is yesterday's news but tickets for this year's Big Ten hockey tournament in Minneapolis this March are on sale. 

• Christian Hackenberg won CBSSports.com's "Rookie of the Week" distinction. 

• BHGP with a mid-season assessment of the Hawkeyes, who travel to Columbus this weekend. 

Michigan hockey jumps to No. 5, joins Minnesota, Wisconsin in top 5

Given the nature of college hockey, the rankings are fairly fluid and don't seem to mean a whole lot on a game by game basis. With that said, after an impressive 2-0 start for the Wolverines, Michigan jumped up to No. 5 in the polls.

Forward Alex Guptill returned from a suspension that saw him miss the opener against Boston College, notching two first period helpers against RIT in the 7-4 victory.

Joining Michigan in the top 5 are Notre Dame (No. 4), Minnesota (No. 3), Wisconsin (No. 2) and Miami (No. 1). So far so good for the Big Ten hockey conference. Ohio State and Michigan State are in the receiving votes category, with three and one, respectively.

Michigan returns to the ice this Friday, once again on the road, when the Wolverines will take on the 1-1-0 New Hampshire Wildcats. New Hampshire was up on Minnesota, 2-1, about halfway through the game on Saturday, but two Gopher goals later in the second period saddled the Wildcats with the 3-2 loss. That's not much to go off of, but it does prove that they are dangerous (they're currently No. 13 in the country). A split on the road this coming weekend would be a solid accomplishment.

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 10/10/2013

One of these days it's going to start feeling like fall. For now, links will have to do:

• I know people in the blogosphere like to make fun of the journalism one-sentence paragraph, but "Then they will try to destroy each other" sounds like a line, if slightly altered, meant for Ivan Drago. On a side note, it's too bad Michigan never showed interest in Allen Robinson during his recruitment; hindsight is 20/20, obviously, but it would be nice to have a guy like that in your receiving corps (and that is quite an understatement). 

• Bucky's 5th Quarter previews the Big Ten hockey season. Michigan opens against Boston College tonight at Yost; Michigan is without forward Alex Guptill, and the blue line will be full of youngsters. In that vein, Michigan and BC are the youngest teams in the country, so I'd expect some generally skittish, sloppy play tonight. Elsewhere at the top of the new-look B1G hockey conference, Minnesota opens against Mercyhurst on Friday. The Badgers open against Northern Michigan. 

• Also from Bucky's 5th quarter, a mid-season diagnosis hopes for improvement in the pass rush and wide receiving departments. 

• Urban Meyer says the "pass defense is very alarming right now." The Buckeyes are off this weekend before heading back to the Horseshoe to take on Iowa on Oct. 19. 

• "Population to the ball" might be Pat Fitzgerald's version of "hearing football." 

• Like Michigan, the Nittany Lions are hoping for improvement from the offensive line as they look to attack Michigan's "stout" run defense. 

• The youth movement is alive and well at the quarterback position in the Big Ten. 

• Wisconsin defensive coordinator Dave Aranda is counting on outside linebackers Brendan Kelly and Vince Biegel to bring the pass rush against Northwestern. 

• Sippin' On Purple's Rodger Sherman on why to hate Wisconsin. Although Michigan has not fared well against the Badgers post-2005, I can't find it within myself to hate or even dislike them; actually, I'm somewhat of a fan. Criticize their offensive style on the gridiron on the hardwood all you want, but I enjoy watching them play, and Madison is one of the best college towns around. 

• Michigan prepares for the Beaver Stadium crowd noise by whispering (insert "but they're not playing in the Big House!" jokes here). 

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 10/8/13

Who would've thought the Atlanta Falcons would be 1-4 and the New York Jets would be 3-2 at this point in the season? I'll admit I had my doubts about Geno Smith after the way in which West Virginia tanked in the second half of last season*, but he looked like an NFL quarterback last night (albeit against a struggling Atlanta team).

*Of course, a majority of the blame for that falls on the WVU defense; you can't score 40+ points every week.

Anyway, enough about the NFL and on to the college links:

• From Bucky's 5th Quarter, Gary Andersen talks a little bit about preparing for Northwestern's 2-QB offense. Also, the Badgers should be getting a few players back who missed the Ohio State game due to injury, including tight end Jacob Pedersen and center Dallas Lewallen (ESPN Wisconsin). 

• Rodger Sherman talks about Northwestern's unique situation heading into Madison this week, facing an unranked squad as an underdog. Given what happened in Tempe, the Badgers really shouldn't be unranked, and the line reflects that; the Badgers are 10-point favorites against the ranked Wildcats. 

• This is yesterday's news, but I haven't mentioned it in this space: Jake Ryan might play this Saturday at Penn State. Of course, I'd imagine his snap count will be closely monitored. It will probably take two or three games before he gets back into the swing of things. Luckily for Michigan, the schedule is fairly accomodating (on paper, at least). 

• Do you like bowl games? Are you a fan of a non-BCS conference team? Would you like to make a trip to the Bahamas? Should I continue to write this bullet as a series of questions? No, no I should not. Anyway, if you answered yes to any of those first three questions, this might be of interest to you. 

• Lake The Posts is frustrated about the amount of scarlet in the Ryan Field stands this past Saturday. Given Northwestern's record, College GameDay's presence and the amount of marketing that went on for this game in Evanston, I have to admit I was somewhat shocked to see that much scarlet in the crowd. Michigan fans are known for making Ryan Field home, but I'm not sure I've seen Michigan fans dominate Ryan Field like Ohio State did on Saturday. With that said, there's that whole "not everyone wants to wear maize" thing, which perhaps distorts my perception of Michigan crowds at Ryan Field over the years. 

• I'm not sure Minnesota was "in the game" until the 4th quarter--I'd say it was basically over when Michigan scored to start the second half--but I do agree that Mitch Leidner showed promise for the Gophers (Star Tribune). 

• Also re: Leidner, the Leidner-Maxx Williams connection might be Minnesota's best shot at any sort of passing game going forward, especially in the red zone (St. Paul Pioneer Press). 

• Despite Urban Meyer's well-earned reputation as a brilliant offensive mind, it was the relatively straightforward running game that powered the Buckeyes to victory in Evanston. 

• Josh Slagter of MLive looks at Penn State by the numbers. I still have to give the slightest of edges to Jared Abbrederis over Allen Robinson as far as the best receiver in the conference goes, but Blake Countess et al will have their hands full trying to slow down the Hackenberg-Robinson connection on Saturday. 

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 9/30/13

Ready or not, Michigan will once again be taking the field this Saturday. Fortunately, you won't have to think about that for a little while. Some Monday links for you to pick at:

• Iowa handed the Gophers a loss with relative easy Saturday afternoon at TCF Bank Stadium. The Daily Gopher has a recap, worth reading given Minnesota heads to the Big House this week. I agree with the penultimate paragraph; this was one Minnesota, for the sake of progress as a program, needed to win. 

• Jacobi has some Iowa-centric takeaways from Saturday's 23-7 Hawkeye win. 

• The ESPN Big Ten Blog looks at Week 5, and also compares the end of the first half Philly Brown touchdown to Miller's late game touchdown heave against Wisconsin in 2011. 

• Jerry Kill defends his decision to not yank QB Philip Nelson in favor of Mitch Leidner (Star Tribune). 

• Minnesota was an awful 4-for-13 on third down against Iowa, one of several stats in which the Hawkeyes thoroughly dominated the Gophers (TwinCities.com). 

• On the bright side for the Gophers, while their passing game has not been very good, Derrick Engel had a solid game in a losing effort. 

• Ex-Wolverines in the NFL post at Maize n Brew. Jordan Kovacs watches Breaking Bad, in case you were wondering. 

• Eleven Warriors talks about Saturday's win over the Badgers; as big as the win was for the Buckeyes, they lost starting safety Christian Bryant to a season-ending ankle injury. 

A Game of Thrones: No. 4 Ohio State 31, No. 23 Wisconsin 24

If you told me Joel Stave would pass for almost 300 yards and two touchdowns against the Ohio State secondary, I probably would’ve told you the Badgers’ shot at pulling off the upset were pretty high.

Unfortunately for Stave, his one interception of the day allowed the Buckeyes to extend the lead to 31-14 late in the third quarter. Even taking into account the wildly productive connection between Stave and Jared Abbrederis all game long, Wisconsin is not built to operate at such a deficit.

With vague questions lingering about Braxton Miller’s ability to jump back into the action and operate like the fully operational Death Star—and not the partially built one in Episode 6—the opening minutes would prove crucial. Miller quickly dispelled any notions of rust, zinging a laser of a touchdown pass on a skinny post to Evan Spencer, who zoomed by freshman corner Sojourn Shelton as if he wasn’t there.

Later in the quarter, Stave found Abbrederis as the pocket began to collapse around him (who finished with a whopping 207 yards on 10 receptions), resulting in a 36-yard score and Bradley Roby on the ground in the 6'2'' receiver's wake.

Wisconsin defensive coordinator Dave Aranda’s side of the ball had a rough go of it in terms of getting pressure on Miller. A few minutes after the Abbdrederis score, Miller rolled to his left and rocketed yet another laser, this time to Devin Smith in the corner of the end zone for six.

The Buckeyes added a field goal with 4:33 to go in the second, extending the lead to 17-7 and necessitating a response from the Badgers. Once again, Stave was up to the challenge, as he found Sam Arneson for an 11-yard touchdown pass with 1:30 to go in the first half. Entering the half down 17-14, on the road, with Miller looking like he was picking up exactly where he left off, would have been a perfect outcome for the underdogs.

Of course, the half did not end without more fireworks. Miller hit the speedy Philly Brown on a 40-yarder with one second left, sending the Badgers into the half down 10 and perhaps reminding UW fans of Miller's late game touchdown heave in the same stadium two years ago.

Other than Miller’s ability to exploit UW’s vulnerable secondary with ease, the biggest issue confronting the Badgers was the inability to do much on the ground, which is of course where they do their business. Melvin Gordon finished the day with 74 yards on 15 carries, making for a respectable mark of 4.9 yards per carry. However, his longest gain of the day was just 16; for a player who has made a living busting off long gains, the absence of such in this contest was one of several death knells for the Badgers in Columbus.

In even worse news for the Badgers, senior tailback James White managed just 31 yards of his own, albeit on only eight carries. White is no slouch when it comes to making big plays either, as his dynamic touchdown run against Purdue last week showed. Nonetheless, with Gordon unable to shake free, the Badgers needed more tough yardage from their senior back.

With that said, as Michigan fans know, getting production on the ground is contingent upon good blocking. For most of Saturday night, a Buckeye front seven that has been universally deemed talented but young and “raw” stuffed the UW ground game, forcing Stave to beat the Buckeyes through the air.

To Stave’s credit, he often did just that, albeit mostly to just one receiver. On that front, I have to say that although I haven’t seen nearly as much of Penn State’s Allen Robinson—who many deem the best receiver in the conference—it’s difficult for me to say that Abbrederis doesn’t deserve that distinction.

With the Badgers down 10 entering the second half, an early third quarter score would be a healing salve on a 10-point wound that threatened to become fatal.

The Badgers forced a Buckeye punt, but proceeded to go three-and-out after failing to convert on 3^rd & 6. Wisconsin's front seven showed its resolve on the ensuing Buckeye drive, giving up three yards on first, second and third down before stuffing Carlos Hyde on 4th & 1. 

Wisconsin thus started their next drive at their own 39, but that field position was immediately squandered. Ohio State linebacker Curtis Grant sacked Stave on first down for a loss of nine. Then, the dam took on its biggest fissure in the game to that point. 

Bradley Roby reeled in Stave's only interception of the game, returning it to the Wisconsin 32. The Buckeyes rushed just four on the play, but Ohio State DE Adolphus Washington badly beat left tackle Tyler Marz to the outside. Washington hit Stave right as he threw, leading to a wobbly duck of a pass to an area of the field with nary a Badger to be found. In truth, you can't even fault Stave for this one; Washington is a great player, but you simply can't get beat like that, especially with the Buckeyes only bringing four. Easier said than done, of course.

Nonetheless, with an opportunity to hold the Buckeyes to just a field goal try, Wisconsin gave up a first down on 3rd & 8 at their own 15. This might not have mattered in the end, but being down two scores instead of three would have been a small victory there heading into the final quarter.

The UW defense had yet another chance to hold the Buckeyes, on third & goal from the one-yard line. Miller pulled the ball from Hyde, and with what appears to be LB Joe Schobert in his face, surgically darted a perfect low ball between Dezmen Southward and Darius Hillary, right into the hands of Philly Brown. 

From there, the game of catch-up took an extra order of magnitude of desperation. 

I don't remember what OSU was doing defensively (and don't have the game in my DVR), but the Badgers finally found some success on the ground, with Gordon and White picking up gains of eight, four, 10 and five on UW's ensuing drive. Following a holding penalty on Bradley Roby, White popped off a 17-yard score to give the Badgers life with 13:47 to go. The 9-play, 75-yard touchdown drive was Wisconsin's best of the night. 

Miller started the next Buckeye drive with a 15-yard scamper, an "oh no" moment if there ever was one. The Buckeyes drove down to the Wisconsin 28, where they were met with a 3rd & 4. Backup nose tackle Warren Herring brought Miller down on the play, forcing a punt. As the announcer in Little Giants said: Mr. Momentum may be changing his address. 

The two squads then traded three-and-outs, leaving Gary Andersen's team just 4:38 to score 10 points. Stave completed a big 3rd & 9 pass to Abbrederis (who else) to keep the drive alive. Stave hit Abbrederis again for 23 and Alex Erickson for 11, but the drive fizzled out at the Buckeye 24. This time, placekicker Kyle French put a 42-yarder through the uprights to cut the lead to seven with 2:05 to go. 

Fortunately for Andersen, the Badgers had all three of their timeouts, and he used every single one of them. The Badgers forced a punt, and were left with 1:29 to go 90 yards. Given Abbrederis's big play ability, this wasn't an inconceivable outcome. However, the Buckeyes certainly knew this; as such, Stave would need to connect with his secondary targets if the Badgers were truly going to make the Ohio Stadium crowd sweat in the Columbus night.

After an incompletion on first down, a fumble on second, a completion for 13 yards on 3rd down, the Badgers were met with a 4th & 4 for the ballgame. Stave was not able to target Abbrederis on his first three attempts, and the fourth would be no different; OSU's Doran Grant broke up Stave's attempt to Jeff Duckworth, ending the comeback effort in four efficient downs. 

The Badgers fought hard, but the Buckeyes were simply too much at the skill positions for the leaky UW secondary to handle, and the Badgers ground game never really took off. For the first time all season, the UW offense was without a single 100+ yard rusher. 

If the Badgers are to have a shot at a fourth straight Big Ten title, they will need to win out and hope for two Buckeye conference losses. The way things are going, that seems unlikely; Saturday was likely the coronation of the Buckeyes upon the Leaders division throne. 

Miscellaneous Notes: 

• Like Michigan, the Badgers' pass rush has been less than fearsome to date. Although Miller was able to avoid trouble a majority of the time, backup NT Warren Herring picked up two sacks on the day. 

• Chris Borland, the James Laurinaitis of Badger linebackerdom, picked up a whopping 16 tackles in this one (10 solo), including half of a TFL. 

• The Badgers have to be kicking themselves about OSU touchdown at the end of the first half. Keep them off the board there and perhaps the second half plays out another way. 

• Kyle French's missed field goal from 32 yards out did nothing to assuage Badgers fans concerns about the placekicking. The miss seemed like a minor footnote of an event at the time, but given that the drive started with a 64-yard reception by Abbrederis (about 47 yards coming via YAC), French's miscue was an ominous moment for a Badger team that was simply looking to hang on as long as possible. 

• I have to say it again: Jared Abbrederis is as impressive a receiver as any I've seen this season. 

• From the Buckeye perspective: Miller's ability to move around and maintain velocity on his downfield throws is positively Vick-esque. Anyone who was calling for Kenny Guiton to get the start (I didn't pay enough attention to know if they exist, but, they probably did) feels pretty foolish right now. 

• Miller's Badger counterpart squashed much of the doubters' sentiments after his performance Saturday night. The lone interception proved costly, but when you figure in the road environment and the absence of the usually robust running game, it's a wonder he only erred once. 

• At 3-2 (1-1), the Badgers have a much needed bye week coming up before getting Pat Fitzgerald's Wildcats at Camp Randall on Oct. 12. As important as Saturday night was for the Badgers, the next one will go a long way toward determining the tenor of the rest of the season for UW. I wouldn't have said this at the start of the season, but the upcoming three-game stretch against Northwestern, at Iowa and at Illinois will prove to be a legitimate challenge. I'm sitting here trying to think what would be an acceptable record there for the Badgers, but I'm not really sure anymore. Is Illinois really as good as they've looked against Cincinnati and Miami (OH)? I don't know, but the Illini's trip to Lincoln this week will do a little bit to answer that question. Many, many points will be scored, that much is certain. 

• On the other hand, the Buckeyes travel to Evanston this coming Saturday, where College Gameday will be setting up shop. The Wildcats did not exactly impress in their last two victories against Western Michigan and Maine, but Fitzgerald's squad is likely OSU's biggest test until their trip to Ann Arbor, depending on how bullish you feel about Iowa, Illinois (where the Buckeyes play on the road this season) and Penn State, and how down you are vis-a-vis Michigan's recent struggles. Either way, this should be another good one and a major test for a surging Northwestern football program. 

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 9/27/13

Take the week off, Big House. You deserve it. 

It's a sunny, 75-degree, decidedly un-Fall like day here in the Windy City; I guess we'll have to wait a little while longer before football weather arrives. In the meantime, have some links to prepare you for tomorrow's slate of games around the country: 

• On the injury front for Wisconsin--mentioned in Breaking Points yesterday--Coach Gary Andersen cleared a few things up, but didn't give anything definitive on tight end Jacob Pedersen, a big piece of the Badgers' passing game. Without Pedersen, star receiver Jared Abbrederis is Wisconsin's only dangerous receiving threat. That is not a formula for success against a very good Buckeye secondary, especially with Bradley Roby set to match up against Abbrederis. On the bright side for UW, Peniel Jean will go, meaning freshman Sojourn Shelton won't have to make the start. On the not so bright side, freshman center Dan Voltz will likely make his first start. This game would have been tough enough if the Badgers were completely healthy, but now, I'm thinking my prediction of a UW 7-point loss might have been slightly optimistic in favor of Andersen's squad. 

• Eleven Warriors previews this all-important Leaders division clash. Land Grant Holy Land has a preview, too. 

• Keys and storylines for LSU-Georgia. 

• Ron Higgins of NOLA.com talks SEC defense, and why it might not be as great as it has been. 

• If you're looking for some early season rivalry action, the always underrated Minnesota-Iowa game is your ticket. As always, Floyd of Rosedale is on the line, and the Gophers look to bring that pig back to the Twin Cities. The Daily Gopher has a Q&A with RossWB of Black Heart Gold Pants. 

• Four factors from BHGP for Saturday's game at TCF Bank Stadium (3:30 ET, ABC). 

• The undefeated Ole Miss Rebels head to Tuscaloosa this Saturday; Roll Bama Roll previews the Bo Wallace-led Ole Miss offense. It's been two weeks now since the Texas A&M game, so I'm not sure this counts as a "trap" game, but the Crimson Tide cannot take this Ole Miss team lightly. 

• Andrew Gribble of al.com talks to Hugh Kellenberger of the Jackson Clarion-Ledger about Ole Miss-Bama. 

• ESPN guys talk Oklahoma-Notre Dame. The Sooners will be making their first trip to Notre Dame Stadium since 1999. 

Bye Week Breaking Points: Badgers and Buckeyes

With Michigan taking a much needed week off, this is a great week to focus on a big time Leaders division matchup at the Horseshoe between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Wisconsin Badgers. Ohio State, of course, has national title aspirations, while the Badgers are looking to win their fourth Big Ten championship in a row, including their third straight Big Ten championship game victory. Unfortunately for the Badgers, a loss this Saturday will probably prevent them from having the opportunity to play for it.

Were it not for a truly bizarre ending in Tempe (yes, Wisconsin handled it poorly, but there is simply no excuse for the lack of any sort of action by the referees), this would be a meeting of undefeated squads. Alas, that is not the case, but the Badgers are fresh off of a cathartic thumping of Purdue and the Buckeyes had themselves a little tune-up game against FAMU last week to go 4-0.

I've mentioned this here before, but, records aside (i.e. Michigan and Northwestern), I think these are the two best teams in the Big Ten right now. Regardless, this should be a fun game to watch, as this has become an increasingly exciting series the last few years.

A few points bouncing around in my head about this matchup is we get closer to Saturday night:

Braxton Miller rustiness vs. Dave Aranda. With Miller likely to start (despite being listed as a co-starter with Kenny Guiton), rustiness could be an issue for Miller early on. Miller played the opener against Buffalo and just a bit of the first quarter against San Diego State. Badgers defensive coordinator Dave Aranda might look to capitalize early on by trying to confuse Miller with various looks out of the 3-4; B5Q has a nice post on that very thing, highlighting what Aranda did against Purdue last week. The Buckeyes cannot afford to let any Badgers defenders through for clean hits against Miller (as we saw in last year's Michigan game).

UW's three-headed rushing attack vs. OSU rush defense. It's generally fruitless to cite most forms of statistics at this point in the season, but, FWIW, OSU is 9th in rushing defense, allowing just 2.61 yards per carry. Naturally, the Badgers are third in rushing offense, spearheaded by senior James White--who has seemingly been here for (12) years like LL Cool J--and Melvin Gordon*, with freshman 4-star Corey Clement picking up some serious production in Wisconsin's three blowout wins. The Badgers have accomplished this with an offensive line that is good but by no means one of their better lines in recent memory. Gary Andersen's squad had a tough time running up the middle against Arizona State, but found great success on Gordon fly sweeps:

Can they do the same thing against an Ohio State front seven that, before the season, was talented but inexperienced (and now has four games under its belt)? Maybe. Either way, this will be a huge test for Ohio State's linebackers, especially strong side linebacker Joshua Perry and middle linebackers Curtis Grant.

In any case, the Buckeyes haven't exactly faced stiff competition:

What the Badgers bring is a powerful offense than can break a defense’s spirit. Ohio State’s young defensive front has not faced an offense capable of running the football. Buffalo (112), San Diego State (113), California (97) and Florida A&M (107 in FCS) think of the run as an afterthought.

If I had to take a guess, the Badgers will likely have some success early on the Buckeyes defense gets used to the uptick in run game quality. How the Buckeyes responds after that will be the most important facet of this game.

I really liked this boxing-themed lede regarding Ohio State's defense against Wisconsin's rushing attack.

*Gordon's production alone is exceeds that that of 45 FBS teams.

Devin Smith/Philly Brown vs. UW secondary. The secondary was a major concern for the Badgers coming into the season, and in their lone game against decent competition, Arizona State's Taylor Kelly threw for 352 yards (albeit on 51 attempts). Meanwhile, Smith and Brown have to date combined for 32 receptions (16 apiece exactly), 450 yards and seven touchdowns. Smith's 90-yard touchdown reception against Cal was the longest scoring play in Ohio State history. The Badgers have a solid run defense, but can be had over the top. Look for Miller/Guiton to go over the top to take advantage of this weakness.

Joel Stave vs. accuracy. During the offseason, my opinion of the Wisconsin quarterback race, as an outsider, was that Stave was clearly the guy with the most upside and probably the best quarterback on the roster, period. I still think that is true, but after attending last week's game at Camp Randall, I'm starting to understand some of the gripes Badgers fans have re: his accuracy. Stave does well on the short stuff and has a decent arm (as far as I can tell, certainly better than Curt Phillips's arm) but continues to flat out miss open receivers. This was most glaring late in the third quarter, when Stave vastly underthrew Jared Abbrederis downfield. Has Stave thrown it anywhere near Abbrederis's catching radius, the senior receiver likely could have walked to the end zone untouched.

Simply put, if Stave can't stretch the Ohio State defense with his arm, the Badgers are not going to have two 100+ yards rushers, let alone three. I think Stave is a solid quarterback, but if he can't connect deep with Abbrederis--who should be able to get open, even while matched up against Bradley Roby--then the Badgers are doomed to running into stacked fronts with only moderate success at best.

The return of Carlos Hyde vs. Jordan Hall. Although the spotlight has been on Guiton for his performance in Miller's absence, tailback Jordan Hall has quietly put together a stellar stat line while Hyde served out a suspension. Hall has racked up 422 yards and eight touchdowns at 6.2 yards per carry. With that said, Hyde is the more talented player, and it will be interesting to see how he is deployed on Saturday.

With Miller returning from injury, you'd think that Urban Meyer would like to avoid running Miller too much until it's absolutely necessary.

UW nose tackle Beau Allen vs. Ohio State interior offensive line. The enormous Allen (6'3'' 325 pounds) has had to adjust to being the man in the middle in the base 3-4 defense, but it seems he's done an excellent job thus far, especially against Arizona State. The Sun Devils' interior OL couldn't hold off Allen; as a result, they ran for just 2.8 YPC.

The Buckeyes have the pure speed and athleticism to attack the edges, but if the Buckeyes want to have success up the middle, Buckeyes center Corey Linsley and guards Andrew Norwell and Marcus Hall will need to eat their Wheaties. If anything, the Buckeyes might want to loosen up the defense with the pass first.

Wisconsin vs. injuries. I didn't quite realize this until reading this B5Q post, but the Badgers are pretty banged up, to the point that center Dallas Lewallen, tight end Jacob Pedersen and corner Peniel Jean might not even play this week; losing Jean puts some serious pressure on young corner Sojourn Shelton. A freshman Shelton checking either Smith or Brown is not exactly a winning proposition for the Badgers.
---

Really, this is a pretty simple game. Wisconsin will try to run the ball; Ohio State will try to force Stave to beat them. The Buckeyes will look to strike deep against a vulnerable Badgers secondary, while the Badgers will look to make Miller uncomfortable with a wide variety of presnap shifting and blitzes coming from unexpected places. Each team has vulnerable spots on defense (Wisconsin's secondary, possibly OSU's front seven against decent competition), and quarterback play, as it always is, will be crucial, but for different premises. Can Stave make plays downfield when Abbrederis manages to get open? What will Braxton Miller look like after not playing the last nine quarters of OSU football?

Making score predictions is a lot like playing darts with one eye covered; but, we do them anyway, because we like to put a nice little bow of closure atop the things we've written.

Although I've developed a bit of an affinity for Madison, I'm not sure that the Badgers leave Ohio Stadium with a win. Gordon and White should have decent evenings, but I'm not sure I trust Stave to connect on big plays when they're there to be made. I also foresee a big play or two through the air to Smith/Brown for the Buckeyes. Ohio State 27, Wisconsin 20. 

HTR's Top 25: Week 5

I missed most of Saturday's football slate due to being out and about in Madison for the weekend, so the following is based mostly on what I've read and highlights, for what it's worth. Week 4 wasn't a particularly exciting one, unless you love uncompetitive blowouts or awful football (e.g. Michigan-UConn). As a result, the rankings didn't do much shifting around this week:

Rank	Team
1	Alabama
2	Oregon
3	Ohio State
4	Clemson
5	LSU
6	Stanford
7	Florida State
8	Louisville
9	Georgia
10	Texas A&M
11	Oklahoma State
12	South Carolina
13	UCLA
14	Miami (FL)
15	Oklahoma
16	Wisconsin
17	Northwestern
18	Washington
19	Ole Miss
20	Florida
21	Michigan
22	Baylor
23	Notre Dame
24	Texas Tech
25	Arizona State

• Very little change this week other than dinging Michigan once again for a poor showing at UConn; No. 21 might be harsh for a 4-0 Michigan team, but after watching the Wolverines the last two weeks, I cannot say that they are a top 20 team. How many of the teams ahead of them in the ranking above do you feel confident about Michigan's chances against?

• In my mind, Wisconsin is a fringe top 10 team, but that loss--or, what is going down in the record books as a loss--is keeping them out for now. The Badgers have a big opportunity to jump into the top 10 this week should they leave Columbus with a victory. 

• LSU's Jeremy Hill is quite good at football. This is where we note that Michigan is going to have a monstrous offensive line in 2015 or 2016 and nod our heads. One day Michigan will be able to run the ball like that again...one day. 

• If this was the NFL, then Kenny Guiton is totally doing his best Matt Flynn impression circa that one time he threw for 480 yards in that one game with the Packers. 

• This week, top 10 teams played: FIU, Bethune-Cookman, North Texas, New Mexico State, and Florida A&M. Why? What is the point? 

• Speaking of teams playing no one of consequence, Minnesota is 4-0 after completing its non-conference slate (UNLV, New Mexico State, Western Illinois and San Jose State). With that said, backup QB Mitch Leidner looked pretty good while filling in for injured starter Philip Nelson on Saturday. The Gophers get Iowa this Saturday for their Big Ten opener, an important matchup for both squads. The Hawkeyes looked about as good this past weekend as they have in some time (albeit against Western Michigan), but the Gophers need to win start winning games like this, especially at home. Although Iowa failed to go bowling last season, they did beat the Gophers; as always, Floyd of Rosedale is on the line. 

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 9/19/13

Another dreary, sun-less day here in Chicago...in other words, it's fall. Some hopefully not so dreary links:

• Beau Allen, the nose guard in Wisconsin's new look 3-4 defense, enjoys Trolli Eggs. 

• Brad Edwards briefly previews Michigan-UConn (and KSU-Texas). 

• Bruce Feldman goes behind the scenes in College Station to see how the Aggies prepared for Alabama. 
• Bret Bielema has the fifth highest salary in the Southeastern Conference. With bonuses, he'll be making just over a cool $1 million more than he made last season in Madison. 

• Hoke is pulling for the Spartans this weekend (and takes a light jab at the refs from the Wisconsin-Arizona State game).

• Penn State and West Virginia will renew a series that hasn't been played since 1992, with a home-and-home between the two schools set for 2023 and 2024. 

• The Only Colors has a Q&A with Notre Dame blog One Foot Down. 

• This is a few weeks old, but Sam Marshall at SB Nation's "The UConn Blog" wrote about his trip to the Big House in 2010. It's always funny reading the awed impressions of outsiders (including the recent write up by a USF fan) when so many Michigan fans find the Big House environment lacking. 

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 9/18/13

It's 70 degrees today in Chicago, but the last few days have started to feel like fall. Here are some Wednesday links:

• Rittenberg diagnoses what's ailing the Big Ten. "Certain position groups have gone downhill in the Big Ten in recent years, but the league has had no problems producing elite defensive linemen." Yeah, no problem at all. 

• Maine, Northwestern's opponent this week, has a player named Dakota Tarbox. Cormac McCarthy dystopian character? No, a freshman tight end. 

• Borges on Saturday: "If you look at the video, there's some really nice plays," he said Tuesday. "Surrounded by garbage."

• Bucky's 5th Quarter gets to know Purdue. I'll be in Madison this weekend and hopefully at the game (which would make my first visit to Camp Randall). 

• Zach on Michigan's new basketball ticket policy. 

• Tom Deinhart and the ESPN Big Ten Blog guys have the Illini going bowling in Dallas. As in, they will be playing in a bowl game, not trying to pick up a 7-10 split as George Strait plays in the background. 

• Joe Tiller had some not so optimistic things to say about the road ahead for Darrell Hazell's Boilermakers. 

Big Ten Network to air 27 hockey games in 2013-14

SOURCE: Jeff Wilcox

Everyone's mind is still focused on the gridiron, but Big Ten hockey isn't too far away, and the the Big Ten Network released its 2013-14 slate of games yesterday: 

BTN will provide unprecedented coverage of men’s ice hockey in 2013-14, the inaugural Big Ten Hockey season, including eight straight weeks of “Frozen Friday” doubleheaders in January and February and the 2014 Hockey City Classic at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

BTN also will televise the entire Big Ten Hockey Tournament, set for March 20-22, 2014, at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn. Men’s Ice Hockey on BTN is presented by Buffalo Wild Wings.

Of the 27 games, Michigan is featured in eight; only Minnesota gets more TV time (nine pre-tournament BTN games). Wisconsin has six, including a Jan. 10 meeting against Michigan in Madison and the same matchup Jan. 31 in Ann Arbor. The Big Ten basketball season will be underway by then, but if you're looking for something to whet your appetite in the week or so after the bowl game, this is a great way to do it. 

In case you missed it, College Hockey News's preseason rankings includes three Big Ten squads: Wisconsin (No. 3), Minnesota (No. 6) and Michigan (No. 8). 

As an admittedly casual college hockey fan, I'm excited to see what this "new" conference arrangement holds. Michigan being in the same conference as Minnesota and Wisconsin is without a doubt a great thing. Of course, Michigan State and Ohio State remain on the schedule, and you can add a fledgling Penn State to the mix this season. Whether Michigan can bounce back and start another tournament streak remains to be seen, but, either way, I think Big Ten hockey will be a little more accessible to the casual fan (such as myself) than the CCHA sometimes felt. Losing Notre Dame and Miami as regular opponents is unfortunate, but I'd personally rather play Minnesota and Wisconsin, anyway. 

For takes elsewhere (especially ones more informed than mine), Bucky's 5th Quarter isn't too happy about the schedule. 

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 8/27/13

Fouad Egbaria

I'll probably write something longer before Saturday hits, but, for now, here are a few links from around the world of college football:

• Wisconsin's depth chart is out, and there appears to have been some shuffling in the secondary. The starter at QB hasn't been officially announced, but, as I've guessed most of the summer, Joel Stave will likely get the nod. Kyle French will hold onto placekicking duties for the Badgers despite what seemed like a legitimate challenge at one point from Jack Russell, who is now injured. Also of note: UW has a linebacker named Conor O'Neill. I miss Ann Arbor. 

• NC State head coach Dave Doeren covers "Wagon Wheel." Given the level of angst over Darius Rucker's cover of the same song, I'd imagine many might not like this, but...hey. I have nothing snarky to say. I kind of like it. 

• Oklahoma State loses its starting left tackle for the season. Nobody even look at Taylor Lewan, please. 

• Myerberg gets to Nebraska at No. 11 in his offseason countdown. The song remains the same in Lincoln: the Huskers will score more points than most teams, but can they stop anyone? More importantly, can they stop the run? Depending on what UCLA (minus Johnathan Franklin) and Southern Miss (62nd in rushing offense last season) bring to the table, that run defense might not get truly tested until November 2 against Northwestern. 

• A Northwestern football primer from Rodger Sherman at Sippin' on Purple. #LetsGoWarriorPoets

• Taylor Lewan clocks in at No. 2 in BTN's player ranking. Devin Gardner (No. 8) is the only other Wolverine on the list. You'd think Jeremy Gallon would make it on there, but, you knows, lists. 

• Speaking of Gardner...he's not a captain, but I think things will be all right. I realize mentioning "Chad Henne wasn't captain" is in the same family as "but Mike Hart was a 3-star," but there you go. 

Shameless Self-Promotion Time: Offseason B1G Preview

Hello there. It's been a little while. We are only 40 days from Michigan football, so it's probably a good time to at least attempt to revive this thing after a long, depressing spring/summer of White Sox baseball.

Anyway, I haven't been writing much but I do have a few previews to share from over at Maize n Brew:

• Today, I took a look at the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The verdict is fairly reductive: the schedule sets up nicely (no Wisconsin or Ohio State), but the front seven absolutely must get better. 

• On July 8, I talked about my grad school team of choice, the Northwestern Fightin' Warrior Poets. Yes, fan of a big name team, Northwestern is a contender for the division this season. This is always a team to watch, but it's usually more fun when they're not playing your team...that is, unless your team decides to engage in some late game heroics. 

• With a new coach coming into Madison, I took a look at the squad tucked between Lakes Mendota and Monona. The secondary, offensive line depth and the need to settle on a single quarterback are the primary points of concern for the 2013 iteration of the Wisconsin Badgers. 

• And finally, I talked a bit about the Michigan State Spartans on June 24, a squad with a fairly considerable range of potential outcomes. The defense will once again be strong, but will it be strong enough to carry an offense now without star back Le'Veon Bell for another season? The Spartans' average margin of defeat in 2012 was slight, so improvement upon last season's 6-6 regular season mark is likely. However, if the Spartans are to win the division, it goes without saying that Andrew Maxwell (or Connor Cook) must provide better play from under center. 

So, there you go. Ohio State is up next week to close out MnB's offseason preview series. After that, we'll all take the highway exit into It's-Almost-Football-Time-Land. 

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 12/19/12

So, it's been of a bit of a slow time, hence all the Bulls stuff. Bowl season has only just started and Michigan basketball only plays two more times before the new year. Here are some links to tide you over. 

Oh, they mad. I'm not sure what to say about this fairly insane brawl footage from the Pioneer-Huron game on Oct. 12, released yesterday (HT: annarbor.com):

If this story is new to you, you should know that each team's head coach resigned as a result.

Ain't got time for this. This was a thing that somebody asked Barrett Jones, apparently: 

I'm sorry, reporter guy, but Nick Saban does not have time for your theological conflicts of interest. Besides, moran, why would the Bear mind if Nick Saban brought the Tide another title? Do you even lift do any research?

Speaking of Saban...it's only a matter of time before Saban and the rest of the SEC takes advantage of this technology:

Creating implants that improve cognitive capabilities, such as an enhanced vision “gadget” that can be taken from a shelf and plugged into our brain, or implants that can restore or enhance brain function is understandably a much tougher task. But some research groups are being to make some inroads.

CYBERTYDE. INITIATE 28YARDGAMEWINNINGSCREENPASS.EXE. ATTACK SUCCESSFUL. ROLL TIDE ROLL.

Dear science, please don't let this fall into the wrong person's hands, and by "wrong person" I definitely don't not mean Nick Saban.

From Logan to Madison. I admittedly have not been paying too much attention to the Wisconsin head coaching search, but after reading rumblings about Mike Riley last week, I was surprised to see that Wisconsin had ultimately tapped Utah State's Gary Andersen.

Like Dave Brandon re: Hoke, Athletic Director Barry Alvarez says that Anderson was his top choice. Is that true? Who knows, but I don't think it matters much.

This is an interesting hire to say the least. Andersen was 27-24 in four seasons in Logan, Utah; the Aggies recently finished up an 11-2 season with a drubbing of Toledo in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Saturday.

At 48, Andersen is six years Bielema's senior. All of his prior coaching stops in the last 15 years have been in the state of Utah. Standard "can he recruit the type of guy that goes to Wisconsin" point goes here.

USU runs a spread, which is what makes this a seemingly incongruent hire. Then again, the Badgers did hire Matt Canada as their offensive coordinator to take Paul Chryst's place; Canada is also a spread guy, formerly at Northern Illinois. With that said, I'm not sure what difference Canada made vis-a-vis Wisconsin's playcalling, and hiring a head coach who will run the show is far different than hiring a coordinator who may or may not even be calling the plays that end up being executed.

As always, quarterback will be an issue. Sophomore USU QB Chuckie Keeton passed for 3,373 yards (27 TDs, 9 INTs) and rushed for 619 on 4.9 YPC (8 TDs) this season. He was the team's second-leading rusher. Keeton led the Aggies to that almost-upset of Auburn last season on opening weekend. With Keeton only becoming a junior next season, it would have been interesting to see if Utah State would have had a shot at supplanting Boise State and Utah (although not so much them now that they're in a major conference) as the team that challenges for a BCS spot from the ranks of the forgotten non-AQ conferences.

Curt Phillips is a senior and Joel Stave, who broke his collar bone in October after taking the reins from the ineffective Danny O'Brien, does not seem to fit the mold of a run-based spread QB. With that said, it is a run-based spread, which should put Wisconsin fans at ease. Some opinions on the hire, starting with Dave Miller of the National Football Post:

While his offense will change at Wisconsin, as the run-oriented Power O will remain in Madison, Andersen helped develop dynamic dual-threat signal-caller Chuckie Keeton over the last two seasons at Utah State. He also oversaw a stout defense that helped the Aggies to their 11 wins. And keep in mind that Andersen, who posted a 26-24 mark in four seasons in Logan, was the defensive coordinator at Utah under Kyle Whittingham when the Utes knocked off Alabama in the Sugar Bowl following the 2008 season.

While the brands of football may differ a bit, Utah State has played a physical style of football like Wisconsin, ranking No. 25 in the nation in rushing in 2012 while the defense ranked No. 15 in the nation in yards per game.

 Land-Grant Holy Land:

While some might be inclined to think this wasn't the sexy, splashy hire they would've assumed Alvarez would've targeted, Andersen's done great work and has been coveted from fan bases ranging from Texas to USC. By going 18-8 in two seasons in Logan, Utah, where previously wins were certainly hard to come by, Andersen's shown he's game for stout rebuilding jobs.

 Tom Fornelli at CBS's Eye on College Football: 

Considering that Wisconsin was somewhat late to the game thanks to Bielema's sudden departure, this is a solid hire by the Badgers. Andersen took over a Utah State program that hadn't accomplished much in the past and after only four seasons he not only led the Aggies to that 11-2 record and first conference title since it won the Big West in 1997, but into both the AP and Coaches polls. 

 Bucky's 5th Quarter is also compiling a running list of reactions from all over.

Personally, my gut feeling is that this is a good hire. Andersen has proven that he can when at places where winning isn't the norm, like Hoke, and Utah State ended the year with the #15 total defense and the #25 rushing offense, two quick and easy facts that should assuage any oh my gawd spread offense concerns.

More? Michigan basketball takes on EMU Thursday (I'll have a preview up over at Maize n Brew)...for now, I just want to note how there are almost as many suited up folks in their team picture as there are players. I guess Embracing the Process also involves JoS. A. Bank.

If you want a cool vintage Michigan calendar, go to Maize n Brew and relate a Christmas shopping story (remember that one time? oh man! definitely tell that story).