MGoBlog: The MGoPodcast

WTKA Roundtable 4/2/2026: The UPN Lineup

Things Discussed:

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

Michigan HockeyCast 8.22: Dogs Chasing Expensive Cars

1 Hour and 50 Minutes

With David Nasternak and Alex Drain

This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games.

Segment 1
Alex is a consistent sleeper who naps easily unless exhausted. Early start times negatively effect students. Who else has slept in an airport rather than get a hotel? Anyways, hockey trip time, the gang meets a Bentley grad. Michigan beats Bentley in what you'd want to see in a #1 vs #16 matchup while also being able to bench injuries and rest starters. Bentley traveled really well, the loudest moment of the game was their one goal. 
 

Segment 2
Penn State vs Minnesota Duluth was one of the best games of the opening round. Which team would you have preferred? Gavin McKenna hype was overblown. Duluth was always dangerous and capable of a big run. A 3-0 lead was nice but felt dangerous. We like when Michigan scores short-handed goals. Despite holding a 4-1 lead in the third and being the stronger team, Michigan nearly collapses. Should it have been goalie interference on one of the Duluth goals? Duluth also had too many men on the ice for a solid 15 seconds. Garrett Shifsky's goal line stand might've been the play of the year. A "Sparty Nooooo" is one of the worst collapses in the history of the tournament. Next year's Michigan roster looks really strong. Denver is almost a mirror of Michigan. Would you rather beat up Wisconsin or North Dakota in the chamionship game?
 
MUSIC

• NHL on ESPN Theme
• "Deceptacon" -- Le Tigre
• Ice Hockey (NES) theme

MGoPodcast 17.30: Almost Relaxing

1 hour and 56 minutes

The Sponsors

Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com.

Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Venue by 4M where record this, and Introducing this season: Radecki Oral Surgery, and Long Road Distillers.

1. Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight Review

Starts at 0:51

Almost a stress-free weekend. Michigan overwhelms a pair of top SEC teams that couldn't be any more different from each other. Brian credited March Roddy a little, Alabama preview a lot, as they got worn out. Labaran Philon was a hero: 39 minutes, 35 points, kept them in it. They didn't have bigs; they had one Morez Johnson-like object who got worn out. Wrightsell was hitting tough threes early but as he exhausted they were falling shorter and shorter until airball. 1st round picks Amari Allen and Nate Ament are freshmen not highly valuable college players, like Diabate, and can't get anything vs Michigan's size. Lendeborg is nailing threes since Dukes started going under screens; they're practice jumpers...against top-25 teams. Tennessee very different game: ball sitting on the floor for a minute and Lappas is so confused (how does he have this job??). Officials call bad foul on Mara then have to call everything; they get three incidents of goaltending or cylinder violations and went 0/3. Gillespie couldn't be Labaran Philon and that was it. Brief spasm of irritation when Vols are getting ORebs and Mara gets a 2nd foul, then 21 balanced points; it's over when JP Estrella tries to thunderdunk on Tschetter. Everyone was complementing Yaxel. Happy when Trey McKenney shoots a three. Salute to these seniors.

[The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP] 

2. Final Four Preview

Starts at 33:00

Meta game: Everyone is at the rim now because there's a much higher floor so you aren't (like Beilein) subject to the triple gods. Arizona is a lot like Michigan but they're even more extreme, and their jumpers are usually twos. When they do get a three (rarely) Bradley and Burries can knock them down. Concern is whether they can bully Mara; NBA people will be watching his battle with Krivas, defensive impact is understated because he's a mountain you can't move. Lost to Kansas because KU was able to muscle up and push them away from the rim. Everyone packs the paint against them; if you can actually push them away from the rim they're in the 100s in 2PT distance and they're not good at 2PJs, especially Koa Peat (34% on 130 attempts). Also: Jaden Bradley (46% on 157), Ivan Karchenkov (42% on 62), and Brayden Burries (46% on 92). Difference: Arizona has three freshmen, Michigan has one, and Michigan's three-big lineup can probably make Peat inefficient to be just enough. Burries is McKenney.  Game of the century?

Illinois we know; they're huge and they shoot, and they play the wrong Ivisic. Alex pulled off one of the great jinxes to get UConn over the line. Tarris Reed's final form is the switchable five who is a monster shot blocker and scorer, could be major trouble defensively for Michigan because they don't have to go under screens, takes away Yaxel's threes. The rest of those guys though? Karaban is a 6'8 version of Nimari Burnett, have some shooting guards in Braylon Mullins and Solo Ball; Solo has gone full sophomore THJ from the arc; he can't hit one in the Tournament. Silas Demary was injured to start the Dance but is a wonderful creator. Illinois question: Andrej Sotjakovic is going OFF! Is that because he found something or because he can take advantage of space as a driver against unathletic teams like Iowa?

3. Hockey

Starts at 1:11:12

Bentley game: didn't dominate them but once they got the free goal (Brian was even a little upset) at the end of the 1st period; the only way Bentley wins this is if Michigan gives that up. UMD game: Alex didn't like this draw—North Dakota got an engineered free trip to the Frozen Four and Michigan had UMD. Alex also dislikes going up 3-0 early leads because you stop trying to score, and UMD was getting a lot of good looks. Got great looks, Michigan gave up too many good entries, UMD hit a post and a bar, their top line was out there like 35 minutes, Ivankovic stood tall. Tyler Duke's defense was not good on those two goals. Asher Barnett's penalty shifts the momentum. Michigan's goals: great tip, Valentini scores on a dime of a saucer from Moldy—so happy he's activated his inner fullback. Schifsky's shortie. Frozen Four preview: four teams with the most national titles. Brian DOES NOT like to play Denver in the Frozen Four; are they the favorites now? They've been playing VERY hot. North Dakota hasn't been there forever; it's been 10 years. Wisconsin we know.

4. Hot Takes and Women's Basketball

Starts at 1:38:06

Takes significantly hotter than Dusty May when Mara picked up a B.S. foul 30 seconds into the game. Worst day in MSU winter sports history. NCAA could find a way to put Duke back in it but that would kill Bill Murray. WBB plays TONIGHT against 1-seed Texas. Smoked Louisville: not one but TWO 16-0 runs. They weren't transition baskets because they didn't cross midcourt; they're just 'sition baskets. No points for 7 minutes then dominated for three quarters—gonna have to play FOUR quarters from here on. BQD has seven offensive rebounds, against a huge Louisville team. Delfosse has really come on the last few weeks, Olson and Swords carried offensive, very impressed with how they dealt with Laura Zeigler; Sofilkanich handled her. Good sign for Texas's size, though they have a midrange assassin. Michigan's going to have to shoot well from three and hope Booker isn't effective from range. Home game for Texas in Fort Worth. GO BLUE!!!!

MUSIC:

• "Gut Feeling/Slap Your Mammy"—Devo
• "Baywatch"—Drug Cabin
• "Paradise"—The Mattson 2
• “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra 

WTKA Roundtable 3/26/2026: The Lawns of Tuscaloosa

Things Discussed:

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

Michigan HockeyCast 8.21: Banner Time

1 Hour and 35 Minutes

With David Nasternak and Alex Drain

This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games.

Segment 1
There is no need for the NCAA hockey tournament selection show to be drawn out as much as it is. It took 20 minutes to find out anything interesting. It's just hostage-taking for fans just wanting the bracket. What are the pros and cons of neutral site games? Campuses are better atmospheres but at least it's fun to explore host cities if you travel. Hosting the tournament in smaller, less prominent locations makes the tournament feel like the minor leagues. Empty arenas diminish the viewing experience. Anyways, Michigan won the Big Ten Tournament. Some penalties felt controversial and rewarded embellishment. Michigan's depth and skill took over late. Hopefully Hage is okay. There's a perfect satisfaction that comes with beating Ohio State in the championship game more than anyone else.
 

Segment 2
What do the other conference championship games mean for the tournament? Bentley beats out Sacred Heart, Dartmouth beat Princeton, and Merrimack wins a surprising Hockey East title. Discussions of Pierre Maguire's broadcasting quirks. Denver was resilient in not blowing it in double overtime after having a big lead in regulation. Michigan should be a heavy favorite over Bentley but they're better than a typical low seed. Michigan's scoring should be sufficient if they keep out of penalty trouble. Are they more likely to play Minnesota-Duluth in the 2nd round than Penn State? Alex likes Western Michigan over Denver in a regional game in... Denver. Are there enough UConn fans to watch their hockey team play instead of either their men's or women's basketball games? Who is possibly going to come out of Sioux Falls alive? North Dakota hasn't made the Frozen Four in ten years. Michigan plays Friday at 5:30 on ESPNU. 
 
MUSIC

• NHL on ESPN Theme
• "Wolf Like Me" -- TV On The Radio
• Ice Hockey (NES) theme

MGoPodcast 17.29b: The New Wisdom, 2>3

53 minutes

The Sponsors

Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com.

Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Venue by 4M where record this, and Introducing this season: Radecki Oral Surgery, and Long Road Distillers.

Segments 1-3 were in MGoPodcast 17.29a yesterday.

4. Sweet Sixteen Preview: Alabama

Starts at 0:51

We hate facing three teams in the Tournament because of randomness. Bama is the Nate Oats show: he wad doing efficiency before it was cool.

PG Labarn Philon isn't Aden Holloway but is lengthy can can get to the basket—Nick Boyd was his #1 comp on Hoop-Explorer. Darius Acuff was on that list too. SG Latrell Wrightsell is a shooter; he was 6/9 from three vs TTU, 38% career from three, hit 45% two years ago (on a team with Sam Walters). OLD.  Wing Amari Allen is a 6'8-205 and NOT JUST A SHOOTER. The book on Allen is don’t let him shoot from the left side of the arc: 47% on 47 attempts from the left wing, 4 or 10 from the corner. But 32% straightaway on 31 attempts, 24% on 46 attempts from the right side. He’s just 61% at the rim. The other wing is a timeshare between a JAS, a freshman, and an Egyptian stretch four. 

At center they're lacking, sorta. Aiden Sherrell is a Detroiter—Seth sent a phot of him as a recruit to Brian once—McDonald’s AA—kinda reminds us of Morez. Had major struggles at the free throw line last year (46%) that he’s largely fixed. Backup is... can Charles Bediako play? No? Well Bucknell transfer Noah Williamson is actually Noa Viljamsons from Latvia; he was #1 in usage and #1 in defensive rebounding in the Patriot League but severe dropoffs all over the map in their few chances against better competition. 

[The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP] 

5. Elite Eight Preview: Iowa State or Tennessee

Starts at 22:13

Iowa State spent a lot of the season on the 1-seed line. HUUUUGE loss (unless it's better than it looked) in Joshua Jefferson (KPOY #2), who's high-usage Yax and really gave ISU their identity. PG Tamin Lipsey is Tre Donaldson. Wing Milan Momcilovic is the sniper of the year. Three different SGs with three different skills, and then they have some decent but not world-beating centers. It's really about stopping Jefferson.

If it's Tennessee that's an easier matchup but maybe not a great one for Michigan because Ja'Kobi Gillespie gets his own shot, Nate Ament is mini Joshua Jefferson, and they throw these huge bodies at the offensive glass.

6. Women's Basketball: First Weekend Recap and Sweet 16/Elite 8 Preview

Starts at 43:47

Firsts for Michigan WBB under Kim Barnes-Arico: 2-seed, 16-win season at Crisler, 27-win season. Muppets! Rote beatdown of Holy Cross was rote; the WBB Tournament is even more chalk as the top talent is so much better than the rest. Michigan is the best of the teams that doesn't have an All-American, but some teams have multiple. NC State game was a fun matchup that Michigan took over as soon as their threes started going down. BQD-ass game where she took over at times by swarming a team that normally doesn't turn it over with the press.

Looking forward: Louisville is NC State but can shoot—they're all large and can stretch, though not very quick. Laura Zeigler was the top recruit in the portal, Taj Roberts is a tall sniper, Imari Berry looks like an undead from WoW. If they get past Lville it's almost certainly going to be 1-seed Texas, which just rolled Oregon, which is a bellwether (when not in a legendarily badly officiated game). Madison Booker is WBB Yaxel, Rori Harmon is a thief, Breya Cunningham and Kyla Odacre are way bigger than anyone Michigan can put on them.

MUSIC:

• "Sunday Morning"—Alcatraz
• "Video Life"—Chris Spedding
• “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra   

THE USUAL LINKS:

• Helpful iTunes subscribe link
• General podcast feed link
• What's with the theme music?

   

 

MGoPodcast 17.29a: Specs and Effects

1 hour and 40 minutes

The Sponsors

Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com.

Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Venue by 4M where record this, and Introducing this season: Radecki Oral Surgery, and Long Road Distillers.

1. Men's Basketball vs Howard and Saint Louis

Starts at 0:51

This is part one of a part two podcast!

Which Robbie Avila nickname was your favorite? Of the last ten times Michigan has made the tournament they've been in the Sweet Sixteen nine. Were Beilein teams built better for the tournament than for the Big Ten? Howard shot 48% from three, the only reason they were able to get to 80 points. What Wisconsin nonsense is this? Michigan shoots 84% from two, one of those misses was from Oscar Goodman. Roddy Gayle was uninspiring in the Big Ten Tournament but returned to his March form. Moving on to Saint Louis, they're a dangerous offensive team but there was no way they were going to be able to check Michigan. Somehow Saint Louis was the #1 field goal efficiency defense in the country, it's a good sign that Michigan shot 1.35 PPP. Avila fell for Mara's fake pass. Since they started counting blocks Michigan is the first team to have all starters score 10+ points and have a block. The Mara we're seeing now is night and day from what we saw at the beginning of the season. Could you convince him to come back another year? What was up with that non-flagrant foul that ended up being a foul on Burnett? Technically it was a cylinder foul. High Point isn't a real school, you should only schedule real schools. 

[The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP] 

2. Spring Football Bits

Starts at 34:37

There are finally enough bits coming out of the spring! Ron Bellamy is back as director of player personnel, which makes all the sense in the world. Apparently Whittingham wanted to come back to Utah but he wouldn't have as much control over decision making so he left. What exactly happened here? We thought he was retiring but clearly he didn't. Manuel Beigel moved to offensive line, this is concerning because there are plenty of offensive lineman and this team needs defensive tackles. In more positive news, Savion Hiter is already running with the ones. His built is like Jabrill Peppers. The defense will "resemble the 2023 defense" in terms of style, according to Jay Hill. It will depend what they can get out of Zeke Berry and Rod Moore. Injured guys are still injured. Receiver depth is Marsh, Ffrench, Moa, and Buchanon. Defensive tackle tea leaves are... uhhh... concerning? You need four decent defensive tackles, they currently have three and there's no guarantee that any of them are good. Maybe that's why Hiter is getting so many yards in practice. The NDSU linebacker captain needs to simmer for a bit, he just got here. If one of the best offensive line coaches in the country is excited then we're excited. If Babalola actually starts he'll be an All-American. Sounds like they're kicking Link inside? 

3. Hot Takes and Hockey Tournament

Starts at 1:02:51

Takes hotter than Howard for the last 10 minutes of the first half. Michigan gets the #1 overall seed in hockey, their reward is a game against Bentley in Albany. They also won the Big Ten Tournament after a 7-3 win over Ohio State. They get medals but not stoats. Playing a team with tournament lives on the line was really good practice. They were so excited to win a banner. Did you know Gonzaga used to have a hockey team. Bentley is 23rd in NPI which is better than their conference usually does. Doesn't look like a team that will threaten Michigan but anything crazy can happen in this tournament. The matchup is there against Penn State but the vibes are annoying since Michigan has already played them five times (and lost once). Will the building have 12 people in it? Minnesota-Duluth had a really good nonconference run but fell off towards the end of the season. They swept Minnesota which doesn't mean much this year. Congratulations Western Michigan, you are a #1 seed and you probably get to play Denver at altitude if you win your first game. The committee doesn't want schools to have home games but then they either give schools "home" games or play in empty rinks. This game should be at Yost and it would be nuts, Michigan deserves the home advantage that they earned. If Wisconsin gets goaltending they're a top four team, if not they'll lose in the first round. 

MUSIC:

• "Hard Dreaming Man"—Drugdealer
• "Honey Drip"—Long Island Railroad, Smushie and Ryan Gebhard
• “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra   

WTKA Roundtable 3/19/2026: Wears Speedos, Shoot Threes

Things Discussed:

• Howard preview: Their center isn't a center, but he's mini-Yaxel.
• Takeaways from BTT: Brian/Craig/Sam: The Purdue game was just a ref show—Oscar Cluff is a a) Buffalo, b) Oaf, c) deliberately running guys over and cheating on screens. Michigan doesn't have enough galoots.
• Seth: I've moved on. Biggest concern is Michigan vs Wisconsin: bringing too much help to the rim when we have some five-out teams (Saint Louis!) in the first weekend.
• Georgia and St. Louis. Georgia is soft—they have a shot-blocker and a lot of guards who can get their own points. Robbie Avila looks like Seth Fisher—he looks like a gumnut out there—but he's very skilled, especially at setting his guys up. I really like their four, Amari McCottry.
• Yaxel, take over man! Lots of opportunities to get him vs a mouse in the house and they didn't make the read. Michigan seemed to want to use Rez in that spot instead and he didn't have an inspired week.
• Pickin upsets: UNI over St. John's? Can slow the game to a grind. Kinda think NDSU? They've rediscovered the lost art of the defensive-invariant floater—not saying I am picking a 14 over a 3 but that's the one.
• Craig: Anyone notice they got Hurley, Izzo, and Cronin all in the same corner of the bracket? Poor Johnny Dawkins: what did I do to end up with these guys?
• Going further than their seed: Arkansas and Acuff. He's going to be a lottery pick, Arkansas paid for him and it was worth it. Calipari teams are kids at the start of the year (when they played MSU) but by the Tourney they're not freshmen anymore.
  OT: [BREAKING NEWS: Cade Cunningham will be out 8-10 weeks with a collapsed lung.]
• Billy Donlon in at EMU. Why did he leave Michigan? Not saying.
• In break: Does Michigan get an NIL discount? Champions Circle doesn't want to say so but yeah, when the money is close it's about lifestyle.
• Texas should get a Tournament ban for getting in last year and this year. Their best nonconference win: NC State. Bubble was terrible this year but that doesn't mean a mid SEC team should get in.
• Miami University is the perfect Tournament invite: They understood the assignment.
• Whom to invite instead of bubbly major conference teams? Mid-majors who won their conferences.
• Illinois in the Final Four? Yeah, they've got size and Wagler can shoot them to Indy (I had Nebraska taking out Florida). Houston takes such ugly shots, Illinois will make them uglier. Who can expose their frontcourt? Well, Florida.

Michigan HockeyCast 8.20: Dirty Leprachauns and Defenseless Lions

1 Hour and 45 Minutes

With David Nasternak and Alex Drain

This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games.

Segment 1
How often do you get a haircut? Catching up on the World Baseball Classic, U.S. and Dominican Republic go down to the wire. Did the tournament structure itself for a U.S. vs Japan final? Anyways, Michigan dominated Notre Dame 6-1 in the Big Ten quarterfinals. A Notre Dame player runs into Ivankovic again, leading to a fight and a game misconduct. Credit Michigan for standing up for their goalie. Overall this game wasn't really close.
 

Segment 2
Michigan beats Penn State 5-2 to make it to the Big Ten championship game. Penn State was aggressive early but Michigan settled in. Michigan had a lot of penalties but the power play held strong, but eventually they had a lengthy 5-on-3 that gave a 4-2 lead. T.J. Hughes sealed the game after Michigan's goaltender almost scored an empty netter on himself. That goal might've been Hughes' last goal at Yost, many of the seniors stuck around on the ice late. Time to wrap up the season of our old friends. WMU will get a 1-seed but lost to Denver in their conference final. Still some conference tournament games left, let's talk NCAA tournament scenarios.
 
MUSIC

• NHL on ESPN Theme
• "Spark" -- Fitz and the Tantrums
• Ice Hockey (NES) theme

MGoPodcast 17.28: An Inch From Game-Over

1 hour and 36 minutes

The Sponsors

Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com.

Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Venue by 4M where record this, and Introducing this season: Radecki Oral Surgery, and Long Road Distillers.

1. The Tourney Draw, Midwest Region Preview

Starts at 0:51

Overall a fine draw for the 3rd one-seed, with several teams that did not want Michigan as their one-seed. Alabama as a four-seed is a fine draw. They have some big wins because they can shoot their way to a W in any game, but they're also a tempo team that gave up 40%+ ORebs to the three teams they faced with major bigs. The 5-seed is Texas Tech which lost star center JT Toppin but shot their way to a win over ISU without him. We think they're a good upset pick in a 5-12 with Akron but we are impressed with the Just-a-Shooterness of Donovan Atwell.

The 8-9 are Georgia and Saint Louis. We want Georgia, another tempo team that's a year away from its maximum and has a center who just makes buckets and blocks shots, versus Saint Louis which is where Robbie Avila went; they're five-out, #1 in the country in average 2PT distance, but opponents also get to the rim (Avila is no defender).

On the other side is 2-seed Iowa State, which doesn't block shots but they turn you over and sniper Milan Momcilovic can shoot over guards—a team with three bigs might be their kryptonite (see: 79-70 vs Cincy). Joshua Jefferson is a Danny Wolf (28 assist, 17 TO) PF. 3-seed Virginia has a couple of ogres they rotate at center that might prove tough, and their own Yax-like in Thijs De Ridder, who's not from New Jersey.

[The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP] 

2. Hot Takes and Men's Basketball vs Purdue

Starts at 33:39

Takes hotter than Brian when they refused to call a 5th foul on Oscar Cluff the fifth time. You're not insane; it was a ref show, and a clownish end to DJ Carstensen's career. But that only explains why Purdue won—they played Michigan evenly because Michigan had their worst defensive performance, unable to stop the PnR two-man game between Smith and TKR. M's offense is off the hook for the 1st half since Purdue was just fouling and getting away with it, but what's their excuse for not having any plans for a stretch in the 2nd half when Purdue pulled ahead? Hoping against hope that May has been saving all of his real sets for the Tournament. Brian's giving up on Gayle and his Knoblockian adventures at the rim.

3. Men's Basketball vs Wisconsin and Ohio State

Starts at 1:01:40

Wisconsin goes 7/23 from two but 16/38 from three once they've given up on Boyd and Blackwell drives that worked for them in the first meeting. Their twos were earned—pushed back and forced to shoot over Mara. Only the Aussie going nuts from three got this competitive again, but we were still dismayed over Michigan's offense. They had a Mara advantage they only ran in the 2nd half, and didn't really give him help off of that. Tschetter minutes are not working. The OSU game was annoying for all the little reasons, but the big one is something from the whole Tourney, which was Morez Johnson not playing up to his standard. He got the first two series and second was a fallaway jumper. He's a bit limited when backing up people have found. Bruce Thornton was limited by length but his eyes lit up whenever he got Cadeau, who seemed to be tiring late, but Michigan is a TO machine without him. Maybe they're saving Yax usage for the Dance.

4. Hockey vs Penn State and Tournament Lookahead

Starts at 1:22:35

They're now locked into the 1st overall seed with Ohio State knocking MSU out of the tournament, and North Dakota losing, which means YAY we don't have to play Denver in a Denver Regional (stupidest playoff format ever). Michigan-NoDak-MSU-WMU will be the 1-seeds, in that order, and Michigan will draw the worst the #16, IE the Atlantic Hockey champion (Bentley most likely?) and the worst #2 seed (Duluth? Cornell? Penn State?) in, likely, Albany. Penn State hockey is James Franklin Penn State football: can beat anybody except the big bads in their conference. Not afraid of facing them again after a thoroughly dominant semifinal. Good to see a snipe from Hage, and what Moldenauer has become.

MUSIC:

• "An Ocean Between the Waves"—War on Drugs
• "This Could Be Your Lucky Day in Hell"—Eels
• "A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger"—Of Montreal
• “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra