Here we go again, according to the Detroit Free Press, over the weekend the University of Michigan Athletic Director Bill Martin and LSU Head Coach Les Miles talked on the phone. Now, maybe it was simply Martin calling a prominent—and now richer-- alum to see if he’ll pony up some bucks to help renovate the dilapidated Wolverine facilities. And maybe, Martin was asking Miles for his advice on the coaching search. Or maybe, this Miles to Michigan thing isn’t a dead issue, after all. I’ve said all along this feels a lot like Roy Williams flirtations with North Carolina. Even when he turned them down in 2000, you felt like he just might end up back in Carolina Blue. So if I’m LSU right now, I’m not breathing easily until the Wolverines hire someone not named Les Miles.
Other thoughts, looks like the long wait between the end of the season and their bowl games will be a little shorter for the Big Ten. Starting in 2009—the conference will adopt a 13 week schedule, giving teams a week off during the year, and pushing back the final game of the season to after Thanksgiving. Meaning, the Buckeyes and Wolverines will resume playing after Turkey Day.
All said and done, James Laurinaitis takes home the Butkus Award (best Linebacker) but loses out on all the others the LSU’s Glenn Dorsey. I’m fine with that. Maybe it’ll give the Junior a reason to come back for his Senior season (hey, Buckeyes can hope and dream, right).
I’ve said all along, this Buckeye basketball team is going to lose 6-8 game before February, but should come together nicely to make a good post-season run. So what do we make out of last night’s game? Well, it’s almost as if the season is starting over, again. Remember, due to finals week, the Buckeyes had 9 days off, a lot of rust, no one’s ever going to write a poem about it or confuse it for a Grecian Urn, but they did get a win, edging Coppin State 47-39, considering the game was on the Big Ten Network, many of you didn’t get to see it, you didn’t miss much. Coppin State slowed things down and nearly pulled off the “upset.” Buckeyes were outrebounded by the smaller team, certainly a disturbing trend, and the bench only scored 3 point, despite moving Jon Diebler out of the starting line-up in favor of Freshman Evan Turner. The Chicago native had 13—a career high—tying Jamar Butler for the team lead. Speaking of Butler, team got a spark in the 2nd half when Butler moved to the 2 guard and juco transfer PJ Hill ran the point. The two of them provided intensity on the defensive end.
Bucks should be able to pick up at least 3 more wins before the Big Ten schedule starts, Saturday they host Presbyterian College (that would be the Blue Hose of upstate South Carolina) on Saturday, “travel” to Cleveland for a “road game” against Cleveland State, host Florida and then finish off 07 at home against Maryland—Baltimore County (not the Terrapins and former OSU coach Gary Williams).