B1G Weekend Preview

Let’s look ahead to a weekend without Michigan basketball and another birthday for yours truly.  I think my wife will be happy that my present will involve something besides watching another basketball game.  Anyways, it is another big weekend around the conference as it’s the third weekend in a row with a game involving two top 20 teams.  Nine conference teams are in action between Saturday and Sunday, so let’s quickly go through each one.

Nebraska @ Penn State Saturday 1:00pm

This is not football.  This is the battle of the cellar dweller.  If Nebraska wins on the road then Penn State will be destined for the bottom spot for weeks to come.  I think the Cornhusker defense will be able to slow down the game enough for Big Red to pull out the road win.

West Virginia @ Purdue Saturday 2:00pm

A few years ago these two met in an epic game on New Year’s Day, fast forward to current times and this has the all of the makings for a pillow fight.  West Virginia is improving, but they lack offensive play makers and really struggle to score the ball.  The thing going for the Mountaineers though, is that Purdue is a mirror image of them.  This will likely be a game with 50 or so possessions and the first team to 55 will likely win. Could be of interest to watch, since the Boilers are Michigan’s next opponent.

Ohio State @ Michigan State Saturday 6:00pm

I should look through my football previews since this one will likely have more take downs than an Illinois vs Indiana game on the gridiron.  These two teams are the definition of “old-school” B1G teams.  Old school here meaning the 2000s.  Basketball in the conference has evolved, but don’t tell the two cavemen on the sidelines that.  The Spartans have really struggled with turnovers so far this season, but they have been improved in the B1G schedule so far.  This could be because of their relatively easy schedule of bottom defensive teams or because the freshman are beginning to improve.  I believe it’s the former.  Aaron Craft and Shannon Scott will have a field day in East Lansing, and Ohio State will have the best player on the floor in DeShaun Thomas.  It will be interesting to see how Dawson matches up with the conference’s leading scorer.  If he is able to slow him down, it could mean trouble down the road for GRIII.  However, Ohio State has shown that it is a completely different team on the road, and Michigan State’s pressure defense could really limit the Buckeye’s scoring ability.  This one should be close, and the winner will likely struggle to break 60.

Wisconsin @ Iowa Saturday 8:00pm

Again, if Iowa wants to be a bubble team on Selection Sunday this game tomorrow against the Badgers is a must win.  Yes, the Hawkeyes have played the toughest conference schedule so far, but at some point they are going to need to string together wins.  Wisconsin is the hottest team right now after the best win of any B1G team (at Indiana).  Bo Ryan will be one of the best coaches in America if he can get this Badger to finish in the top 4 of the conference this year.

Indiana @ Northwestern Sunday 1:00pm

The Hoosiers will look to bounce back after their disappointing loss on Tuesday.  It seems that both Michigan and Indiana fans have similar concerns about their team.  Can they win games while playing at an opponent’s tempo,  against teams that want to slow down the pace of play to a crawl, or extremely physical teams.  Northwestern is coming off a surprising blow out win against in-state rival, Illinois.  I would guess Indiana will be a little angry in this one, and 100 points might be realistic.

Minnesota Recap

I expected the matchup between Minnesota and Michigan to be one of the better games in the B1G conference this season.  Both teams were coming off of road losses where they battled back from over 20 points, and they both have B1G championship aspirations.  The first half was definitely a heavyweight battle, but the second half just became controlled by the officials and lost all trace of rhythm or tempo.  The last 11 minutes of the game were actually pretty tough to watch, I couldn’t imagine doing it as an outside fan.  Anyways, Michigan prevailed with their first road win against a top ten team since 1996, and since they have a bye this weekend the Wolverines look to take over the top spot in my weekly power rankings. 

While the Gophers are in the bottom half of the B1G conference defensively, scoring 80+ points on the road is still extremely impressive.  The Wolverine offense bounced back in a huge way last night. It started with Tim Hardaway Jr shooting the ball confidently and scoring 17 points in the first half on just 7 shots.  The game ended with a balanced attack that got Morgan and Stauskas involved early, Trey Burke having a quiet 18 points and 9 assists, and GRIII exploding for 3 momentum changing field goals (including this one: GRIII Air Georgia Impression ). I was most impressed with Mitch McGary and Hardaway.  The mountain freshman provided a huge spark off the bench, and early on looked like the only Michigan able to plug up the middle of the paint.  He played so strong and with so much energy that it is hard not to want him to enter the starting lineup.  It was the first game where he didn’t record a defensive rebound, but he did pull down 3 hard fought offensive boards which led to 5 points.  Three plays stand out in my mind from McGary’s time on the court, his first offensive rebound where he out-muscled Mbakwe for the ball and had the awareness to find Burke for a wide open 3 pointer which he nailed.  Then McGary again was alert on the defensive end by picking off two lazy passes, and one resulted in the classic Vanilla Thunder dunk.  The third is Mitch used his body effectively to get post position, and Burke found him in the lane about 10 feet away from the basket.  McGary turned and faced the hoop and confidently pulled the trigger.  If he is taking, and making, these shots with regularity it really opens up Michigan’s already efficient offensive attack. The Wolverines bounced back with 1.30 points per possession, and now are averaging 1.22 points per trip in conference play.  Just for a reference, the Wolverines best B1G output last year was a 1.19 day at Penn State.  This is the reason why I was so surprised at how well the Buckeyes shut down the Michigan offense.

Defensively Michigan is still playing roller coaster basketball.  They are able to be ferocious at times, rotating effectively, denying some passing lanes, limiting post entries, and altering jump shots.  But, then there will be stretches where defensive assignments are forgotten and the effort decreases dramatically.  Last night, Michigan came out from halftime looking like the best team in the country and extending the lead to 19 points. Tubby then took a timeout to try to control the situation, and the next 8 Gopher possessions Michigan gave up extremely easy opportunities.  This is the main reason that Minnesota hit 8 of their first 10 three point attempts.  This is the stretch that the Gophers also collected 5 of their 14 offensive rebounds.  The defensive effort was excellent in Columbus after the first 11 minutes, so I know this team can be stifling when the focus is there.  It will be really interesting to see how they defend the Hoosiers in two weeks, since a 19 point lead will likely not be seen.

I know this game was probably more important for Minnesota to win since they are at home and only get Michigan once this season, but I originally thought the Wolverines were going to win against Ohio State and lose in Minnesota.  While a 2^nd road conference loss would not have been the end of the world, especially with Indiana dropping a home game against the Badgers on Tuesday, but I didn’t want to see this young team head into a week off on a 2 game losing streak.  I trust Coach Beilein, the staff, and Trey Burke to lead this team through tough situations, but a losing streak could have been tough for the 5 contributing freshman to overcome.  Now I am thinking the week off comes at a perfect time.  The Ohio State and Minnesota games were two of the most physical teams this squad will play this year, and I am sure the freshman are tired and sore.  A week off should help heal the bumps and bruises and give the team plenty of time to focus for the next round of tests the B1G will throw at them.

Big Ten Update

The Big Ten is in full swing now, and the major contenders are stepping forward but this list can change rapidly.

1.       Indiana (up 1)

Indiana outlasted Minnesota at home in a clear top 3 matchup.  Indiana gets the boost because of the Michigan loss.  The Hoosiers are playing some of the best basketball in the country right now.  It will be interesting to see how defensive minded teams like Ohio State are able to slow down this high scoring attack. Indiana plays Wisconsin and Northwestern this week, which should push their conference record to 5-0.

2.       Michigan (down 1)

Michigan dropped a stinker when a national number 1 ranking was on the line.  The Wolverine’s highly efficient offense has looked inept over the last two games, and it doesn’t get any easier with a trip to Minnesota up next.  It should be a more open game, so the offense will be looking to get back on track. 

3.       Minnesota (no change)

The Gophers are clearly a very good basketball team this season.  Much like Michigan they dug themselves an early hole on the road and were not able to come all the way back for a huge upset in Bloomington.  The Gophers and Wolverines will look to rebound on Thursday with the clear 2^nd place favorite emerging with a victory. 

4.       Ohio State (no change)

Ohio State pulled out a huge victory against a top 5 team at home.  The Buckeyes are still two different teams at home and on the road.  There is a clear drop off in quality after Minnesota in the conference.  While the top three are national championship contenders, the next 4 teams are going to have a lot to say about the final conference standings.  Next up for Ohio is a road trip to East Lansing, where Michigan State is the likely favorite.

5.       Michigan State (no change)

Michigan State had a light week in terms of Big Ten games with heading to Iowa and hosting Nebraska, yet somehow they are still lucky to emerge with, even, one win. The Hawkeyes should have pulled off the upset, and the Cornhuskers were within striking distance until the final minutes yesterday.  The Spartans are still struggling to find consistent offense and controlling the ball, this will be a huge problem when the Spartans play quality teams on the road. 

6.       Wisconsin (up 2)

Wisconsin is one of two undefeated conference teams remaining, but that will likely change this week with road trips to Bloomington and Iowa City.  The Badgers are starting to score the ball more effectively, and are growing into a quality conference team that will likely make the NCAA tournament again.  The Badgers dominated Illinois in every facet on Saturday, giving Wisconsin their first quality win.

7.       Iowa (no change)

The Hawkeyes welcomed Michigan State to Iowa City last week and blew another game in the last few minutes.  Iowa should have beat Michigan State without its best player on the floor even.  The Hawkeyes did manage to get their first conference victory over the weekend, and next up is a close to must win game against Wisconsin.

8.       Illinois (down 2)

I think we can state with some certainty that the Illini are terrible on the road, but will scare a lot of teams in Champagne.  Illinois was curb stomped by the average Badgers on Saturday, and now are continuing on their downward trend.  Illinois should have two bounce back games with Northwestern and Nebraska upcoming. 

9.       Purdue (up 3)

Purdue hung with Ohio State at home and then dominated lowly Penn State.  Matt Painter’s squad is very young and will continue to get better.  They already play extremely tough defense and should be able to keep a lot of games close this season.  Also, playing at Mackey Arena is never fun.

10.   Northwestern (down 1)

The Wildcats got their first conference win against Penn State, but then turned around and got smoked against Iowa.  Northwestern will likely hold down this number 10 spot for a while, but Nebraska could be nipping at their heels.

11.   Nebraska (up 1)

The Cornhuskers moved up a bit this week after they hung tough at Crisler and the Breslin.  It should be considered an encouraging week that they kept both games under 20 and looked like a respectable B1G team.  Nebraska could be looking to move up to number 10 pretty soon.

12.   Penn State (down 1)

I feel a little bad about Penn State, without Tim Frazier they would be a middle of the pack MAC team.

Ohio Recap

Where do I even start the analysis from yesterday’s game against the Buckeyes.  Michigan was the last remaining undefeated team in college basketball, with number one and the first major road win of any team in the B1G this season on the line. The Wolverines came out flat and were overwhelmed within the first 2 minutes of the game.  The avalanche continued for the first 11 minutes of the game which left Michigan in a 29-8 deficit.  Incredibly, the Wolverines managed to tie the game at 46 before the last media timeout of the game.  Somehow, then that team up north just forgot any reason they were able to come back at all, which left Ohio State holding on to a 3 point win. 

The frustrating aspect of losing the game is that Michigan is clearly the better team, and I would welcome a return visit to Columbus to play the Bucknuts.  The Wolverines played the worst game I could even imagine them playing yesterday and still managed to lose by 3 points in a game where they had many chances to still grab a victory.  I know Ohio State has a good record and are an elite defensive team, but they are a less than average offensive team.  Michigan spotted them 18 points off turnovers, but they still only managed to score 56 total.  Ohio State scored 27 points in the last 29 minutes of game time, never mind the points per possession stat as the Buckeyes scored less than a point per minute.  The Wolverines are one of the best shooting teams in the country, but managed to connect on only 38% of their shots including 30% of 20 three point attempts.  After Michigan came all the way back and tied the game at 46, they closed out the game shooting 2-11.  One field goal was a transition dunk, and the other was a circus three pointer after the game was already decided. The Wolverines chucked up 9 threes in this span, but only 2 could be argued as good shots. 

The encouraging side of the story is that Michigan is still the youngest team in the conference, and for the first time all season it showed yesterday.  The 4 most important freshmen looked lost at times and nervous throughout.  It was the first major road test of the season, and the young Wolverines now know what to expect when they travel to Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan State, etc. I am really surprised that Ohio State was able to slow down GRIII as much as they did.  He is usually good for 4-5 field goals within 2 feet of the rim, but yesterday was held to 2 dunks in transition.  Stauskas didn’t even look like he belonged on the floor for long stretches.  He is clearly the worst defender in the 9 man rotation, and Ohio State isolated him against Thomas multiple times.  On the offensive end, he forced 2 of his 3 attempted shots and stood in the corner for most possessions.  McGary finished with his normal complete stat game, but was slow to rotate and hedge off of the ball screens in the first half which led to multiple easy scoring opportunities.  Once Michigan switched to the 2-3 zone, then he became the most effective big man on the court.

I know Aaron Craft is a great on ball defender and if I was a Buckeye fan I would love him, but I cannot stand his style of play.  I really expected Trey to be able to take over the game at times, and at the very least finish with a 3-1 assist to turnover ratio.  Burke looked to try to bring the team back by himself at times by forcing terrible shots and passes in defended lanes. If a road loss in a tough environment is what this team needed to begin to play poised no matter the situation, then yesterday will be a huge benefit moving forward.  It will be interesting to see what team shows up on Thursday in Minnesota.  Their individual defense is not nearly as good as Ohio State’s, and they will lack someone who can really slow down Trey Burke like Craft did.  The game will be played at a little higher pace, so the freshman should feel more comfortable in the wide open game.  Minnesota has too much offensive firepower to allow Michigan to come back from a 21 point deficit, though.  The Wolverines cannot start slow on Thursday.  Also, my early prediction of Ohio State’s return trip to Crisler will result in a 15+ point Michigan victory.

Nebraska Recap

Michigan was able to pull out a closer than expected victory over Nebraska on Wednesday night.  While the game left a bad taste in most fans’ mouth it accomplished the main goal, another victory closer to securing a number 1 seed.  The Big Ten conference is easily the toughest in the country, so every night will not result in a 28 point drubbing.  It did look like Michigan’s focus seemed to be on Ohio State instead of the team on the other end of the Crisler Center, but the Wolverines found themselves in an ugly dogfight and prevailed.  Just enjoy the feeling of being disappointed from a 15 point win.  We are only a year removed from struggling with mid-100 level RPI teams and each Big Ten victory seemed like a major feat. 

Nebraska had a game plan that will likely be replicated later in the season.  The Huskers slowed down the game to absolute crawl, and focused all of their efforts into stopping Michigan from getting transition baskets.  Nebraska also implemented some game theory and crossed fingers against the Wolverines.  During the high ball screens, Trey Burke’s defender went underneath the screen every time.  The purpose behind this strategy is to cut down Burke’s driving and passing lanes.  If Burke gets behind the point, Michigan’s offense really takes off.  The All-American shoots over 60% from inside the 3 point line, but the more important thing is he draws so much attention from the remaining 4 defenders.  It is here that the majority of the 7 assists per game come from.  The play to force Nebraska into fighting through the screen or switching would be to shoot them into it.  By going under the ball screen, Burke had open 3 point looks all night long.  For some reason, Michigan had its worst shooting night of the season.  The Husker coach said afterwards, we saw that they shot extremely well in the first two conference games so we thought they would have to come back to the mean at some point.  Lucky guess. 

I was impressed with Mitch McGary, but I might be a little biased since he is becoming one of my favorite players in all of college basketball.  It seems that the big man has slimmed down into appropriate playing weight, which has allowed him to play more minutes.  This will be a big boost as Michigan moves through the first gauntlet of the season if Horford is unavailable.  McGary is not going to fill the scoreboard, partially due to Michigan’s offensive system and Mitch just not being that type of player.  This doesn’t mean he isn’t productive.  At this point, big number 4 is one of the best rebounders in the entire country.  He brings energy off the bench and does a lot of things that stat sheets cannot reflect.  I am very excited to see McGary vs Mbakwe next Thursday night in Minnesota. 

Looking forward, though, the Big Ten conference is morphing into a skilled, athletic conference and not football on wood.  The top conference contenders will not likely be comfortable slowing the game down to 60 possessions.  Indiana, Ohio State, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan State and Iowa are all better in transition than in half court.  I could see Izzo trying to take the air out of the ball when they visit Crisler, but State has had a tendency for unforced turnovers in half court sets.  This leaves the bottom of the conference to implement this strategy against Michigan to try to keep the game close where anything can happen at the end.  The Wolverines have enough talent to have an off night and still beat the bottom 4 league teams.

Nebraska Preview

Michigan's first week of B1G play couldn't have gone any better.  The Wolverines are 2-0 with 2 blowout wins under their belt.  Tonight they welcome the Nebraska Cornhuskers to Ann Arbor with a chance to tie the best start in program history.  The Big Red basketball team packs a lot less of a punch than their football team, and so far it looks like Taylor Martinez and company scored more points than their basketball counterparts.

Let's get to the bottom line first. Nebraska is the worst team in the B1G, and Michigan gets to play them at the Crisler Center tonight.  That means that tonight is the Wolverine's easiest conference game.  The Cornhuskers are greatly lacking any offensive skill players, and Michigan has scored more points in each of their first two games than Nebraska has combined. On paper this is a very lopsided matchup.

Since Nebraska is the worst offensive team in the B1G they have resolved to trying to play at the slowest pace possible.  So, to the untrained eye, the Michigan defense should look its best tonight because Nebraska will struggle to get out into the 50's.  Their two best options are guard Dylan Talley and mountain center Andre Almeida.  Talley is a very high volume scorer who will likely score around 15 points.  Almeida is a 6'11" 314 sasquatch that is surprisingly quick on his feet and has some nice post moves.  While he is a far cry from as talented as Derrick Nix, it will should give Morgan and McGary some good reps against bigger opponents.  Hopefully, for Michigan fans, Jon Horford can see some game action to shake some rust off before heading down to Columbus.  The Cornhuskers like shooting a lot of threes, but for some reason they don't like making many of them.  I am interested to see how Nick Stauskas defends tonight because he spent most of the Iowa game chasing around the smaller guards.

Nebraska is much better on the defensive end of the floor, but this is not saying much.  They still rank near the bottom in the B1G.  They start a freshman point guard who will be tasked to stay in front of Trey Burke.  We saw how a decent freshman recruit fared on Sunday, and the answer is not good at all.  This is likely a game where Trey will be able to take over at any point he desires.  However, he will have to resist the temptation to do this often and continue to get his teammates involved like he has for much of the year.  Trey will likely be able to break down his defender at will, which will leave Stauskas and Hardaway on the wings for open three point attempts all night long.  I would like to see both of them continue to attack the basket and keep their three point attempts under 12 combined.  GR3 will continue to be a complete mismatch, and will be able to have a field day if he desires.  I expect him to sink back into the shadows tonight after his breakout performance on Sunday.  He will likely have 2-3 plays that leave your jaw open and remind you he could be a top 5 pick, but expect another 14 point game on 6-7 shooting.  Morgan will be outsized down low, but he will have the athletic edge and should be able to exploit that in the pick and roll game.  I would like to see him have a bounce back performance after being the only minor disappointment from Sunday. 

Michigan is on a different level right now in terms of focus and skill, but they could be stuck looking forward to their big matchup with the Buckeyes on Sunday.  If Nebraska can find a way to hang around for the first 8 minutes, I think the focus gets redirected and an Iowa type finish will be in order.  However, if Michigan comes out and steps on the Cornhusker throats early I wouldn't be surprised to see the Wolverines put the 2nd half on cruise control and come into the gates with a 15-18 point boring win. 

BCS Championship Game Thoughts

While watching the National Championship I saw a Notre Dame team not even on the same competitive level as Alabama.  So the questions I was left asking myself today, as a Michigan fan,  is how far away are the Wolverines from making a BCS Championship Game (or national semifinal), secondly, and more importantly, how close is Michigan to really competing against the SEC?

I actually believe the Wolverines are nearly talented enough to be ranked in the top 2 or 4.  The main factor for a team coming from outside of the SEC is luck.  If a Michigan team can stay healthy in a year with a favorable schedule, they will always have a good chance of going undefeated.  And an undefeated maize and blue team would be hard to pass over for the championship matchup. There are 2.5 games every season to really worry about (Ohio, Notre Dame, and Nebraska on the road every-other year). This year, for example, I think Michigan is just as talented as Notre Dame, but it was the Irish’s lucky season as 2006 was for Michigan.  Even if you take the past two Wolverine seasons, most would agree that the team was better on January 2^nd, 2013 than they were on January 4^th, 2012. However, the standard that programs get evaluated by is wins and losses, and there is a 3 win advantage for the 2011-2012 Michigan Wolverines.

The second question is the more intriguing discussion.  We were able to get a first-hand account of the competitive gap between Alabama and U of M to open the past season, but how far away is the maize and blue from leveling the playing field?  In my mind the 3 biggest areas where the Crimson Tide excels are: having dominant line play on both sides of the ball, elite coaching which leads to impressive recruiting.  This is the recipe for success for any program that has been or will be considered a dynasty in the scholarship limitation era. 

Since Nick Saban has been in Tuscaloosa they have had talented offensive and defensive lines, but this year they took another step, somehow.  Alabama’s offensive line was the best I had ever seen in college football.  All 5 will be eventual starters in the NFL.  Notre Dame’s front seven was being hyped as the best in the game, and from the first play of the game it was clear that Alabama was going to win the battle in the trenches. I think even Thomas Rawls would look like an actual division 1 running back with those guys in front of him. While Alabama’s defensive line didn’t get the attention that their counterparts did, they were also able to control the line of scrimmage, absorb blocks on a consistent basis to allow their 4 linebackers to have free angles to the ball.  The defensive line in a 3-4 scheme is not there to do a ton of penetration, but to occupy the 5 or 6 blockers in front of them.  This unit did this perfectly, and while Alabama’s pass rush wasn’t the best in the country, there is not a quarterback out there that would be able to sit in the pocket all game and get comfortable.  Michigan has been recruiting the offensive line harder than any other unit, this is partially due just the sheer lack of bodies left from the Rich Rod days, but also because Brady Hoke knows that you must be able to run the football to be successful.  Whether you follow Oregon or Georgia Tech, if they will ever win a national championship they will have an effective and dominant offensive line in common.  The Wolverines have been pulling in more offensive line talent than anyone in the country in the past two recruiting classes, and by the 2014 season you will see the effects of that.  Michigan could, even, get lucky, and the 2013 line could be one of the best in the nation by November.  Greg Mattison favors the 4-3 defensive scheme, so the defensive line is more responsible for initiating a pass rush.  The lack of a dominant pass rusher has been the reason the past two defenses could not be considered elite.  While the touted recruits have been missing from the first 3 recruiting classes, Michigan has been bringing in a lot of bodies with potential.  The exciting thing here is the Michigan coaching staff includes 3 coaches that are defensive line guys, so I have full confidence that some of these defensive end “projects” can develop into all conference type players.  It will be interesting to see how Michigan can close the 2013 recruiting class, but the way it looks right now an elite defensive end will be a very high priority in the 2014 class. 

With Bret Bielema leaving Wisconsin, us B1G folks keep hearing the coaching disparity between the SEC and Big Ten continues to grow and is a major reason that the southern teams have a leg up in recruiting and national domination.  To be honest Bielema leaving was a surprise and a slap in the face to Wisconsin, and it could look bad for the conference outside of Michigan and Ohio State.  Nick Saban is the highest paid coach in college football and with winning 4 national championships in the past 8 years I think that is warranted.  The Tide also has multiple coaches on their staff that find their way to the head coaching vacancy discussion every off-season.  I think a good leader is one who knows their own weaknesses and has the humility to surround themselves with people to make a well-rounded, strong leadership team.  This is the first thing that really impressed me about Brady Hoke, he has assembled one of the best coaching staffs in the entire country.  I think the resources used to assemble the Michigan coaches is on par with those in the SEC. 

Top coaches lead to elite recruiting.  This is the biggest step for Michigan to overcome any SEC or even top ACC program.  While there is a scholarship limit in college football, the top programs are able to bend these rules in their favor.  Over-signing has become a well-known activity in the landscape of the BCS, the problem is that not every team is allowed to do this and no programs should be allowed.  A team like Alabama can consistently pull in a top 5 recruiting class because they offer scholarships on a one year basis.  So each off-season Nick Saban finds creative ways to trim the fat off the roster, and restock with at least 25 more recruits.  Over a 4 year period, Alabama accumulates enough recruits to fill 5 classes.  If you are able to basically hold try-outs with your roster every season it will ensure that only the best 85 will be on scholarship and the weak links are replaced.  It doesn’t look like the NCAA is working too quickly to change this loophole.  In terms of the Michigan football program, the Big Ten does not allow over-signing and Brady Hoke has recently begun handing out 4 year scholarships.  This puts the Wolverines at a disadvantage just in terms of numbers of recruits they will be able to sign each season.  If Michigan is ever going to climb back onto the level of the SEC they will have to become extremely efficient recruiters.  Where SEC schools can basically offer any and all of the top rated recruits without regard to position, Michigan will have to rely heavily on talent evaluators, focus their recruiting efforts on around 5 of the deemed top targets in regards to position and skill, be able to land 75% or more of these targets, likely start offering scholarships earlier in a high school career, and finally their recruit success rate has to be extremely high.  The recruit success rate is how well a player can live up to coach’s expectations when offered a scholarship in high school.  Recruiting rankings are merely for the fans to be able to follow college football year round.  If the coaches think a 2 star receiver can turn into the number 3 pick in the NFL draft, Michigan recruits will have to meet or pass these expectations.  Will Campbell was one of the top recruits in his class, but he has never been able to live up to that hype.  If he had committed to an SEC school it is likely he would not be finishing his college career still on the football team.  At this point, Nick Saban has accumulated a 2 deep roster that would likely include at least 20 All B1G players.  This is Michigan’s biggest, but most important, gap right now to focus on.  Continuing to add talented depth to the roster will be the key for the Wolverines to compete on a national level.