The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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16 THE WOLVERINE APRIL 2022 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL BY THE NUMBERS It's a good prob- lem to have. Rich people problems. That's definitely something that we have here — we have a lot of weapons, and we want to use them all. Whether it's our running back and tight end and receiver, that's one of the good challenges we have. We get to find all the ways to get the ball in these guys' hands and get the offense to go. We're ex- cited about that." — Quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss on U-M's abundance of playmakers I thought I would be more developed coming here than going to Clemson. And obviously, it's Michi- gan. From a university standpoint, Clemson doesn't really compare. Whenever I'm done playing, hopefully I can lean back on the Michigan alumni to help me." — Offensive lineman Olu Oluwatimi, who transferred from Virginia and considered Clemson before picking U-M, in an appearance on the "Blue By Ninety" podcast When Aidan Hutchinson goes and does a Bose cam- paign, which we set up for him, the response there for Bose is 'Wow, we've got a national audience here. All the other schools we worked with, they've got a regional audi- ence.' Michigan truly is a national brand, and that's compelling for those companies to come in and partner with our athletes. When a company is putting together a campaign, they know, 'Well, for sure I want to get a player from Michigan.' Even if Michigan isn't the best team in the country at the time, they still want to get a player because they know how big of a reach it is." — Valiant Management CEO Jared Wangler 5 TH TH Is where Pro Football Focus' Anthony Treash pegged Michigan football in his "way-too-early" top 25 rankings re- leased April 18. That places the Maize and Blue right back in the hunt for a national title, behind No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Clemson. Just three Big Ten teams made the list, with No. 21 Wisconsin joining the Wolverines and Buckeyes. Michigan State and Iowa "just missed the cut," per Treash. 761.00 761.00 Points for Michigan athletics in the Learfield Directors' Cup standings that were updated April 7. That puts the Wolverines in first place, seven points ahead of second-ranked Notre Dame (754.00). Ohio State sits third with 701.50, Stanford is fourth with 690.50 and Texas rounds out the top five with 679.50. For reference, a first-place finish in a sport earns 100 points, second place 90 points, third place 85 points, and lesser values are assigned for lower finishes. The point totals that Michigan teams have earned in the winter season so far are as follows: Women's basketball (73 points), men's basketball (64), women's swimming and diving (72), men's swimming and diving (52), women's indoor track and field (25.5), men's indoor track and field (30.5), men's wrestling (90). That gives the Wolverines 407.00 points for the winter season, which ranks fourth behind Ohio State (537.50), Texas (493.00) and Stanford (467.00). 25th Is where head coach JUWAN HOWARD's Michigan basketball team slotted in the final coaches' poll of the 2021-22 season. The Maize and Blue had last appeared in the rankings at No. 24 on Nov. 29, 2021, but finished off the campaign strong, reaching the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 round, the South regional semifinal. 6 Men's basketball programs have made five consecutive Sweet 16 ap- pearances since the NCAA Tourna- ment field expanded to 64 teams in 1985: Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, and now Michigan, after the Wolverines' run to the second weekend this past March. U-M is 14-5 in the NCAA Tournament since 2017 and 23-8 since 2013.