The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1541451
DECEMBER 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 11 ❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS The Wolverines Will Find A Way By Chris Balas You're never as good as you look at your best, never as bad as you appear when you struggle … that's the cliché in basketball or any other sport, but it's true. The Wolverines made 19 triples in a win over Oak- land to start the season, after which Golden Grizzlies head coach Greg Kampe expressed confidence in his team and insisted it was just how good U-M was that day. On the flip side, Michigan struggled to wins over Wake Forest at Little Caesar's Arena and at TCU, and guard play was a bit of a red flag. They need point guard Elliot Cadeau to be bet- ter than he was in both games, and they need a backup to emerge, too. Sophomore LJ Cason is supposed to be the guy, but he is struggling with some pressure and doesn't see the floor as well. All that said … the pieces are there for an out- standing team (if the guards improve). As head coach Dusty May said after the win over Wake Forest, they still had a lot to install. Because of injuries, etc., they haven't had the starters play a lot of minutes together or learn the offense and defense. It might be a stretch with the guard play — teams with elite back- courts are usually the ones that win titles — but U-M has the bigs and the wings to contend. We trust May to get the most out of them, and that could well mean a Big Ten title. Taking The Field By Clayton Sayfie As much as I believe Michigan has the best chance of winning the Big Ten regular-season crown, it's hard for me to predict it and not take the field, which is 17 other teams. Through games of Nov. 12, BetMGM had the Wolverines with the second-best odds to win the conference (+350), behind Purdue (+225). There's a drop-off from the Purdue and Michi- gan top tier to the rest of the league, but Illinois, UCLA, Ohio State, Michigan State, Indiana, USC, Wisconsin and more all look like formidable foes. It's hard to single out the Wolverines as the Big Ten champion without them proving more. In the start to the season, the Maize and Blue proved they have great upside but a lot of room for growth. There were a bunch of areas of con- cern coming out of the 85-84 overtime win over Wake Forest Nov. 11, such as defensive rebound- ing, free throws and figuring out the best lineups, but also flashes of brilliance from the many tal- ented players on the floor. The schedule is also less than favorable, with road-only matchups against Purdue and Illinois, two fellow contenders. Two of Michigan's three home-road series in conference are MSU and OSU, too, who look like solid groups early on. Due to all those reasons, I'm not willing to project the Wolverines as the odds-on favorite to win the Big Ten at this point. ❱ POINT ❙ COUNTERPOINT ❰ WILL MICHIGAN BASKETBALL WIN THE BIG TEN THIS YEAR? 1969 MICHIGAN vs OHIO STATE GAME Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan ON DVD!! One of the greatest upsets in the history of college football – The defending National Champion and undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes vs the 7-2 Michigan Wolverines under a new head coach! This was one of OSU coach Woody Hayes' finest teams. Ohio State had won 22 games in a row and had not lost a game at Ann Arbor in ten years! Some sportswriters were calling the Buckeyes the greatest college team of all time and had installed Ohio State as 17-point favorites –— at Michigan Stadium! But, by the end of the day, a sky-high Michigan team led by first year head coach Bo Schembechler, had totally outplayed Ohio State in front of an all-time NCAA record crowd of 103,588, had tied for the Big Ten Title and was heading to the Rose Bowl! The original network tapes have been digitally restored by Rare Sportsfilms for outstanding color and picture sharpness and now this historic classic is available for the first time on DVD! Bill Flemming and Lee Grosscup call the action! This entire TV broadcast, plus the pre-game show, includes all the original commercials and also features pre-game and halftime performances by both the Ohio State and University of Michigan Marching Bands! Pre-game interviews feature Jack Tatum of Ohio State and Jim Mandich of Michigan, as well as Buckeye coach Woody Hayes! Players in action you will see throughout the game include quarterback Don Moorhead, Billy Taylor, Marty Huff, Thom Darden, Dan Dierdorf, Glenn Doughty, Garvie Craw and Barry Pierson of Michigan. For Ohio State you'll see quarterback Rex Kern, Jim Otis, Mike Sensibaugh, Leo Hayden, Jan White, Jim Stillwagon, Larry Zelina, Stan White and many others! This game marked the beginning of the famous "Woody vs Bo Ten-Year War", and is one of the most significant games in the history of Michigan-Ohio State football! Running Time: 3 Hours, 20 Minutes $29.95 FREE SHIPPING! "RARE SPORTSFILMS W" 1126 Tennyson Lane, Naperville, IL 60540 1-630-527-8890 Dusty May's second Michigan men's basketball team should contend for the Big Ten title again this year, but the competition will be fierce. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL