The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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Big Ten road wins that are usu- ally impossible to come by have — for this year, anyway — become somewhat common. Wisconsin — Bo Ryan's Wisconsin — lost three in a row at home between Jan. 18 and Feb. 1 before rebounding to win four straight games, including the contest at Ann Arbor. Indiana lost at home to both the Wildcats and Penn State, but beat both U-M and the Badgers in Bloomington. "I just think you get into the grind when you get into Big Ten play, and there's always a team that's going to be out to get you," Purdue guard Terone Johnson said in trying to ex- plain a January loss at Northwestern. "You can't relax on any night. That's just something you have to know go- ing into every game." In short, there's no predicting what's coming next, and no lead is safe. Michigan and Michigan State both lost at home Feb. 16, with the Badgers avenging a home loss to the Wolverines and the Spartans getting stunned by the Cornhuskers, 60-51. However, U-M and MSU still stood atop the Big Ten at 10-3, a game and a half ahead of Iowa (8-4), and their Feb. 23 showdown in Ann Arbor seemed destined to determine the title after the Wolverines survived the toughest part of their schedule. It was only a year ago, though, that a bizarre loss to a miserable Penn State team (and some poor free throw shooting down the stretch in a home loss to Indiana) kept the Wolverines from winning a title. U-M finished this year's road game gauntlet — In- diana, Michigan State, Iowa, Ohio State and Wisconsin — 3-2 after beat- ing the Buckeyes Feb. 11, but they shouldn't feel safe, ESPN analyst and former college coach Dan Dakich said. "That seemed to put them in the driver's seat, but in this league, this year, nothing seems to make sense," he noted. "Northwestern rips off a few in a row and then can't get a home win against Nebraska. It's been the strangest year in recent memory. "But Michigan State and Michigan have basically stayed above the fray. It was no real disgrace for Michigan to lose at Iowa [85-67 Feb. 8]. That was a top-10 team, and that's going to happen in this league — you go on the road and someone gets hot. It happens." What happens next, though, is anyone's guess. ROAD WARRIORS One thing that does seem certain, though — both the Wolverines and Spartans will be there at the end. Michigan lost sophomore big man Mitch McGary, a preseason All- American, to a back injury before Big Ten play started, and then proceeded to rip off eight straight conference wins before falling at Indiana. MSU has played with several dif- ferent lineups this year, going with- out big man Adreian Payne, Branden Dawson and Keith Appling for dif- ferent stretches, but also managed to rack up 10 wins with only six left to play. The two programs and Iowa were the only ones to avoid back-to-back Big Ten losses as of Feb. 17.