Michigan Friday: Jim Tressel-Gate, Recruiting Visit Blitz and Men's Basketball

Jim Tressel-Gate

I don't know how your NCAA bracket looks, but mine took a huge hit yesterday.  I guess I should've worn more green.  That's how March Madness works.

Did anyone notice that Jim Tressel has expanded his suspension from two games to five and the NCAA denied the appeal on the five-game suspensions for the players?

Ohio State sure is acting fast instead of acting smart when it comes to this situation. 

Let's recap: a Yahoo! report is out for less than 24 hours, and the Buckeyes jump to a press conference and suspend Tressel for OSU's "MAC season." Then, the NCAA says, "Are you kidding me?!" and Tressel extends his suspension to three more games.  

It will be interesting to see if the NCAA will extend his suspension even further and if OSU will be forced to vacate wins from 2010.

It's clear OSU doesn't want to fire Tressel, but it's even clearer that the Buckeyes might not have a choice.  Tressel's decision to sign that NCAA document stating that he didn't have any knowledge of the situation will be his downfall.   

If you include the Youngstown State stuff, this looks pretty bad for the Ohio State coach.  If Bruce Pearl—head coach of the Tennessee men's basketball team—lies to the NCAA about a player being at his home for a BBQ and now looks to be fired, Tressel doesn't have a chance. His violation was much worse.

Michigan Football

Saturday marks the start of spring practice for the Wolverines and of course, the start of the Brady Hoke era.  It will be interesting to hear "rumors" from practice on how things are different and who is having a great spring.

Not only are the players interested in how Coach Hoke runs a practice; the recruits are, too. Here is a list of 2012 visitors, courtesy of TomVH from Mgoblog:

Ohio OL Kyle Dodson (6'6", 315 lbs),
Massachusetts LB Camren Williams (6'2", 215 lbs),
Massachusetts ATH Armani Reeves (5'11", 185 lbs),
Michigan LB Royce Jenkins-Stone (6'2", 215 lbs),
Michigan LB James Ross (6'0", 210 lbs),
Michigan DB Terry Richardson (5'9", 160 lbs),
Michigan OL/DL Kelby Latta (6'4", 295 lbs),
Michigan OL Ben Braden (6'7", 285 lbs)

Cincinnati offensive lineman Caleb Stacey (6'4", 275 lbs) was in Ann Arbor yesterday for a visit and came away impressed with the university and Ann Arbor. He took home a new offer from Michigan.

Michigan has a lot of catching up to do with the 2012 class, and the Michigan staff is working hard to gain some ground with these kids. 

The kids from Michigan who will be at practice are very important—Michigan needs to keep these kids at home and in Ann Arbor.  It would also be nice if the Wolverines could get one of these kids to commit in short order. 

If James Biggs or Royce Jenkins-Stone would commit (neither is expected to make an early choice), it would set the class on the right track, and I think we would see more commitments soon after. 

Men's Basketball

Let's not forget about today's Michigan-Tennessee game at 12:40.  But no matter what happens, I am very happy with what this team has accomplished this year. 

With Bruce Pearl hanging in the wind, I hope the Tennessee players will be too distracted  to play. Hopefully, Michigan can work the inside-outside game that has been working the last 11 games or so. 

I'm also looking for Zack and Stu to hit some big three-pointers.

Go Blue, Beat the Volunteers!