THE ESSENTIALS WHAT #91 Michigan (7-14, 2-8 B10) vs #105 Rutgers (10-10, 2-7 B10) WHERE Crisler Center Ann Arbor, MI WHEN Saturday, 4:00 PM THE LINE Kenpom: MICHIGAN-5 Torvik: MICHIGAN-6 TELEVISION BTN (link) THE OVERVIEW Here's what I learned from the 2021 football team: To experience the best, it's worth sticking around for the worst. The football nadir was probably different for everyone, but it probably came at some point in 2020 between Ricky White torching the Michigan secondary and falling behind by 17 at Rutgers. Whether it happened for you during a rote destruction at the hands of Michael Penix, or it was when all of the critical 2021-'22 recruits came to town just to watch Wisconsin blow us out from the Brown Jug, somewhere in there I'm betting you decided the Harbaugh era was going to end in a sad "Well we tried." As it turned out, for many reasons, that football season wasn't real. Vincent Gray and Gemon Green overcame The Worst Cornerback
The question entering the Big Ten men's basketball season is which team will challenge defending champion Purdue. Michigan State has the best chance. That's according to the preseason media poll conducted by The Athletic and Columbus Dispatch. The Boilermakers return national player of the year Zach Edey. Both the Boilermakers are Spartans are loaded with experience. No. 3 Purdue, No. 4 Michigan State and No. 25 Illinois are the Big Ten's only teams in the AP preseason Top 25. Top returning players in the league besides Edey are Northwestern's Boo Buie, Illinois' Terrence Shannon, Rutgers' Clifford Omoruyi and Maryland's Jahmir Young.
The question entering the Big Ten men's basketball season is which team will challenge defending champion Purdue. Michigan State has the best chance. That's according to the preseason media poll conducted by The Athletic and Columbus Dispatch. The Boilermakers return national player of the year Zach Edey. Both the Boilermakers are Spartans are loaded with experience. No. 3 Purdue, No. 4 Michigan State and No. 25 Illinois are the Big Ten's only teams in the AP preseason Top 25. Top returning players in the league besides Edey are Northwestern's Boo Buie, Illinois' Terrence Shannon, Rutgers' Clifford Omoruyi and Maryland's Jahmir Young.
Handicapping the Big Ten race comes down to this: Purdue, Michigan State, everybody else. The Boilermakers, with reigning national player of the year Zach Edey and his strong supporting cast, are the prohibitive favorites to win a second straight regular-season championship. Michigan State is a possible challenger.