(10) Michigan 63, (2) Oklahoma 73

Well, it was a great run. The Wolverines hung tough with the Sooners for 3/4 of the game, but in the end Blake Griffin was too much to handle. Griffin's numbers: 33 points and 14 rebounds. Michigan simply had no answer for Oklahoma's size differential. Zack Novak gave a victors valiant effort defensively in the paint, but in the end I think it affected his offensive productivity. Griffin was just too strong all day long.

The biggest surprise for the Wolverines tonight was the first half production out of Anthony Wright. Wright finished with 14 total points, but was a non-factor in the second half.

With the score 30-29 in Oklahoma's favor at the start of the second half, the Sooners came out of the locker room to score seven quick points. Michigan never got closer than three after that point. They had a little run around the 8-9 minute mark when C.J. Lee hit two three-pointers in a row, but it was all OU after that. Michigan simply could not get anything going offensively in the game's last 4-5 minutes and could not stop the Sooners on the other end of the court. This was a game where, in the end, the Wolverines lack of size really hurt.

As a Michigan fan, you've got to be impressed with how John Beilein led this team this year. After a 10-22 mark last year, the Wolverines finished the 2008-2009 season with a 21-14 record, including one victory in the NCAA Tournament. Michigan showed tremendous improvement in beating UCLA, Duke, Purdue, Illinois, and Clemson. They also held their own against the likes of Maryland, Connecticut, and Oklahoma. Coach Beilein definitely has this program going in the right direction. The Wolverines bring a great recruiting class in next year that includes a quality point guard in Darius Morris, a sharpshooter in Matt Vogrich, and some size down low in Jordan Morgan and Blake McLimans.

Thank you Coach John Beilein for making Michigan Basketball relevant again. This season was great, even from 2,000 miles away. I only wish I could have seen this team play in person. Thank you C.J. Lee and David Merritt for your dedication and determination. You will forever be remembered as true Michigan Men.

Go blue from AZ!

P.S. On a more cynical note, how arrogant are Blake and his brother Taylor? One time after a dunk, he stands, flexes, and looks at his muscles. Listen guy, you just dunked over someone who's 6'3, you're SUPPOSED to be able to do that when you're 6'10.

Yeah, you're good, calm down...

BTW, Austin Johnson has an ugly mohawk.

CBS pissed me off by showing Griffin's parents the ENTIRE game.

P.P.S. If you have something critical to say ever about a post or anything I have said, feel free to express said critiques, BUT, please make sure you are man/woman enough to reveal your identity.

Will Michigan Pull the Upset Tomorrow?

It is now approximately 24 hours until the tip-off of Michigan's first game in the NCAA Tournament in 10+ years. #10 Michigan will face #7 Clemson in Kansas City, MO at 7:10 EDT. Michigan is one of 16 teams in the South Region, with North Carolina receiving the #1 seed out of the 16.

There has been much discussion since the brackets were announced about whether or not Michigan stands a chance against the Tigers. Some predict that since Clemson has no inside presence over 6'9, the Wolverines have a favorable match-up -- size-wise at least. Others, however, rely on computer-based models and statistics that predict doom and gloom for Michigan tomorrow. To make this decision for yourself, there are a couple of good previews already available for your reading pleasure.

• Mgoblog.com takes a look at the match-up mostly based on the numbers. Clemson appears to be a pretty efficient team on a possession-by-possession basis. Aside from Duke and North Carolina, they were tops in the ACC. Meanwhile, Michigan was 7th in the Big Ten. These numbers seemingly favor the Tigers by a wide margin. Also, Clemson is a lot like the Wolverines in that they love the 3 point shot. In fact, they shoot 38% from the arc, good for 35th nationally. Fortunately, Michigan has been relatively efficient in shutting down opponents' three point shooting as of late.
• Over at UM Hoops.com, Dylan provides "an early look at Clemson." Good news for the Wolverines here in that Clemson's starting five provides 75% of the scoring and they don't seem to have a deep rotation. Clemson loves to utilize the full court press, so without much help off the bench the Tigers may find themselves tiring out in the second half. Michigan should have enough depth to combat this and get their starters a few breathers here and there while Clemson may be forced to leave theirs on the court. Of course, they probably are all very well-conditioned, but even NBA stars need a break every now and then.

This press scares me to death. Michigan likes to take up a lot of time setting up a good look on offense but will have to burn some of the shot clock worrying about getting the ball over the half court line. We've all seen what happens to the offense when the shot clock is running down. Usually it goes something like this: frantic pass, here you take it, I don't want it, give it to Manny, but he's covered, okay, I'll take the shot from NBA-range with a man in my face, damn, it got blocked. Translation: bad news. Hopefully (and I have faith in Beilein) we can install an effective press break this week to handle the pressure.

Tomorrow will probably be the loooonnnngest day as I'll be thinking about the game from the time I wake up until the tip. Luckily, there are some other earlier games to keep me busy while I wait. The Butler-LSU game should be a good one. I'm going with Butler. The Texas A&M-BYU game will be interesting. I'm taking the Aggies. The Minnesota-Texas game should be fun just because it's Minnesota and it'll be interesting to see how they stack up against opponents from outside the conference. I'm going with Texas in this one, though. Finally, after the Michigan victory, I'll check out the Illinois-WKU game. Bracket hint: here's your 12 over 5 upset for this year.

Go blue from AZ!

Michigan's In!

Updated: 10:20 P.M. ET

Michigan makes the tournament as a 10 seed in the South Region, playing the 7th-seeded Clemson Tigers at 7:10 ET on Thursday, the 15th. An interactive bracket from NCAA.com of the entire 65-team field can be found here.

I'll have a more detailed write-up on Clemson later this week after some more research, but initially they look beatable. They have no one on their roster over 6'7 that contributes much. They started out 16-0 before their first loss but didn't play a particularly tough non-conference schedule, though they did beat Illinois. I do remember watching them blow out the Dukies at home but I didn't tune in until the last two minutes, so I'm not sure how exactly that transpired.

Clemson blogs can be found here and here.

MGoBlue.com will have ticket information later tonight. Game time is TBA. As soon as I find out, I'll post it here. Also on MGoBlue.com, they have a "Behind the Scenes with Coach John Beilein" grid where they've broken down how JB spent his Sunday. A couple interesting items on the list:

4 -4:15 p.m.

Said he couldn't sit down so, "I moved the barbecue grill outside and cleaned some sticks off the lawn."

6:34 p.m.	Any uncertainty becomes a reality as Michigan's ticket is punched for the NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines are announced as the 10th seed in the South Regional and will face seventh-seeded Clemson from the ACC on Thursday. A celebration ensues and a smile is visible on the coach as the arena erupts in excitement and the team begins to jump around and hug each other.

7:04 p.m.

Hugs senior C.J. Lee outside the locker room and talks with DeShawn Sims in the tunnel about taking care of his class work before the team departs for the tournament.

Mlive.com has a brief write-up on the bid -- first time since 1998, dramatic scene, Ed Martin, etc.

ESPN has an easy on the eyes version of the tournament bracket here.

The Michigan Daily has a nice write-up of the pre-selection show festivities that occurred at Crisler. Coach Beilein had the opportunity to speak with the CBS host about 15 minutes before the show started.

Via UMHoops.com...

Digger and the boys break down the South Region...