Spring Practice Update

Spring Practice began today for the Michigan Wolverines Football team. MGoBlue.com has a rundown of the day, a twenty page photo gallery, a video of practice hosted by Doug Karsch, and an audio clip on Rich Rodriguez's comments prior to practice. The team used its new outdoor facility, though the temperature hovered around 35-40 degrees. They practiced in helmets, jerseys, and sweats as they must have two non-padded practices before going full gear.

Update: The Free Press posted a twenty page photo gallery as well. They have a few nice shots of both William Campbell and Tate Forcier.

Update: Tate Forcier looked pretty good today, throwing several "pin-point passes."

Update: Mlive finally comes through with a little tidbit from today's practice. It's mostly about Sheridan and Foricer though.

Another Update: Be sure to check out the video on MGoBlue.com. It's about six minutes long, has interviews from several key players, and shows the players going through a variety of drills.

Now We Await Our Fate

Michigan falls to Illinois 60-50 in a game that would have locked up the Wolverines' first tournament birth in more than a decade. Instead, the shots simply weren't falling, Illinois played great defense, and Mike Davis played like an all-star. This game took me all the way back to mid-season, when no one could hit a shot, the team couldn't score, and their field goal percentage hovered around the low 40's. Now, the Michigan faithful will have to anxiously await the team's fate by rooting for other bubble teams to lose and sweating out the selection show. Full post-game and bubble watch for today can be found over at UMHoops.com.

You can join fellow Wolverines Fans at Crisler tomorrow to watch the selection show. Doors open at 5 PM and there is no cost for admission. Also, CBS will have a crew there filming the team's reaction. I'm hoping to see an excited Michigan team explode when CBS announces a 10 seed. Let's hope it's not one of those we see every year that ends in disappointment and we're instead left watching Beilein talk about how deserving this team was of a bid but yet still speaking politically correct about the selection committee and its process.

I still feel pretty confident about Michigan's chances on Sunday, especially given the losses by Wisconsin, Penn State, and Minnesota. The Wolverines' resume has got to look better than Penn State & Minnesota's. If the committee doesn't think the Big Ten warrants 8 bids, I'm banking on Michigan receiving the invite over those two teams. Giving Michigan a bid and snubbing the Nittany Lions and the Golden Gophers would give the Big Ten six invites. This, I think, is a more likely outcome though I'd like to see eight bids.

Other News

• Spring Practice begins for Michigan's Football team today. Check out Coach Rodriguez's twitter updates to see what's new. I'm hoping to find some video/pics from practice, so if you find any, let me know. UPDATE: Rodriguez spoke to the media before heading out to practice. Thewolverine.com has all the details in transcript form here.
• Michigan's Pro Day went well yesterday. MVictors.com has the big news and an interesting photo of some old friends.
• Devin Gardner has reportedly committed to the University of Michigan. This is great news for the future of the QB position. Mgoblog breaks the news here.

I'll have the tournament bracket up with thoughts/feelings tomorrow evening. I'll be like the rest of you tomorrow, biting my fingernails and sweating profusely. Until then, go blue from AZ!

Coach Rodriguez Addresses the Media

Yesterday, Michigan Head Football Coach Rich Rodriguez met with the media to speak about the beginning of Spring Practice, which starts March 14th. Some noteworthy points:

• The seven early-enrollees have picked their numbers. Notables: Forcier #5; Campbell #73
• There were a couple number changes: Roundtree from #16 to #12 (switched with the Coner)
• A few players switched positions over the Winter, like Vince Helmuth, who will now play DT instead of FB. I coached the Freshmen at Saline when Vinny was a senior there and he was fun to watch. I hope he can get some PT this year for the Maize & Blue.
• Junior Hemingway, a 4 star recruit coming out of high school who saw limited action last year, was granted a medical redshirt. You might remember him from the diving TD catch vs. Utah the very first game of the year. He'll have sophomore eligibility.
• Of course, as mentioned in an earlier post, both Shaw and Mouton will miss Spring practices. Hopefully both of these guys can get healthy over the Summer and contribute in the Fall. Shaw is a really explosive back and Mouton is a solid LB learning the position.