Friday Quick Hits: Brandon Graham Named Team MVP

• Brandon Graham was named Michigan's MVP for this past season. The award was voted on by Michigan players. Will Johnson, Mike Massey, Tim Jamison, Obi Ezeh, and Stephen Schilling also won awards.
• Steve Kampfer is making great progress, and suddenly it doesn't seem so unlikely that he will return to the ice in a game later this season. That is remarkable considering he injured his skull and neck in an off-ice incident in October.
  
• Matt Rust and Aaron Palushaj will play for Team USA in the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship. The event takes place from late December to early January and conflicts with the Great Lakes Invitational, meaning neither will play for Michigan during the GLI.
• A couple of Maize Rage members organized a camp out for the Duke game. Even though tip off isn't until 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, some people are planning on braving the cold by camping out tonight in order to get the best seats in Crisler for the game.
• Although MGoBlue is claiming that the Duke game is a sellout, some tickets are still available for students. According to an e-mail sent by the athletic department, the first 100 students who go to the women's basketball game against North Carolina State tonight (starts at 6:30 p.m.), sit in the section 9 bleachers, and stay for the entire game will receive free tickets to the Duke game on Saturday.
  
• The athletic department recently launched a photo store.
  
• 66 Michigan athletes were named to the fall Big Ten all-academic team.
  
• Donovan Tate, a football and baseball recruit, committed to North Carolina earlier this week. Tate is a very talented baseball player who may be a top 10 pick in next year's MLB draft. It isn't a guarantee that he will even go to college, but if he does UNC will be getting a great player in two sports. Tate had shown some interest in Michigan before committing to UNC.
  
• Taylor Hill, who left the football team at the start of this past season, is going to transfer to Kent State or Youngstown State. He will go to Kent State if he is allowed to play starting next year. If the NCAA doesn't grant him eligibility for 2009, he will probably go to Youngstown State, which is a I-AA school. If he transfers to YSU, he could play immediately.
  
• The Week 14 BlogPoll is out.
  
• Notre Dame's athletic director confirmed that Charlie Weis will return next season.
• Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville resigned on Wednesday. Even though Auburn's athletic director claims otherwise, it sure seems like he was forced out. Auburn went 5-7 this past season and was beat by Alabama for the first time since 2001.
• Toledo hired Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Tim Beckman to be the team's new head coach.
  

McGuffie, Butler, and Horn Not at Football Bust

According to John Heuser, Sam McGuffie, Carson Butler, and Avery Horn were not at the football bust earlier tonight. Rumors about McGuffie leaving Michigan have been circulating for some time now, but recently it sounded like he was going to stay. Just because he wasn't at the football bust doesn't mean he will leave for sure, but it certainly isn't a good sign.

The same goes for tight end turned defensive end Carson Butler. Butler was expected to leave the team after this season before he switched to defensive end. Once he started playing DE, there was some speculation that he would return to Michigan for his final year of eligibility. His absence from the bust basically confirms that he was the player that skipped the team meeting that took place the day after the Ohio State game. Rich Rodriguez said in his final weekly press conference that a player with one year of eligibility left didn't attend the meeting, so my guess is that Butler was that player.

Running back Avery Horn's absence from the football bust isn't a big surprise, either. Although there haven't been any direct rumors about Horn's future, the assumption was that he would transfer due to a lack of playing time. I imagine that is what will happen, although I'm only speculating at this point.

It sucks when any player leaves, but really the only notable one of these three would be McGuffie. Butler was seen as someone on his way out early on in the season, and Horn didn't get any playing time other than a couple kick returns. Obviously it would be nice if McGuffie stayed, but his future as a running back certainly has to come into question considering he suffered three concussions in the last two months of the season.

My guess is that we'll get confirmation of which players have left sometime soon. Final exams start for Michigan next week, and I would bet on hearing something after the semester ends.

Maryland Beats Michigan 75-70 Thanks to Strong Second Half

Michigan led Maryland by 6 points at halftime and was playing well. The Wolverines made 6 three-pointers in the first half and nearly had the lead up to double digits at one point. However, Maryland got off to a very quick start in the second half and began to take over the game. The Terrapins' best player, Greivis Vasquez, started the second half off with a three-pointer, and then he found teammate Eric Hayes, who nailed a three-ball as well to tie the game.

In all, Maryland went on a 16-3 run to start the second half and led by 7 points almost five minutes in. Zack Novak quickly closed the gap, though. He nailed a three-pointer and was fouled as well. He made the free throw to complete the four-point play and proceeded to score on a layup the next trip down the floor. Jevohn Shepherd, who had another solid game, layed the ball in on Michigan's next possession to take the lead back from Maryland.

Michigan and Maryland traded the lead for the next few minutes before the Terrapins went ahead for good. Maryland wasn't able to get the lead any higher than four points until there were around three minutes left in the game. That's when Dave Neal hit a dagger of a three-pointer to put Maryland ahead by 7.

Michigan had time and plenty of chances to make a quick comeback, but they were only able to cut the lead down to 3 points, and that was only after Anthony Wright made a couple of lucky three-pointers. One was so far away that he nearly shot it from the bench, but it went in somehow to give Michigan a little hope. Unfortunately, Eric Hayes proceeded to nail both free throws after he was fouled, giving Maryland a 75-70 lead. Michigan missed two three-pointers in the closing seconds, keeping the score at 75-70 when the game went final.

Although it was disappointing that Michigan lost this game, it was encouraging that they could have won it. Michigan led briefly in the second half and kept it close until the very end with an ACC team on the road. Obviously that doesn't sound like a big deal, but it is progress from where this team was at last season.

Michigan will get another chance to show their progression against Duke on Saturday. This will be the second meeting between Michigan in Duke in 15 days, so it will be interesting to see what adjustments both teams make. The game tips off at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Online Stream of Michigan-Maryland Game

The Michigan-Maryland game is on ESPNU, meaning most of you won't be able to watch it on TV. Luckily it appears that the game will be streamed online, so you should be able to watch it here or below. Just hit play to watch the game (it tips off around 7:30 p.m.).

UPDATE: The feed appears to be having some problems. If no video is showing up, it's not your fault. The problem is originating from the feed itself.

UPDATE II: Try this feed instead. It appears to be working.

UPDATE III: The game is over. Michigan lost 75-70 after leading by 6 at the half. I'll post a recap tomorrow.

Wednesday Quick Hits: Michigan Takes on Maryland Tonight

• Reminder: Michigan plays at Maryland tonight as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Both conferences currently have three wins each, meaning the winner of the challenge will be decided today. Michigan's game tips off at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
• Duke beat Purdue 76-60 on the road in an ACC/Big Ten Challenge game last night. For comparison's sake, Michigan lost to Duke by a score of 71-56 in New York City, so it will be interesting to see what happens on Saturday when the Wolverines and Blue Devils meet again.
• UM Hoops posted a schedule for the John Beilein Radio Show. The show will be held at the Pizza House in Ann Arbor.
• Former Michigan football player Vada Murray has lung cancer. My thoughts and prayers go out to Vada, who was just recently an honorary captain for Michigan.
  
• Multiple media outlets are reporting that Charlie Weis will return as Notre Dame's head coach next year. That news is a bit surprising, as Notre Dame has underachieved quite a bit the last two seasons. I personally thought Weis would be fired, but I am glad he will be given at least one more year. Weis doesn't seem like he is a very good coach, and he may even be able to survive beyond 2009 considering how easy ND's schedule is next year. Although he can recruit, I don't expect Notre Dame to go very far as long as Weis is at the helm.
  
• Oregon's offensive coordinator, Chip Kelly, has been named the team's coach-in-waiting. He will take over for Mike Bellotti, who will become Oregon's athletic director when he retires.
  

Tuesday Quick Hits: Berenson Adjusts Lineup

• Red Berenson moved freshman David Wohlberg to the top line and moved Tim Miller to the fourth. With the way the team has been playing, I wouldn't be surprised if Bryan Hogan became the permanent starting goalie in the near future. Billy Sauer has struggled this season, and his teammates don't score very much when he is in net.
  
• Jay Bilas, a former Duke player, is going to be the color commentator for Michigan's game against Duke on Saturday.
• Video of DeShawn Sims buzzer beater from Saturday has made it on to YouTube. The video also includes Zack Novak's missed dunk at the end of regulation.
  
• Ticket packages for basketball games will be going on sale tomorrow.
• MGoBlog compared this year's Michigan team to last year's Notre Dame team. Both teams went 3-9, so there are definitely some similarities between them.
• Varsity Blue scouted the Michigan high school football finals.
• Michael Phelps is Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year.
• The Big Ten Network released a commercial with the conference's basketball coaches. It wasn't as good as the commercial with football coaches, but it's pretty good nonetheless.
  
• Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly, who has been rumored to be the top candidate for the Notre Dame job if Charlie Weis were to be fired, claims that he is going to stay where he's at right now. I would be pretty surprised if that turned out to be true, but I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens to Weis first.
  

Monday Quick Hits: Michigan Upsets #1 Minnesota, Loses to Wisconsin

• Michigan beat #1 Minnesota on Friday by a score of 6-3. The game was played at Minnesota, and I guess it shouldn't be too surprising that Michigan actually scored for a change since Bryan Hogan was in net. On Saturday at Wisconsin, though, Michigan lost 3-0 with Billy Sauer in net. I don't know why Michigan fails to score when Sauer plays goalie, but if this keeps up Hogan is going to have to take over as the full-time starter. Although Sauer hasn't had the greatest season by any means, it's not his fault when his teammates don't score.
  
• Michigan will look to pick up a couple wins in hockey on Friday and Saturday against Michigan State. Friday's game is in Ann Arbor and Saturday's matchup is in East Lansing.
• The Michigan men's soccer team lost to Indiana 3-0 on Saturday, ending their season after making the Sweet 16.
  
• The basketball team will play in the 2009 Old Spice Classic in Orlando. Baylor, Marquette, Alabama, Creighton, Xavier, Iona, and a team that will be announced later are scheduled to join Michigan in Orlando. It would be interesting if Michigan and Baylor ended up playing, as Ekpe Udoh, who transferred to Baylor after last season, will be eligible to play in 2009. (HT: UM Hoops)
• If you are still depressed about Michigan going 3-9, WolverineHistorian uploaded highlights from one of the lone bright spots from this season: Michigan's comeback victory over Wisconsin.
• Remember the last time Marques Slocum and Facebook mixed together? Well, Slocum, the one-time Michigan football player, and Facebook have joined forces again. Varsity Blue has the sad yet hilarious results.
• In case your IQ dropped after reading anything Slocum wrote, raise it back up by watching a story the NFL Network did about Steve Breaston and how he loves comic books and writes poetry.
  
• Lane Kiffin is going to be Tennessee's new head coach, and Monte Kiffin, his dad and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator, will reportedly join him in Knoxville.
• Clemson is reportedly going to name interim coach Dabo Swinney the team's head coach once contract details are worked out. But I thought Rich Rodriguez was going to Clemson or Tennessee. Oh wait, I guess Mark May is just a complete idiot (May displays his idiocy just after half way into the audio the link goes to). That makes much more sense.
  
  Rodriguez's agent, Mike Brown, is also Swinney's agent, so that would probably explain why Brown was so close to the situation in the first place. It wasn't because Rodriguez was planning on leaving Michigan but because a client of Brown's was the interim coach and was trying to become the head coach.
  
• Eastern Michigan beat Central Michigan 56-52 on Friday. Oh, and this was a football game, in case you weren't sure. EMU's QB threw the ball 80 times and racked up over 500 yards and 5 touchdowns in the upset.
• Sylvester Croom resigned as the head coach of Mississippi State after losing to Mississippi 45-0 on Friday.
• What sucks more: the BCS or Notre Dame? It's a close one, and both make a great case for sucking more than the other. The BCS ranked Oklahoma ahead of Texas, even though the Longhorns beat the Sooners earlier this season. Since Oklahoma is ranked ahead of Texas, they get to go to the Big 12 championship game and are a win away from the national championship game.
  
  Regardless of the countless flaws the BCS has, however, Notre Dame just flat out sucks. USC beat ND 38-3 on Saturday, and the Fighting Irish didn't even have a first down until the very end of the third quarter. They are now 6-6, and Charlie Weis' job is beyond being in jeopardy.
  
  Early speculation suggests that if Weis were to be fired, Cincinnati's Brian Kelly, who just coached the Bearcats to a Big East title and BCS bowl berth, would be the leading candidate to replace him. Not only do I not want to see Kelly at Notre Dame, but I don't want Weis to be anywhere but South Bend. He has proven to be a lousy coach, and the longer he's there, the longer Notre Dame will be mediocre at best.
  

Michigan Survives Upset Scare Thanks to Sims' Overtime Buzzer Beater

Michigan survived quite the scare on Saturday against Savannah State. After getting off to an absolutely terrible start, Michigan actually trailed by 20 points at the half. Not only was this stunning considering the opponent was Savannah State, but any positive thoughts about the rest of the season immediately went out the window. A loss to Savannah State, especially one in embarrassing fashion, would take the program back as many steps as the UCLA win took it forward.

Thankfully there was still another half left to play. Michigan outscored Savannah State 15-0 to begin the second half and eventually came all the way back to tie the game. In fact, the game was tied with only a few seconds left, and Savannah State had possession of the ball. On an inbounds pass, though, Zack Novak stole the ball and rushed it down the court. He went up and attempted a dunk, and the ball rimmed out just as the clock expired. Michigan could have won the game in regulation, but Novak missed the dunk.

In overtime, Michigan struggled to make a field goal until Novak hit a three-pointer to give the Wolverines the lead. Then, after going back and forth, Savannah State tied the game with only 5 seconds left. Rather than call a timeout to slow the game down or draw up a play, Manny Harris got the ensuing inbounds pass and quickly passed it down the court to a wide open DeShawn Sims. Just before the buzzer sounded and the clock expired, Sims shot the ball from just inside the three-point line. The ball went right through the basket, and Sims became the hero, as Michigan won 66-64.

As exciting as this game was, it should have never come down to a buzzer beater in overtime for Michigan to beat Savannah State. I'm hoping this was just an off day for the team. Although it was great that they played so well to start the second half and erased a 20-point deficit, the fact that they were once trailing by 20 points is not good. Had it not been for Sims, who tied a career high in points (23) and rebounds (12) rebounds, and Manny Harris, who scored 22 points, 14 of which were from the free throw line, Michigan would have lost this game for sure.

If you want to take a positive out of this game, look no further than the fact that Michigan played poorly and still one. Last year's team didn't have that luxury, but not only did Michigan fight back on Saturday, but they escaped with a win in a game Savannah State dominated for at least 20 minutes. Obviously Michigan can't play this poorly and hope to come back against good teams, but it's a good thing they were able to on Saturday.

With this scare now in the back of the team's mind, Michigan embarks on a big week with two games against ACC teams. On Wednesday, Michigan heads to Maryland to play their game in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Maryland beat Michigan State on Thanksgiving by an impressive score of 80-62. Since then, though, Maryland has been blown out by both Gonzaga and Georgetown. Mind you, those are both good teams, but it seems like the Terrapins are beatable. I guess we'll find out on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU.

On Saturday, Michigan hosts Duke for a rematch of the 2K Sports Classic title game that was played on November 21. Hopefully Michigan's second meeting with Duke in just over two weeks goes better than the first one did. Duke beat Michigan 71-56 and had little trouble with the 1-3-1. Also, although Michigan had an off shooting night, Duke definitely played a role in that by playing great defense. The rematch will tip off at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday and will be broadcast on ESPN.

(To watch the entire Savannah State game, you can go to the Big Ten Network's website, as they have put it in their archives. For highlights, click here.)

MSC's Week 14 CBSSports.com BlogPoll

My Week 14 BlogPoll features Alabama at #1 and Texas at #2. I decided to rank Texas ahead of Oklahoma because the Longhorns already beat the Sooners this season. Yes, Oklahoma did demolish a Texas Tech team that beat Texas, but there is no perfect way to settle this three-way tie.

Texas Tech is out of contention due to the fact that they were embarrassed by Oklahoma. But wait, they did beat Texas. Although that is true, Texas lost to the Red Raiders on the road on basically the last play of the game after a Longhorns defender dropped an interception only a couple plays earlier. On top of that, the Texas Tech game was the Longhorns' fourth in a row against a top 11 team. You can go along with the whole this team is better than that team who beat that other team scenario all day long, but at the end of the day there is no fair way to settle it. Given the circumstances, though, I picked Texas as the Big 12's best team.

After Alabama, Texas and Oklahoma, I have Florida ranked as the nation's fourth best team. If they beat Alabama, they would likely jump up to the top 2, but for right now I'm waiting to see what happens on Saturday. Florida has played great recently, but I can't forget that they lost to Mississippi. Between them, Texas, and Oklahoma, they have the worst loss, even though it was only by a point to a team that is now ranked 24th in my poll. Texas and OU both lost to top 10 teams -- Texas Tech and Texas, respectively.

USC comes in at 5th to round out the top 5, and I'll just present the rest of the poll to you as is.

Leave any thoughts about my poll or ideas for how I should rank the teams in the comments section and I'll take them into consideration when I officially submit my ballot on Wednesday.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama	--
2	Texas	--
3	Oklahoma	--
4	Florida	--
5	Southern Cal	--
6	Penn State	1
7	Texas Tech	1
8	Utah	--
9	Ohio State	1
10	Boise State	2
11	Ball State	3
12	TCU	3
13	Cincinnati	4
14	Georgia Tech	4
15	Boston College	4
16	Oklahoma State	7
17	Georgia	4
18	Missouri	7
19	Oregon	6
20	Pittsburgh	2
21	Michigan State	--
22	Northwestern	1
23	Iowa	1
24	Mississippi	2
25	Florida State	5

Dropped Out: Oregon State (#16).

Friday Quick Hits: Michigan Soccer Team Advances to Sweet 16

• The Michigan soccer team will play at Indiana in a Sweet 16 matchup as part of the NCAA Tournament tomorrow night. Michigan got to the Sweet 16 by beating UC Davis 2-1 on Tuesday. The Wolverines beat Indiana on the road earlier in the season but lost to the Hoosiers in the Big Ten tournament. Both games produced a 1-0 score, so the Sweet 16 matchup will likely be close as well. If the Wolverines beat IU, they would play UC Irvine or St. Johns in the Elite 8.
• Michigan will host Savannah State in basketball at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday. The game will be streamed live on the Big Ten Network's website.
  
• Michigan is going to play in the College Hockey Showcase tonight and tomorrow. Tonight they will play at Minnesota, and the game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network at 8:05 p.m. ET. Michigan will then play at Wisconsin on Saturday at the same time. The Wolverines are heading into these two games on a losing streak after they were swept by Miami (Ohio) last week, so hopefully they will bounce back and pick up at least one win.
• Former Michigan and current Louisville defensive coordinator Ron English is reportedly a candidate for the San Diego State and Eastern Michigan head coaching jobs. Former Michigan quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler and former Michigan wide receivers coach Erik Campbell are also reportedly candidates for EMU job.
  
  The fact that three former Michigan assistants are in the running for the EMU job should come as no surprise considering Lloyd Carr is helping Eastern Michigan with their search. English, Loeffler, and Campbell were all on Carr's staff before he retired, so I'm guessing one of them will be on their way back to Washtenaw County.
• The Blog That Yost Built has more on Michigan's most recent hockey commit, Kevin Clare.
  
• Varsity Blue has a guide to the Michigan high school football finals that will air on FSN Detroit today, tomorrow, and Sunday (due to a game being shown on tape-delay).
• This week's BlogPoll is out.
• There are many intriguing college football games to watch today and tomorrow, but the one I'm really keeping an eye on is the matchup between USC and Notre Dame. According to BetUS Sportsbook, Notre Dame is a 32-point underdog in this game. Charlie Weis' job may be on the line, so the Fighting Irish better keep it closer than 32 points. It's pretty much a given that Notre Dame won't win, so the thing to watch for is how they play against the Trojans. If they are demolished from the start, I honestly would expect Notre Dame to can Weis, regardless of his reportedly enormous buyout.
  

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'll be back with new content tomorrow. Until then, enjoy Thanksgiving and Go Blue!

(Image via http://christophercrosby.com)

Wednesday Quick Hits: Michigan Cruises to 83-49 Win Over Norfolk State

• Michigan beat Norfolk State in basketball by a score of 83-49 last night. Manny Harris had a double-double, as he led all scorers with 16 points and also had 15 rebounds. In total, five Michigan players scored in double-digits: Harris, Anthony Wright (12), Zack Novak (10), Jevohn Shepherd (11), and DeShawn Sims (11).
• Michigan got off to a slow start but eventually cruised to victory. The lead nearly got up to 40 points late in the second half before Norfolk State went on a very small run. The bench players managed to get the lead back up to 34 by the end of the game.
  
• During the Big Ten Network's broadcast of the game, former Michigan player and current color commentator Tim McCormick said that he thinks Laval Luc