As we get into the actual football season, the posting schedule ’round these parts is going to be changing up a bit. Here is what you can expect during the season:

• Recruiting Updates will now be relegated to one day a week, which I have yet to definitively determine. However, I am contemplating making Saturday morning posts dedicated to the Friday night performances of Michigan commits. Thoughts?
• I will be posting a draft BlogPoll ballot for commenting on Mondays, then the final ballot on Wednesdays.
• The podcast will be switching from Sunday to a time late in the week. The new focus of it will be previewing the upcoming opponent. Tomorrow, the podcast will feature our guest Tony Pizza, live from Salt Lake City, Utah (by which I mean “recorded yesterday from Salt Lake City, Utah”).
• I’m thinking about posting a new video feature each week that will be called “Inside the Play.” It will be an in-depth breakdown of one notable play from the game in the preceding week. All in favor? Opposed?
• I will also (possibly) be trading posts once a week with our colleagues/rivals at Buckeye Commentary. More details on that forthcoming.

If you have any requests for features you’d like to see on a weekly basis, let me know in the comments.

Posted under Blog News

Coming later today will be the Northwestern preview. After the usual weekend festivities (a pair of recruiting updates, Big Ten recruiting rankings, and the podcast), the Ohio State and Iowa/Indiana previews will come out. Following that, the Michigan previewing shall begin, with a rundown of each position, in addition to other goodies like a midyear recruiting prospectus and even some predictions if you’re lucky.

Anyway, look forward to the Wildcats preview later today, and hang on tight, because the fun is really about to begin.

Posted under Blog News

Coming this afternoon: Michigan State Preview.
Coming sometime this week: A classic Bo interview (“classic” in this case meaning “old,” not “something seen by people other than those who lived in the dorms circa 1994”).
Coming Sunday: The podcast (like usual, but this one that I’m particularly excited about).

For Newsome-worriers: Rest assured (for now). More in the Friday recruiting update.

Jim Stefani has a bit more on DeQuinta.

An interesting discussion that took place in the comments last week:
Why is Indiana having recruiting success in Michigan?
Paul theorized thusly:

I wonder if that means that MSU is getting better players outside of Michigan so they don’t have to pick up the crumbs or if MSU is just losing its grip on said crumbs.

I think it’s neither. Pretty much all of the guys from Michigan who have committed to the Hoosiers either would never have gotten a High-level BCS offer (sorry Indiana), such as Kenny Watkins and Jamonne Chester, or are sleepers who would have had to wait a while for even an MSU offer, like Charles Chapman and Jeremy Gainer.

The only difference between this year and past years is that Indiana’s recruiting class is filling up earlier, so they can grab these sleepers before better offers come, or snatch the other guys away from the jaws of MAC schools.

Posted under Blog News, Blogcast, Recruiting

I am kinda busy this weekend (sister wedding, etc.), so please excuse if the content is a little on the light side. As of now, I am still planning for all of the regular weekend stuff, including the podcast (though it it may be a bit limited in scope).

Thanks for understanding, and everything should be back to full strength next week.

Posted under Blog News

Thanks to the glory of scheduled posting, I will still be around today and tomorrow with the regular offerings (recruiting update this afternoon, Big Ten recruiting rankings tomorrow). Unfortunately, due to the holiday, there will be no recruiting podcast this week. Have a fun and safe weekend everybody. Don’t fall from 4 stories.

Posted under Blog News

The new Recruiting Board is up, so I thought I should go over some of the new features.

When Tim and I were discussing what would be ideal, we started thinking something that was basically a message board with each prospect getting his own thread. The only problem there was formatting the information and making it look nice and convey the information quickly. And then there are the issues of maintenance and moderation inherent in message boards.

It seemed like a hybrid would be the best solution, so now you can comment on each and everyone of the recruits individually. Any info or articles, rumors you’ve heard, an opinion/gut feeling you have, anything that could give a more rounded picture of the prospect can be posted there. You have to register, but that is really quick and no personal information is required (the registration link is at the bottom of the board as well as under the comments section- Tim). This helps prevents spambots from doing what they do and gives troll another hurdle.

I hope everyone will contribute so we can have a super complete, informative source for the 2009 class.

Posted under Blog News, Recruiting

Michigan comes in third. They had been in second before the tabulation of spring sports, but UCLA was able to pass on the strength of their spring programs.

This is a fairly standard finish for Michigan, despite relatively poor years in the two biggest sports, football and basketball.

In case you’re scratching your head going “Stanford?!,” just know that they always win. Always.

Posted under Blog News

I’ve gotten several submissions of alternate/new uniforms, however nearly all of them are… less than serious. Let’s keep those submissions coming and who knows, maybe we’ll see an actual design or two.

Coming later this afternoon: Notre Dame preview.

Posted under Blog News

Sorry if I’m a little late on this, I’ve been traveling all afternoon.

“On behalf of Big Ten presidents, faculty, administrators, players, coaches, alumni and fans, we congratulate Comcast and the Big Ten Network on reaching an agreement to bring Big Ten programming to millions of fans in the eight Big Ten states and millions more alumni and fans nationwide,” said Big Ten Commissioner James E. Delany. “We are very pleased with this partnership between the Big Ten Network and Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operator. Big Ten fans and Comcast customers will now be able to see the network on linear television, in high definition, and through Video-on-Demand and broadband applications. The network remains committed to working with the remaining cable operators in Iowa, Ohio and Wisconsin so that their customers will have the network as well.”

Scott Chipman
Assistant Commissioner of Communications
Big Ten Conference

…And there was much rejoicing

Posted under Blog News

The posting as currently scheduled (recruiting Mondays, Fridays, and when there are commits; Big Ten recruiting rankings Saturdays) will continue, along with the various other posts that appear throughout the week.

However, in addition, I’ll be rolling out team previews for this season starting next week. I’ll run from Utah to Ohio State, then cover the two Big Ten teams Michigan doesn’t play this year.

Get stoked.

Also, check the new banner.

Posted under Analysis, Blog News