The Big Ten has announced times for the first three weeks of its teams’ seasons, and an additional one. Michigan’s games are as follows:

September 5 v. Western Michigan. 3:30, ABC.
September 12 v. Notre Dame. 3:30, ABC.
September 19 v. Eastern Michigan. 12, BTN.
October 31 @ Illinois 3:30 (2:30 local) ABC.

On top of that, we already know that the Iowa game will be played under the lights in Kinnick on ABC or ESPN.

Somewhat surprising that the Western game made it onto ABC, but I guess the network executives are expecting a pretty good game. The Notre Dame and Eastern times/channels are no-brainers.

I believe BTN rule is that each team must appear on the network 3 time during the season, with at least one of the appearances being a conference game. That leaves two games remaining in Michigan’s schedule that will be headed for BTN. I wouldn’t be shocked if the Indiana game, already announced to be played at noon, ends up there, especially if the Hoosiers are as bad as everyone (including me) predicts, and Michigan struggles to start the year.

That leaves (at least) one more game to be sent to the Big Ten Network, and Delaware State is a no-brainer for that one. If Purdue is as terrible as it appears they will be, the contest against the Boilermakers is likely to be sent there as well. Still, in a year that Michigan is expected to go through some growing pains, having 3 games already announced to be on ABC, another one (Iowa) likely, and Ohio State a mortal lock to be on netowrk is a pretty good accomplishment.

Posted under Football, Media

Right now on Fox College Sports Atlantic: Last year’s championship win over Chapman.

Tonight at 7: The other national semifinal, Chapman v. BYU.

Tonight at 10: Michigan v. Colorado in a national semifinal.

Since it’ll be on TV for all to see, hows about a CIL chat during the Michigan game?

Posted under Other Sports

For loyal readers fortunate (ha!) enough to live in Michigan (or, I guess anyone with satellite) FSN Detroit has every state championship game on this weekend, providing you with the opportunity to see several current and future targets in action, along with a lot of guys who will land at other instate schools.

MHSAA Division 8 Final Fri 10AM
Crystal Falls Forest Park v. Muskegon Catholic Central

MHSAA Division 2 Final Fri 1PM
Muskegon v. Warren DeLaSalle
Terrance Taylor was a star at Muskegon (as was USC’s Ronald Johnson), and they are consistently one of the best teams in the state, and even the country.

MHSAA Division 6 Final Fri 4:30 PM
Montague v. Leslie

MHSAA Division 4 Final Fri 11PM
Holland Christian v. Detroit Country Day
Holland Christian Senior QB AJ Westendorp is a potential walkon candidate, though don’t be surprised if he accepts a scholarship offer from a different (likely smaller) school. Though he hasn’t even garnered an offer from GVSU, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s where he ends up. Consider this your opportunity to determine if you think he deserves an offer.
Country Day has several prospects, including 2009 MSU verbal Bennie Fowler, in addition to 2010 players DT Chris Eddins and S Jason Ray.

MHSAA Division 7 Final Sat 10AM
Traverse City St. Francis v. Ubly
2010 MSU commit Max Bullough is the star linebacker for St. Francis. Offensive lineman Peter Rigan is also a potential Division-I player.

MHSAA Division 1 Final Sat 1PM
Rockford v. Lake Orion
Rockford has a 2010 linebacker of interest for Michigan fans, in Joe Stefanski.
Lake Orion is the alma mater of outgoing UM tackle Will Johnson and offensive lineman Ethan Ruhland of Michigan State.

MHSAA Division 5 Final Sat 4:30 PM
Ovid-Elsie v. Muskegon Oakridge
Ovid-Elsie has 2010 RB Chris Robinson, who could garner some bigger attention down the road.

MHSAA Division 3 Final Sun 12:30 AM
East Grand Rapids v. Inkster
Oddly, the best game (or at least one of them) is not airing until Sunday morning at 12:30 (It’s being played at 7:30, during a Red Wings game). 2009 WR/LB Cameron Gordon from Inkster has the attention of several BCS-caliber schools, including much of the Big Ten (and both instate schools). His 2010 teammate is the headliner, however, and QB Devin Gardner has his first opportunity to show off his skills on the big stage. It’s highly likely he’ll be doing the same over a year from now in one of the national all-star games.
East Grand Rapids, the alma mater of the Grady brothers, has the state’s most productive RB, Joe Glendening. They also sport TE/PF prospect Colin Voss, and Western Michigan commit TE Christopher Blair.

Posted under Football

Hear ye, hear ye.

Come one, come all to your television sets to witness the Wichita Falls Rider Raiders take on their rivals from Sulphur Springs, tonight at 9 on ESPN2.

The Raiders are helmed by University of Michigan commit Shavodrick Beaver, and they look to get on the right tracks after falling to Cedar Hill last week.

VB will have an AWESOME FULL GAME REPORT on Beaver’s play later this weekend.

Posted under Recruiting

Not the blog, punks.

If you’re a Michigan student who has any interest in football, I urge you to check out the TV version of Varsity Blue. If you’re interested in joining the crew, show up on the west side of South Quad’s 9th floor today at 6:30.

As a producer emeritus of the show, I recommend checking it out, I loved it in my undergrad days (and it led to my starting this here blog). If you’re interested but can’t make it today or want more information, e-mail the producer, Alex Prasad, at atprasad@umich.edu.

Posted under Recruiting

So at 7:05pm tonight University of Michigan will take on the University of Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament. For all of us in Ann Arbor, going to the game is a great option, despite the cold weather. Luckily for fans outside of Ann Arbor, there is a network dedicated to Big Ten sports which has coverage of every single conference championship. You would think that would be the case, but here’s BTN’s line up for tonight:

While I, like other Michigan fans, would like to see how the Wolverines won the Big Ten outdoor track title, isn’t things like the baseball tournament the reason BTN was made? It seems a bit ridiculous to run a pre-produced show about the track championships almost a week after they took place instead of showing the live baseball tournament.

I like the BTN and think, eventually, it will be good for Michigan fans, but it definitely needs some work to get where it ought to be.

Posted under Baseball