In an effort to talk about something college basketball-related other than scandals in the summer, let's talk best current coaches. We'll attempt to order the top 25 current coaches in the nation. This is about the present and the future, not the distant past. What a guy did in the mid-90s doesn't matter near as much as the direction his program is currently headed. Past pedigree also matters, to an extent. For the perfect mix of past accomplishments with present achievement and a paved road for future success, look no further than the man atop the list.
In 2008, the Big Ten sent only four teams to the NCAA tournament. None reached the Elite Eight The Big Ten toiled down with mid-majors in conference RPI and were nationally maligned as the "Average 11." This past season, however, the league enjoyed a resurgence. It ranked only behind the ACC in conference RPI. Seven schools earned a berth into the NCAA tournament, and Penn State won the NIT. Michigan State toppled the defending national champions and two number one seeds en route to a national runner-up finish.
On its surprising drive to the NCAA tournament, Michigan seemingly blew a tire Feb. 22 in Iowa City. That Sunday afternoon, playing against an undermanned and, quite frankly, under-skilled Iowa team, Michigan blew a lead late and lost in overtime as coach John Beilein benched star guard Manny Harris, offering only "I didn't think he was playing well" as an explanation.
It looked like a death blow to its NCAA hopes at the time, and the move was met with total disdain by Michigan's fans, but in the aftermath of the stunning benching, the team is playing some of its best ball of the season. The Wolverines are 3-1 since -- with wins over Purdue, at Minnesota and now a 73-45 thrashing of that same Iowa team in the Big Ten tournament's first round.
This is easily the best Michigan basketball team in recent memory. They are going into Illinois tonight with a 13-3 record, and have defeated two top-10 teams. They are young, yes, and coming off a 22-loss season, so, obviously, they have their detractors. Second-year coach John Beilein would just like the team to stay hungry, but the players, instead, have developed quite the nice chip on their shoulder.
What's driving the young Wolverines? You know, the ever-popular and creative, disrespect card, naturally.
If you want a game recap, you can check one out. Here, we focus on more than that. The one thing I will say that is left out of the recap is the six missed free throws in overtime by the Hoosiers. Those all came before a few tack-on free throws by the Wolverines. Simply put, IU still should have won, if they could just hit their damn charity shots.
What is the fallout for each team?
Indiana
This game showed that the Hoosiers, no matter how hard they play, are simply not in the same league as the rest of the Big Ten this season in terms of talent. When you have a 20 point lead at home with only 18:46 left in the game, it should be in the bag.
The problem is that Indiana doesn't have the type of player who can take over and ensure the lead doesn't get blown -- like D.J. White could have. The leadership is lacking because no one who played significant minutes last year is back -- with all due respect to my boy, Kyle Taber. The talent is lacking because Tom Crean has basically had to start over.
A few weeks ago, coming off an impressive upset of UCLA, Michigan was handed a reminder by the Duke Blue Devils that their basketball program wasn't quite all the way back just yet. A second chance -- this time at home -- was all the Wolverines needed.
On the strength of DeShawn Sims' 28-point and 12-rebound effort and Duke's abysmal long-range shooting, Michigan basketball took another huge step in their rebuilding process with an 81-73 victory today.
Duke was too reliant on the outside shot. They were a terrible 7-of-33 from three-point territory, and this reliance also contributed to their only visiting the free throw line six times (they made four). The Blue Devils, however, will be just fine. It was their second straight road game, and we all know they don't play on the road outside their conference often. They'll rarely shoot so poorly from three, and you can count on Coach Krzyzewski stressing the importance of offensive variety after this loss.
It's been a long time since Michigan basketball mattered, even on a regional level. They've been on the back-burner locally due to futility, Michigan State basketball, and UM football; among other things. If you wanna talk about national prominence, you have to go all the way back to the "Fab Five" days of Chris Webber and Jalen Rose. In the aftermath of the Steve Fisher era, no progress was made. The Tommy Amaker hiring seemed like a good idea, since he was a Coach K disciple and all. It just didn't pan out, despite the NIT championship in 2004.
We're only five games into his second season, and you can tell this program is on the rise. The national college basketball fans even had to take note last week, when the Wolverines took down mighty UCLA. Sure, the game can be dismissed for a myriad of different reasons, but the tell-tale sign this program is on the rise was the way the team stayed grounded in the aftermath.
Just ask their star player, sophomore Manny Harris:
"We all have to be on the same page knowing that one win isn't good enough," Harris said Monday.
Nobody was expecting the Michigan Wolverines to light it up this year as John Beilein went through the process of implementing the offense he brought with him from West Virginia, and the Wolverines haven't had a very good season so far. Still, there's reason to believe that the Wolverines are starting to get the hang of their new offense and their new coach, as they beat the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday afternoon, 80-70.
The victory is Michigan's third in a row, the previous two coming at Iowa and against Penn State, and this one was by far the most impressive as Ohio State is the only tournament team the Wolverines have beaten this season. Of course, even though he's pleased with the victory, Beilein isn't about to declare his team a force to be reckoned with in the Big Ten.
"That's still not a win over a top-25 team, but (Ohio State) is going to be on that bubble all year and they may be in that NCAA tournament," Michigan coach John Beilein said. "So that's a step in the right direction - beating a tournament team."
With upcoming games against Minnesota, Illinois, Northwestern, and Penn State, it's not entirely impossible that the Wolverines can stretch their three-game winning streak into a seven-game streak. With each win the Wolverines are building confidence and are beginning to understand that they can win in the Big Ten.
Michigan won't be going anywhere this season, though they could pull off an upset in the Big Ten tournament, but with freshman Manny Harris in the fold, they could make some noise in the conference next season. They might even get back into the dance.
Minnesota's 10-2 start to this season is a nice story for the program and new head coach Tubby Smith, but we've reached the conference schedule, and it's goodbye creampuffs, hello Spartans. Minnesota just doesn't have the overall talent right now to compete with the Spartans, though much to their credit, they didn't just let the Spartans walk out of the Breslin Center with an easy victory.
Unfortunately the Gophers just had no answer for Raymar Morgan who led the Spartans with a career high 31 points and also decided to chip in with 10 boards as well. Morgan's performance even earned him some high praise from his head coach, Tom Izzo.
"I told some people that Raymar had a chance to be one of the best forwards ever to play here," Michigan State coach Izzo said of the versatile 6-foot-8 sophomore. "I know I've been tough on Raymar. We expect an awful lot from him. He reminds me of Morris (Peterson, the 2000 conference MVP)."
The Spartans also got a strong effort from freshman Kalin Lucas, who came off the bench to score 17 points. The biggest play Lucas made though was a steal that led to two free throws after Minnesota fought back from a 13-point deficit to make the score 58-57 Spartans.
"After very productive discussions with Bob Fitzsimmons, Coach Beilein's attorney, we are pleased to have finalized the details related to Coach Beilein's departure from the university," Tom Dorer, West Virginia's general counsel, said Thursday. "Obviously from the fact we reached agreement, both parties wanted to move on and amicably resolve any remaining issues."
Honestly, I don't know why West Virginia would be so concerned about resolving things amicably. Being amicable should've been way less of a concern than being $2.5 million richer. Bob Huggins' bar tabs do not pay for themselves. $2.5 million is what was owed, that's what should have been paid, and I don't know why they settled for less.
Not that I understand all the ins and outs here ... there are surely many things going on of which I'm not aware. But at no point during any of this did I stumble upon a reason for West Virginia to consider accepting less than the full amount. Perhaps they just wanted to avoid a long, drawn-out legal battle, but from all accounts, the language of the contract was pretty clear and iron-clad.
Anyway, the end result is that John Belein ends up paying $1.5 million out of his own pocket to coach at Michigan.
In 2008, the 
On its surprising drive to the NCAA tournament, Michigan seemingly blew a tire Feb. 22 in Iowa City. That Sunday afternoon, playing against an undermanned and, quite frankly, under-skilled Iowa team, Michigan blew a lead late and lost in overtime as coach 
This is easily the best Michigan basketball team in recent memory. They are going into Illinois tonight with a 13-3 record, and have defeated two top-10 teams. They are young, yes, and coming off a 22-loss season, so, obviously, they have their detractors. Second-year coach 
If you want a game recap, 
A few weeks ago, coming off an impressive upset of UCLA, Michigan was handed a reminder by the Duke Blue Devils that their basketball program wasn't quite all the way back just yet. A second chance -- this time at home -- was all the Wolverines needed. 
It's been a long time since Michigan basketball mattered, even on a regional level. They've been on the back-burner locally due to futility, Michigan State basketball, and UM football; among other things. If you wanna talk about national prominence, you have to go all the way back to the "Fab Five" days of 
Nobody was expecting the Michigan Wolverines to light it up this year as 
The $2.5 million that John Beilein owed to West Virginia 
