Cautious Optimism

Surprisingly, the Wolverines, after winning at Northwestern today, are 2-0 in the Big 10 and 14-3 overall. Prior to conference play, the pundits felt that with Michigan would need to go at least 9-7 in conference play, along with a couple of wins to get into the NCAAs. After today's performance, I'm cautiously optimistic.

Although the Illini were 38th overall, based on RPI, at the end of OOC play, their best win appears to be against Mizzou. Throw in losses to Xavier, Arizona, and Maryland, Illinois' OOC performance reminds me a lot of Michigan's. Thus, I'm not too excited about this win.

It's well known that Michigan has stuggled on the road during Tommy A's tenure (18-38 after today's win), so any road win is cause for a smile - even if it comes against the 151st team (based on RPI - 12/31/06). Examining the opponent, if Michigan had lost this game, it would have been unacceptable. NU has lost to Cornell, Tennessee Tech, and Stanford.

I'm sure that Michigan will get blown out soon enough to remind me that I was foolish to get excited after these first two conference games.