Michigan
Michigan House adopts new budget transparency
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Michigan
Ranking the final five Michigan Basketball games by importance to regaining the Big Ten lead
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The weekend started off rough for Michigan Wolverines fans, as they watched Michigan State beat the Wolverines by double-digits at Crisler Center. It was the Wolverines’ first loss in a month — and their first at home all season — and it was the most costly of the season with the Spartans taking sole possession of first place in the Big Ten.
Now with five games to go, Michigan is a half-game out of the top spot. The Wolverines need a strong performance down the stretch to regain the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and/or share the Big Ten regular season title. Today, we rank each game in order of importance.
No. 5 – Michigan vs Rutgers, 2/27 @ 9 p.m.
The Scarlet Knights have had an underwhelming season after bringing in two five-star freshmen — they are below .500 and have won just four of their last 10. These two teams saw each other earlier in the month, as Rutgers was without star freshman Dylan Harper. Still, the Scarlet Knights hung around, with Michigan only winning by three. There are no excuses to this game with what is at stake and having it be at Crisler Center.
No. 4 – Michigan vs Illinois, 3/2 @ 3:45 p.m.
Illinois has been in a free fall the last few weeks, losing six of its last 10 and recently getting blown out by Wisconsin and Michigan State. Right now, the Illini are at risk of being a bubble team if they can’t turn the corner soon. It’ll be a race to 80 points, as Illinois is 1-5 this season when allowing that many points.
No. 3 – Michigan @ Nebraska, 2/24 @ 8 p.m.
Coming off the loss to Michigan State, the Wolverines need to bounce back, and Lincoln is one of the most difficult places to play in the country. The Huskers are on the bubble, so a win over Michigan may be the difference between them making the tournament or not.
No. 2 – Michigan vs Maryland, 3/5 @ 6:30 p.m.
It feels a little disrespectful to have this game at No. 2, given they have won 10 of their last 12, but we all know what is coming at the top of this list. Maryland’s starting lineup averages more than 10 points per game, including Derik Queen and Julian Reese, who nearly average a double-double apiece. Pair them with two of the best three-point shooters in the country, Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Seton Miguel, and you have a team that still has hopes of a Big Ten crown of their own.
No. 1 – Michigan @ Michigan State, 3/9 @ noon ET
No other game will be as important as this one. Michigan State was able to come into Ann Arbor to earn the top spot this past weekend, but it won just the battle, not the war. While the Spartans have one less game remaining than Michigan, their schedule is tougher. They go to Maryland next, host Wisconsin, and then head to Iowa before finishing the season against Michigan. The Wolverines are still very much in play at earning sole possession of that top spot, and there is just something about this game that makes it feel like it could lead to that scenario.
Michigan
Louisville Blasts Western Michigan in Home Opener
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Making a triumphant return to Jim Patterson Stadium for their first home game of the 2024 season, the Louisville baseball program kicked off their weekend series vs. Western Michigan in style, winning 14-3 via seven-inning run-rule on Saturday.
The Cardinals (3-1) plate their most runs in a home opener since putting up 19 against Eastern Kentucky back on Feb. 22, 2017. They also move to 8-1 against the Mustangs (0-5) under head coach Dan McDonnell despite trailing the overall series 9-22.
Louisville exploded at the plate, collecting 18 base hits and seven extra base hits, with six Cardinals logging multi-hit days. They were led by a spectacular performance from true freshman Tague Davis (4-4, HR, 5 RBI), who drove in UofL’s first home run of the 2025 season.
Both Lucas Moore (2-5, 2 RBI, 2B) and Zion Rose (2-3, 2 RBI, 2 2B, BB) also had multi-RBI and multi-hit afternoons; while Alex Alicea (3-3, 2B, BB), Matt Klein (2-3, RBI, 2B, BB) and Jake Munroe (2-4, BB) joined Davis, Moore and Rose in the latter category.
Louisville was quick to strike against Western Michigan, putting up a quartet of runs in the opening frame. Klein and Davis each struck RBI singles, Munroe drew a bases loaded walk, and King collected a sacrifice fly.
After Rose hit a sac fly of his own in the second, the Cardinals’ bats exploded with a seven-spot in the fourth inning. Davis blasted a three-run homer, Moore struck a two-run single, Rose hit an RBI double, and Garret Pike (1-2, RBI. BB) added Louisville’s third sac fly of the game. Add in an RBI single by Davis in the fifth, Louisville plated 13 unanswered runs.
On top of the onslaught of runs, right-hander Patrick Forbes (5.0 IP, 9 K, 2 H) delivered another masterful start on the mound. Of the 16 batters faced in his five-inning start, he allowed only two of them to reach base.
The bullpen did run into a little bit of trouble in the sixth against Western Michigan. Right-hander Alex Gay (0.1 IP, 1 K, 2 BB, 1 H, 3 ER) was the first reliever inserted, allowed an RBI single, and was on the hook for a pair of RBI singles given up by lefty Casen Murphy (1.2 IP, 3 H) after his early hook.
That would be the only adversity faced by the Cardinals. George Baker (1-1, RBI, 2B) added an insurance RBI double in the bottom of the sixth, then Murphy tossed a scoreless seventh to clinch the run-rule win.
Next up for Louisville, they’ll continue their weekend series against Western Michigan with game two. First pitch is slated for Sunday, Feb. 13 at 1:00 p.m. EST, and will be televised on ACC Network Extra and broadcast on 970 WGTK.
(Photo via Chris Jones – Imagn Images)
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Michigan
Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State basketball’s 75-62 win at Michigan
1. And with that, MSU has a real shot to win the Big Ten
ANN ARBOR – A week ago, when MSU trailed big early at Illinois, coming off a bad loss to Indiana, it was just about impossible to picture what’s transpired since — three straight wins, at Illinois, over Purdue and, Friday night, at Michigan in the biggest game this series has seen in six years.
Frankly, there were times in the first half Saturday where it was hard to picture it. Certainly not a 75-62 win — a win that gave MSU sole possession of first place in the Big Ten for the time being. At 13-3, the Spartans are a half-game up on Michigan (12-3), with games at Maryland, home against Wisconsin, at Iowa and home against Michigan still to go.
If MSU plays the rest of the way how it did in the second half Saturday — defensively pestering the Wolverines into eight turnovers and 38% shooting, getting its defensive rotations cleaned up to guard the 3-point line effectively and offensively making shots and playing more decisively against a zone that caused them fits for a long time — the Spartans might just finish this thing off.
This game will be remembered for Jase Richardson’s performance (more below), for Tre Holloman’s flurry of 3-pointers in the middle of the second half — he finished with 18 points and made three 3s on successive positions — and for the response when things looked shaky. Holloman and Richardson were a big part of that. MSU doubled up Michigan on the offensive glass and, in the second half especially, used different matchups to bother Michigan’s Danny Wolf, who made just 2 of 7 shots after the break.
This would be an incredibly meaningful Big Ten title for this MSU team and Tom Izzo’s program, given the mediocrity they’ve struggled to escape the last few seasons. There’s a lot of work still to do, but the finish line is in sight. A championship is definitely plausible.
2. Jase Richardson becomes the guy
One of the well-known strengths and weaknesses of this MSU team is that you never know exactly where the buckets are going to come from. It’s hard to scout, but also sometimes uneasy to watch.
Consider Friday the night that line of thinking changed. Offensively, this show begins with Jase Richardson. On a night when for a long while MSU had no other consistent shot-maker, in the biggest game of the season, on a rival’s home court, Richardson carried them well into the second half, until Tre Holloman caught fire, and then again after that.
The thing about stars is they have to be enough when nothing else is going. We’ve seen Richardson do that before. But you could see this one coming early. He looked up for it. He looked like a pro on the court.
There is a fearlessness to him, coupled with the sense that it’s going to work out when he has the ball. When he shoots, everyone thinks it’s going in.
Same for defenses, which I think had moved on from the anyone-anytime-who-knows way of scouting MSU a while ago. Some of that has to do with Jaden Akins’ shooting struggles. They fear Richardson more. You could see it in how attentive Michigan was with Richardson. Didn’t matter. That’s also part of being the guy.
We’ll see if a freshman can keep doing it down the stretch and beyond. But if it’s going to happen, it’s him.
That was certainly the case Saturday, when he tallied 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting — hitting big-time shots early and late, on the catch, off the dribble and on the drive — to go with six rebounds and two steals.
MSU would have lost by double digits without him. Instead it somehow won by double digits.
3. MSU figures out the zone — by hitting shots and playing decisively
Tom Izzo knew Michigan’s zone defense was coming when he dared another MSU opponent to play zone after the Spartans struggled with it in a loss to Indiana.
To beat a zone, you have to be decisive and you have to make shots. The Spartans were 0-for-2 heading into halftime.
In the second half, MSU played with more purpose offensively and looked more attack-minded. Even guys who weren’t hitting shots.
And they hit shots — 6 of 12 3s, 16 of 30 buckets overall.
I’d still zone this team if I were facing it and had it in my arsenal. But this was a promising response.
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.
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