With all of the hoopla surrounding the University of Michigan's football program this off season, no one has paid attention to little brother. The men's basketball program is without question the younger sibling on campus, and have been so since the fab five unceremoniously bolted for nba stardom in the early 90's. If you look closely at third year coach John Beilein's team, they bear a striking resemblance to this year's football team. Both are streaky and both are consistently inconsistent.
Michigan's football team started the 2010 season 5-0, loss their next three, won the following two, then tanked the last three with a combined score of 137-49. The Wolverine basketball team won their first three, lost the next two, reeled off eight in a row, and are currently in the midst of a six game losing streak. Neither team could or can bounce back from a loss. Rich Rodriguez had a dynamic sophomore in quarterback Denard Robinson, who went on to be the 2010 big ten player of the year. Robinson was the most improved player in the conference, and possibly the entire country. John Beilein has his own sensational sophomore in guard Darius Morris. Like Robinson, Morris improved by leaps and bounds from year one to year two. He is the leading scorer for the Wolverines at just under 16 points a game, and fifth in the nation with seven assists to match.
Of all the similarities, the most alarming is the lack of the success in the conference, and against their rivals in particular. Rodriguez went o for 3 against Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Ohio State. Beilein already loss to Wisconsin and Ohio State, and will travel to Michigan State on Thursday. Both programs are extremely young, and in some areas extremely talented. But how long do you give a program "rebuilding grace" before losing becomes a fabric of the culture and image of the university? For both the football and basketball teams, time is running out.
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