Mike McCray, listed as 6'3, 230ish, committed to Michigan on Tuesday. He would make his commitment public the following day, yesterday, while he was on campus for an unofficial visit. Hailing from the same high school as Michigan players Mike Shaw, Roy Roundtree, and Brandon Moore, McCray breathes some life into the slowly dwindling Trotwood-Madison pipeline that Rich Rod took advantage of early on in his career. After landing the Trotwood trio at the end of the 2008 recruiting cycle, Rich Rod would whiff on a few offer recipients in the next few years, including Missouri OT Chris Freeman and Wisconsin WR A.J. Jordan. I was, at one point, convinced that the latter of the two bled maize and blue at one point in his career, but I was proven wrong. In any case, McCray's commitment will hopefully reinvigorate a pipeline into one of the most talented schools in Ohio, just like Frank Clark's commitment made Willie Henry that much more eager to accept Michigan's scholarship offer.

McCray's recruitment was a bit off the radar, to most Michigan fans. I, myself, must admit that I was criminally negligent of the proceedings until a couple of weeks ago when word leaked that McCray was feeling very good about Michigan, and may commit in the near future. Until that point, I had assumed that he would receive a buckeye offer and commit, if not on the spot, in a timely fashion. He received a few offers from the likes of Purdue, Tennessee, Toledo, and Syracuse during the summer before his junior year. Just in January, he would have the Vols on top, although he attended several OSU practices and a couple games during the season. The month of February would bring in offers from Penn State, Ole Miss, Michigan, and Oklahoma, adding to an already impressive offer list. Within two weeks of receiving his Michigan offer, McCray would announce his impending decision date, and verbally commit to Michigan a week later.

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The first round of the Big Ten tournament kicks off today, and later this evening Michigan will know its first round matchup. Michigan hasn't won the Big Ten tournament since 1998 --- the first year the Big Ten adopted the new postseason format --- but with the way cold streaks have been falling this year, anything is possible.

2012 Big Ten Tournament Preview

Ready to steal the show: Tim Hardaway Jr.

Michigan’s sophomore scoring wing has struggled with his perimeter shot all season but he’s showing flashes of regaining his stroke. Hardaway has knocked down 7 of his last 10 triples after converting just 20 of his first 92 three point attempts in Big Ten games this season. Hardaway is the sort of player that has the ability to carry Michigan deep into the tournament if he gets hot from the perimeter.

Dylan from UMHoops with his BTT preview. I agree completely with his evaluation of Hardaway Jr. If Tim catches fire over the next month Michigan is a legit threat in both tournaments. If he struggles I wouldn't expect to win more than two games in each tournament.

Big Ten Tournament Preview: Thursday Early Session - Our friends over at Big Ten Powerhouse take a stab at previewing the Illinois vs. Iowa and Indiana vs. Penn State games.

Can the Gophers Make a Dramatic Run in the Big Ten Tournament? - No. The author really doesn't think so either, but man, hypotheticals are just so much fun.

Darius Miller, Jorge Gutierrez nab SI.com's All-Glue Team honors

[Cazzie] Russell understood what all great players know: It takes a lot more than big-time scorers to build a winner. As Russell later told WolverineNation.com, "I looked at him [Zack Novak] and told him if I were going into an alley to fight, he would be the first guy I would grab."

Seth Davis presents his all-glue team, and it really wouldn't be complete without an appearance from Novak.

Holdin' The Rope: Miscellaneous Minutiae, 3/8/2012 - Fouad over at Holdin' the Rope does his rundown of happenings around the college sports scene in the past week. Go for the Cosby jokes, stay for the insight.

The odd couple: Michigan's Mike Martin befriends Ohio State players in draft prep

"He’s an all right guy, actually," Martin deadpanned during a recent interview. "There’s just so much animosity and hatred toward each other('s programs), so there were a lot of things that needed to be said."

Does not compute.

Tremendous: Eldridge Massington Update

When I asked Eldridge where Michigan was at on his list after the offer, his answer was simple: "At the top". Note that Eldridge was also offered by Notre Dame today

Why yes, I do like knowing that Michigan is the out and out leader for a four star receiver from Texas.

Touch the Banner: Scouting Report: Patrick Kugler - TTB does his scouting report on Michigan's last offensive line commit and the results are right in line with what everyone else has said: versitile player could play anywhere on the line, but still a good fit at center. Not a spectacular athlete but polished, mean, and plays to the whistle.

From 5 Stars to First Rounders, the Predictably Uncertain Path from Recruit to Pro

Across all positions, each additional star more than doubles your likelihood of being drafted. It’s not only true in the aggregate but at the position level, as well. There isn’t a single position where a 3 star recruit is more likely to be drafted than a four star.

Speaking of recruiting, how much do those pesky star ratings actually matter on an individual level? The Mathlete breaks it down and shows that while there are plenty of specific cases of players outperforming low rankings, the odds are much better that you get drafted if you are a four- or five-star coming out of high school.

Picture Pages: Revisiting The Hash To Hash Drop | mgoblog

Getting rained on like this is a frequent problem in the current college football metagame. Offensive coaches are always searching for ways to get bad matchups; defensive coaches are looking for free rushers and no holes. The hash-to-hash thing leapt off the page in the opener because it was strange and seemed really hard.

There is absolutely no excuse not to read this. Brian at MGoBlog has always been great at breaking down film and plays --- and while not always getting the right answer --- he at least knows how to ask the right questions. In this case a certain defensive breakdown showed up early last year, and now that Brian has spent some time at various coaching clinics with the staff he can tackle what the problem was head on. If you have any interest in football strategy, you've gotta read this.

Pre-Snap Read: Michigan State Year in Review - Pre Snap Read runs down Michigan State's 2011 season and ends up devoting somewhere near 1/4 of the piece to Michigan and Ohio State. Just about what you would expect.

Big East Pays the Price for Not Embracing Football

Success invariably breeds overconfidence. This may be why the Big East founders were so opposed to having Plan B. Who needed Plan B when Plan A was working so fabulously? They did not contemplate a situation in which the Big East would be scrambling, in which basketball wouldn’t be enough to sustain the conference.

Did you know the Big East actually turned down Penn State in the late 80's? Talk about your all-time backfires.

On Thursday, the Big Ten Tournament will open in Indianapolis, Indiana. Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, and Wisconsin all have first round byes and will not play until Friday. The bottom eight teams in the Big Ten will meet on Thursday, starting at 11:30 AM EST. While most of the Big Ten teams know where they will be headed after Sunday, a few are looking to still make their case for post-season play.

To see the Big Ten bracket, or other conference brackets, click here.

I’ll break down each game of the Big Ten Tournament, leaving Michigan’s games to the experts. Today, I’ll cover the opening round games.

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Logan Tuley-Tillman, listed as 6'7, 300ish committed to Michigan a few weeks back, during the humongo-monster weekend of commitments. As the weekend wore on Michigan landed its first (Bosch)...then second (Dawson)....then third (Fox) commitment along the offensive line. Worried about not having a spot saved for him, Logan dropped for the maize and blue, a school which I believe he knew he wanted to attend ever since his first visit. It ended a short recruiting saga that had some (prematurely) drawing comparisons to the recruitment of 2012 Auburn Signee Jordan Diamond, another high profile OT who held Michigan in the lead for a long period of time, at the beginning of the recruiting cycle. Instead, he ended up somewhat more like 2012 Michigan Signee James Ross, who enjoyed the process, but decided to call it quits and commit to Michigan when he saw that his spot could be in jeopardy.

Tuley-Tillman is a prospect that boomed, seemingly out of nowhere, after the football season ended. When he visited Michigan for the Ohio State game, he only held offers from Mizzou, Indiana, and Illinois. Once his highlight tape began to make its rounds, his offer list increased both in size and quality. Schools like Alabama, Florida State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Wisconsin, South Carolina, and Arkansas (among others) offered Tuley-Tillman over the course of a few months. He openly declared Michigan to be his leader a few times, then backed away from that, then put them back on top with Alabama, then ultimately committed. I figured it would happen eventually, but not this soon. Either way, he ended up where he wanted to, and it works well with the Wolverine faithful.

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And he is pretty sure it isn't him.

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Did you hear? Jim Delany finally came to his senses on the dreaded "playoff issue" in college football. Delany and the Big Ten --- sticking to the time honored idiom: if you can't beat 'em, hijack their idea and steer the discussion so it best suits your interest --- threw together a little playoff plan that included four teams, valued conference champions, and played the first round of games at the home stadium of the higher seeded team.

Said Northwestern athletics director Jim Phillips "We have to listen to the fans; we cannot be tone-deaf," (he presumable kept a straight face while saying this).

The beauty of this plan is not only its simplicity, but its wide ranging appeal. College football fans like it because it is actual postseason reform that could lead to, you know, settling things on the field. Athletic directors like it because of money --- piles and piles of money. Sleazy bowl representatives don't mind it because it doesn't kill the golden goose just yet. College football "purists" like it because they can call it a Plus-One and not feel the dirty slime of positive reform crawling on their skin. And most of all, Big Ten officials can get behind it because it potentially levels the playing field by giving northern teams an opportunity to earn semi-final games on home turf.

However, all isn't happy on Commissioner Island. Mike Slive wants what Mike Slive wants, and this isn't it.

First, the idea of limiting playoff participation to conference champions isn't very attractive to a conference that just realized how totally awesome it is to put two teams in the title game. While there is a good argument for opening the four-team playoff up to everyone --- after all, eventual champion Alabama did lose to LSU in the regular season and yet clearly looked like it deserved the title in January --- there is also the reality that not everyone loves the SEC and wants to pamper her and massage her bunions (also known as Ole Miss: that red swollen thing that she keeps stepping on)

Second, SEC teams aren't big on playing north of the Mason Dixon Line on sheer principle. Sure, Slive uses the old "we don't think the fans will travel well" excuse knowing full well that if you staged an Alabama game on the moon you would have 200,000 yokels outside their double wides welding crude rockets and buying all the high-octane fuel they could fit into plastic trash bins in the back of a fleet of rusted out Ford pickup trucks from the Carter administration in an effort to get seats near the 50-yard line. On top of that it might not be fair to the conference that has historically played all its postseason games in its own backyard and really likes the de facto home field advantage it has enjoyed for years.

Does this mean the playoff is dead? Hardly. While the SEC still pulls major weight in these discussions, so too do the Big Ten, ACC, Big XII, and Pac-12. The fact of the matter is that there isn't another conference that looks capable of sending two teams into a four team playoff as of right now (to the group of overeager Michigan fans that just started penning an angry comment to me in their head, may I ask that you refrain from counting your chickens before they hatch), and that could help solidify support for the "conference champions clause".

As for home sites in the first round, just remember, the BCS is still going to have its sticky, money grubbing fingers all over this thing, and there is nothing it likes more than staging neutral site games that better allow it to fleece schools of hundreds of thousands of dollars in ticket and hotel guarantees.

So just when we all thought this totally sensible playoff idea was rolling along, we are all reminded of the truth about college football reform:

Check your common sense at the door, you won't be needing it in here.

Last week I asked some of Maize n Brew's writers a few questions about the Big Ten tournament. These are their answers.

Who is your pick for the favorite to win the Big Ten tournament and why?

Dave Ryan - Michigan State. I still think they are the best team in the conference, and I like the way Draymond willingly puts them on his back in key situations. I'm also expecting improved play from Keith Appling and Branden Dawson (Ed note: In Dave's defense he submitted the answers before the Dawson injury) in Indianapolis to kickstart them a bit. I'll also take Izzo's coaching against anybody else in the conference, regardless of the fact that he's been ice cold in Big Ten tourneys throughout his career.

Holdin' the Rope - Before the news of Branden Dawson's injury, I would have picked the Spartans. However, taking that into account, I think that the Buckeyes are the favorites, their recent struggles notwithstanding. Buford has been very THJ-esque in his struggles throughout this season, but I could very easily see that game-winner being the motivational spark needed to play up to his potential the rest of the way. I'm not an enormous fan of Matta's gameday coaching, but I have to think that the Buckeyes have more than enough talent and a desire to play their best ball going into the Big Dance that they'll turn up their play accordingly.

Zach Travis - Last week I would have picked either Michigan State or Ohio State in a landslide. This week, I'm not so sure either team makes it to the finals. Ohio State just can't put together a full game effort as of late, and that is always troublesome when it comes to tournaments like this where momentum is a factor. Michigan State lost something big when Dawson went down, and while I think Izzo gets things right by NCAA tourney time, I think next week there will be some stumbles from the Spartans. My favorite to win? Indiana. The Hoosiers have recovered from a slump in the middle of the year and have won seven of eight.

Alex Cook - I think Ohio State has to be the favorite to win the Big Ten Tournament now. Michigan State has traditionally done poorly in the Big Ten Tournament and Branden Dawson's injury will hurt them a lot, Indiana has an advantage playing close to home but would need to win four games in a row, Michigan probably can't beat Ohio State on a neutral court, and Wisconsin can't beat Indiana, Michigan State and Ohio State in a row. That leaves the Buckeyes, and if William Buford plays like he did on Sunday, they're the best team in the conference by a mile.

What team is your sleeper pick to win the Big Ten tournament and why?

Dave - Purdue could definitely make some noise. We know Robbie Hummel is always a dangerous scorer who can go off at a moment's notice, and much of his supporting cast was present for the Big Ten title run two years ago. It's hard to definitively call any Big Ten squad a 'sleeper', but it would be a pretty big surprise if the Boilermakers found a way to run the table again.

HtR - I don't even know if they could be considered a true "sleeper" but I'd have to say Indiana. The inside presence of Zeller paired with IU's arsenal of 3-point bombers make for a formidable opponent for any Big Ten team. Yes, they don't really play much defense and we all know what a 3-happy offense has the capability of looking like from time to time, but IU has what it takes to pull off a BTT title.

Zach - Northwestern. Teams playing for their life are dangerous, and Northwestern has been oh so close to a number of huge upsets. I think if the shots are falling NU can win it all.

Alex - I'll go with Purdue. The Boilermakers simply have to beat Nebraska to get out of the first round, but still have to deal with Ohio State in the second round. The Buckeyes only beat Purdue by three in Columbus this year and had their worst defensive showing of the entire season against Purdue. Robbie Hummel and Lewis Jackson are plenty talented enough to pull an upset, and then after that, they'd probably play Michigan or Northwestern, teams they've beaten in the past month. Playing in Indianapolis probably doesn't hurt either.

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Tuesday came and went and, big surprise, Michigan picked up another verbal commitment for the class of 2013. This time it was OH LB Mike McCray II, son of a former Ohio State linebacker and the 44th overall player in the nation according to Rivals. What this does to the timelines of Michigan's other top linebacker targets (Ben Gedeon, EJ Levenberry, Dorian O'Daniel) is anyone's guess, but it doesn't look like Michigan's recruiting momentum is going to slow down anytime soon.

Here is MGoBlog's Ace on McCray, and here is Magnus from Touch the Banner, who is a little less enthralled by McCray's skillset.

Beilein deserved Coach of the Year - Yesterday when I reported the All-Big Ten teams I mentioned that I didn't have a problem with Izzo winning coach of the year, and while I largely don't, I have a hard time not shaking my head vigorously in agreement with Luke Pasch of the Michigan Daily when he lays out his dismay at Beilein being overlooked.

Izzowl - Speaking of Izzo, Burgeoning Wolverine Star gives him the owl treatment.

Big Ten rankings: No. 5, David Molk - ESPN's Big Ten blog is down to the top five and David Molk gets a very deserving nod. So far I've agreed with these rankings on the whole (Robinson deserves a spot in the mid-teens because of his inconsistency through the year), but as I look at who is left to be ranked I can't help but think there will be three Wisconsin players (Ball, Wilson, Abbrederis) in the top four. Maybe Dan Persa is the fourth? Who am I overlooking?

Michigan to face West Virginia at Barclays Center - For you Brooklynites, Michigan will be playing in your backyard next year against Beilein's old team.

Big Ten Bradley-Terry Bracket Odds - TOC breaks down each Big Ten team's odds of advancing on both a margin-free and margin-aware basis. Either way Michigan is fourth behind the two presumed favorites (MSU, OSU) and Indiana.

Michigan football team alerts compliance department after receiver Roy Roundtree commits possible minor NCAA violation - This week in incredibly stupid NCAA violations, Roy Roundtree gave a shoutout to Mike McCray on twitter after the latter's commitment to Michigan. This is a no-no based on a rule that was probably written in the 50s when the only time you had to worry about a current player mentioning a recruit publicly would be if the two players were blood relatives and the local beat reporter directly asked about the recruit then wrote it into his column. The NCAA adapts to technology like my grandfather: with fear and apprehension, and only after all attempts to avoid it have been exhausted and proven completely illogical.

Earlier this afternoon Oakland Press columnist Pat Caputo published a blog entry focusing on how he believes Michigan has roared back to catch Michigan State's program on the hardwood. For as much of an ego stroke as it might be to bask in his conclusion as Wolverine fans, the premise makes little sense to us.

Here's his take:

Michigan's basketball program has caught Michigan State's. Why? The proof?

They had the same record this season in the Big Ten, sharing the conference title. They split their two meetings. The Spartans schedule was tougher than Michigan's overall, but not to the degree MSU's faithful is saying.

And then there is next season. State will be formidable, but won't have Draymond Green. Michigan figures to be better than State if Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jordan Morgan return (there is no indication they won't), and with the addition of a much needed big man in five-star recruit Mitch McGary.

Pat does go on to acknowledge that if State makes a run to the Final Four and Michigan is bounced early again that his point will essentially be nullified. Then again, the piece was entitled "Hard evidence suggests UM has caught MSU", despite the lack of said evidence to support his claim.

Let's be real here. The Spartans have a handful of Final Four appearances and a not-so-distant national championship on their resume, and that's just in the last decade or so. How on Earth you can even begin to compare that with a Michigan program that hasn't been to a Sweet 16 since 1994 is anyone's guess. I'm as optimistic as the next guy wearing maize and blue, but I fail to see how one great regular season by this current UM squad more or less cancels out all of the things that Tom Izzo's program has accomplished over the last dozen years.

A share of the Big Ten title and a head-to-head split aren't enough in tandem to miraculously pull things even between the two programs in my mind. It just means the schools tied this particular season, and that the Wolverines are now much further along their path towards eventually evening things up. For Michigan to actually "catch" the Spartans, it seems paramount for Beilein's program to outperform MSU in both the NCAA tournament and regular season at least a few times. And because this hasn't happened yet, any feel-good arguments like Caputo's above will have zero merit.

The future in Ann Arbor is as bright as ever with Mitch McGary coming in and many key players set to return. But this is a results-based sport, and Michigan needs to prove it belongs among the elite of the elite in college hoops by actually playing like a Big Ten champion should. Until that happens, maybe we should cease this talk about the Wolverines catching up to Izzo's East Lansing juggernaut.

Now this is really starting to get good. Michigan's 14th official commitment in the 2013 signing class has arrived in the form of four-star Trotwood, Ohio linebacker Mike McCray. McCray, who lists at 6'3", 235, eventually came to his senses on Tuesday after his latest visit to Ann Arbor, despite being raised on Ohio State football from a young age.

While it's probably relevant that he had not received an actual offer from the Buckeyes, McCray was heavily targeted by Tennessee, Illinois, and Nebraska among others, so this is a very significant get for the Wolverines on the defensive side of the ball. McCray is the fifth Ohio prospect inked so far in the 2013 class and one of 14 Ohio players headed to Michigan over the next two seasons. Considering how important it is for Hoke to pilfer the state to the South as often as possible, this appears to be yet another small step in the right direction for UM on the recruiting scene.

Expect much more on McCray in the coming days here at Maize n Brew. For now, the highlights...

Michigan 2012 basketball recruit Mitch McGary has been granted a rare opportunity, and will join nine of his fellow seniors from around the country as representatives for Team USA's Junior National Select Team.

Other names that made the cut include a trio of undecided top prospects, Nerlens Noels, Shabazz Muhammed and Tony Parker, along with five-star Michigan State signee and Indiana native Gary Harris. Kyle Anderson (UCLA), Kaleb Tarczewski (Arizona), Archie Goodwin (Kentucky), Marcus Paige (North Carolina), and Rasheed Sulaimon (Duke) round out the rest of the five-star-laden roster.

According to Scout.com's class rankings, McGary (No. 21) is the second lowest ranked player that made the squad, ahead of only North Carolina's future point guard Marcus Paige (No. 29). But for a kid who was being touted by virtually everyone as a top five player in the class literally months ago, it would have been a legit surprise to see McGary's name left off this list.

McGary and his peers will take on a rival World Select Team on April 7 at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon, in a game that should feature about 50 dunks. Since it's clear that all ten guys will likely see the floor for extended stretches, this will be a great chance for UM fans to get a look at the future of Michigan basketball.