Tuesday Morning Brews: Leftovers

Happy Tuesday, folks, and welcome to Tuesday Brews. First off, my thanks to Nick for filling in for me last week. Even though I didn’t have time to write the Brews, I did have a chance to read both after I returned home - and I think he did a great job, as usual. In this morning’s edition we recap the weekend that was in Michigan Football recruiting and take a brief look at what lies ahead as Fall Camp gets underway. After that, we have the Men’s Basketball conference schedule and we take a look at what the key games will be. Finally, we close with a look behind the scenes at how Michigan’s in-game media packages are filmed.

Let’s hit the links:

BBQ at the Big House Yields Commits, Team Opens Camp

The annual BBQ at the Big House was this past Sunday, and, as has become the norm, it was a big recruiting weekend for the Maize and Blue. The 2018 class saw Cameron McGrone added to its ranks and Stephen Herron and Nolan Rumler were added to the 2019 class. McGrone is a four-star LB recruit and is ranked as the #217 overall recruit in the 2018 class, according to the 247 Composite. Herron is a four-star DE prospect and is ranked #34 overall in the 2019 class, according to the 247 Composite. Rumler is a four-star OL prospect checking in at #142 overall in the 2019 class, according to the 247 Composite. These additions are sure to be key players for Michigan in the years ahead, and they leave the 2018 class ranked #18 and the 2019 class ranked #8.

In addition to the recruiting festivities, fall camp opened on Monday teeing up four weeks of position battles before the team settles into regular game-week practices starting August 28th. Perhaps most high-profile of the position battles will be the contest between Wilton Speight and Brandon Peters for the starting QB position. Jim Harbaugh says the QB battle is a three-way tie between Speight, Peters, and O’Korn, but I think that’s just coach speak for the competition Harbaugh demands every day in practice. If I had to pick a horse right now, I’d say Speight will be the starter. To break out my sports writer’s book of cliches, he has the experience and he’s battle tested. Peters is still a young shaver, and I think that would show to the team’s detriment in high-pressure situations.

In addition to the QB battle, we’ll be watching the OLine, RBs, LBs, and secondary closely over the course of camp. Each of those position groups need to find new starters before the season begins. Which position group do you think is most important to the team’s success this year? Weigh in with the poll below and down in the comments.

In basketball news, the conference schedule was finalized and released yesterday morning. The important home & home series will be Maryland, Northwestern, Ohio State and Purdue. Three of those four figure to be tournament teams come March and so it will be important to come away with victories at home and steal a couple wins on the road. Indiana and Minnesota are key home only games that could turn into quality wins by time Selection Sunday rolls around. In the away only schedule, MSU and WIS are the obvious big games - with wins against both teams being ideal. Penn State could be a challenge on the road as well, as the Nittany Lions gave John Beilein’s crew a tough game last season. Keep an eye on that one as a potential stumbling block for the Wolverines.

Have you ever wondered how those hype videos and in-game graphics that are shown on the scoreboard are created? Well, today’s your lucky day. The above video is a look inside the filming process for those media packages and, I must say, it’s kinda cool. Enjoy.