Tuesday Morning Brews: Running on empty

Happy Tuesday, folks. Welcome to Morning Brews. We’re experience a burst of the off-season cold now that football won’t be traveling to Indianapolis, so we’re catching up with several other Michigan teams this morning. While there aren’t many storylines expected for football until we’re closer to the bowl game, be sure to stay tuned to Maize n Brew for breaking news like Rashan Gary deciding to turn pro and recruiting.

Let’s get to it:

Women’s basketball takes consolation game. The women’s team was at the Gulf Coast Showcase this past weekend where they placed third. The Wolverines began the weekend with a strong 70-54 win over No. 21 Missouri before losing 52-69 to No. 10 Texas. On Sunday, Michigan faced off with Washington, whom they defeated 80-73. The usual suspects, Deja Church, Hallie Thome, Nicole Munger, generally led the way for the Wolverines in all three games with a couple superb performances from Freshman Amy Dilk in the second and third games. Kim Barnes-Arico’s squad is now 5-1 on the season. They next play NC State on Thursday.

Hockey ties Wisconsin, twice. This was not the result we were looking for, but the Wolverines tied both games against the Badgers this past weekend—taking the conference points in the first, but losing them in the second. Despite out-shooting Wisconsin by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, the Wolverines struggled to find the net in the first game—scoring their only goal, the equalizer, in the third period. In the second game, Wisconsin hung with the Wolverines on shots and the teams found themselves knotted at two goals apiece after the overtime period. Mel Pearson’s team is now 6-5-2 (2-2-2) on the season. The Wolverines next face Michigan State this weekend.

Volleyball tops MSU to conclude regular season. Michigan volleyball finished their regular season this past Saturday with a win over Michigan State, their third win in a row. All four sets of the 3-1 victory were closely contested, with the widest margin being three points all evening. The win moved the team to a 22-9 (11-9) record on the year. Following the match, the team was selected for the NCAA Tournament. Their first round matchup is against Pitt and will take place Friday at 4:00 p.m.

Following last weekend’s debacle, the playoff dreams for the Wolverines are no more—but that doesn’t mean the year is over. In fact, Michigan may end up in the Rose Bowl for the first time since Lloyd Carr was the head football coach. For that to happen, Ohio State would have to make the playoff instead of Oklahoma (probable, in my opinion). For the rest of the latest bowl projections, check out the article above from the SB Nation mothership. For Michigan’s outlook and specific scenarios, check out Trevor’s article from Sunday afternoon.