Daily Brews: ESPN host calls his shot, says Michigan will beat Ohio State

The Michigan Wolverines have their work cut out for them on Saturday when the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes come to Ann Arbor, but one prominent ESPN personality believes that the good guys have it in them to pull off this upset.

ESPN’s Mike Greenberg said on Tuesday’s Get Up! that he believes that the way Michigan is playing right now is going to be what propels them to an upset win over their hated rivals.

“I just have a feeling,” Greenberg said. “Just look at the way these two teams are trying to look... look at the way Jim Harbaugh has this team playing since halftime in that game against Penn State. I have a feeling that this weekend is the weekend that Harbaugh climbs Mt. Columbus.

“Michigan is going to beat Ohio State at The Big House on Saturday. I’ll take it a step farther. Harbaugh rewrites his entire narrative if he knocks this Ohio State team out of the playoff, which he might do. They might actually still make it with a loss against Michigan. But I’m telling you right now, he’s got a real good shot to beat them.”

Of course, everyone’s favorite pundit, Paul Finebaum, was also there and chimed in and was a little less confident.

“I hope you’re right, because I’m out of Harbaugh material!” Finebaum said. “I hope you’re right, because I’ve fired this guy like 19 times already! So, I hope you’re right. I said the same thing that you’re saying last year when they went to Columbus with a better team and then got smoked by Ohio State. That’s what makes me nervous.”

Juwan Howard previews the Battle 4 Atlantis

Michigan basketball is currently in the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament that will see them taking on the Iowa State Cyclones on Wednesday at noon. Head coach Juwan Howard spoke to the media and previewed the event, which will see them playing three games in three days.

“We’ve been preparing the last couple of days knowing we’re going to face a very tough opponent in Iowa State,” Howard said. “Overall, I think this is going to be a great experience for our team to compete against some high-level competition. We know it’s a very challenging, tough, tournament but we’re built for the competition. We’re prepared for this.”

In terms of how they are prepared for it, Howard said that this team is already battled tested and has bought in to the teaching he has brought to the table as a first-year head coach.

“It’s been a process,” Howard said. “We have gotten better since we started September 24th building our offensive and defensive identity. Each day, our goal is to improve. Day-by-day, game-by-game. From what I’ve seen so far, I’ve been extremely happy with how our guys have bought in. It’s not easy. You guys have the habits of what the old coach and what they did from an offensive standpoint as well as a defensive standpoint. We never had a guy transfer, our guys haven’t fought the process, they’ve shown nothing but grit as well as they embrace the new style. They have done an excellent job at working hard trying to implement which I’ve seen, I’ve been pleased with. They’ve gotten better day-by-day.”

Michigan will play either Alabama or North Carolina on Thursday depending on the results from the Wednesday games.

Other Brews

• We could be in for some inclement weather for Saturday’s edition of the The Game with temperatures in the 30s and possible snow.
• Do we have a beef between Mark Dantonio and Urban Meyer? Not really, but the MSU coach did fire back at comments Meyer made about the state of the Spartans.
• Missouri’s postseason ban has been upheld by the NCAA, so anyone worried about a potential bowl matchup should exhale.
• ‘The deal was done.’ Yikes, things are not great at Rutgers right now. But water is also wet and Thanksgiving turkey will be served on Thursday.