Thursday Morning Brews: Room for squares

Happy Thursday, folks. Welcome to Morning Brews. We have a good mix of content this morning. Even though we’re still in the nadir of the college football news cycle (it comes and goes and comes and goes), we’ve managed to find a little bit of Michigan football for y’all this morning. We also check in with women’s gymnastics and water polo.

As usual, there is a song referenced in this morning’s Brews. There are at least two clues. Clues may be words, phrases, or photos and may reference lyrics, the artist, or the album. If you think you know this morning’s song, fire away down in the comments.

Let’s get to it:

Women’s gymnastics tops No. 13 Nebraska. The Cornhuskers and Wolverines met in the gymnastics arena this past weekend, and Michigan came away victorious. The No. 10 Wolverines edged the No. 13 Cornhuskers, 106.500 to 195.700. Michigan was powered to victory by narrow wins in the bars, beam, and floor categories, which were enough to overcome Nebraska’s advantage in the vault. The Wolverines are now 7-2 (3-0). They’ll be back in action against Iowa this weekend.

Water polo has rough go at Stanford Invitational. The Wolverines were up against highly-ranked competition this past weekend at the Stanford Invitational, and Michigan came away with a 1-2 record in games that will factor into their season record. The Wolverines lost to No. 2 Stanford (9-21) and No. 13 UC Davis (11-12), but finished the weekend with a win over No. 8 Pacific (11-9). Michigan also played an exhibition match against China that does not count toward their record. The team is now 3-4 (0-0) on the season. They next play in the Triton Invitational this weekend.

The wide receivers will set you free? That’s what Nick Baumgardner over at the Free Press thinks about Michigan’s offense next year. Specifically, he says, “Harbaugh’s wide receivers — specifically his three juniors: Tarik Black, Nico Collins and Donovan Peoples-Jones — hold the key to Michigan’s quest to go from solid team to true College Football Playoff contender.” For the full take, check out the article linked above.

The offensive line is alright. Forgive the double-tap of Baumgardner here, but I managed to miss his take on the wide receivers last week. Nick projects the O-Line will be a strength next year, saying, “Michigan’s line was not loaded with NFL-ready talent entering 2018. But Warinner, as his reputation suggested, was able to get the most from that group while making developmental strides along the way. And now, for the first time in years, Michigan is about to enter a season with actual depth up front.” Again, for the full take check out the link above.