A Recap of Michigan Basketball Season Staff Predictions

Michigan beating the Buckeyes to split the season

Well, now that the season is over, we are entering the black void commonly referred to as the offseason.  Basically, we have 5-6 months to discuss what happened in the previous season, recruiting, and what is going to happen next season.  Today, we're going to take the first option and discuss some of the predictions our staff writers had for Michigan's season.  Of course, many of these predictions did not come true and several of these writers have now left Hoke's Mad Magicians (went on to do some exciting stuff), but it's still always fun to see how everyone did.  So let's take a look:

• Staff Predictions:
• Thomas Beindit (@tbeindit)
• 26-5 record
• Solid B1G tournament run
• Solid NCAA Tournament run
• Splits with Indiana, MSU, loss to Wisconsin, and 2 random losses
• Kyle Curtiss (@maizenblu)
• 27-4 record
• 1 non-conference loss
• Loss to Indiana, MSU, and a boneheaded loss
• Tyler Desy (@aka_TMD)
• 27-4 record
• Elite 8 run 
• Tyler Fenwick (@tFly_GetsBuckets)
• 26-5 record
• Final Four run
• Joel Wiscombe (@joelwGoBlue)
• 27-4 record
• Sweet Sixteen run
• Splits with Indiana, OSU, MSU

So the predictions were pretty similar across the board.  Michigan ended up finishing with a 25-6 regular season record with losses to Ohio State, Indiana (twice), Wisconsin, MSU, and Penn State.  They made it to the 2nd round of the Big Ten Tournament and went to the national championship game in the NCAA Tournament.  In terms of raw record, Tyler Fenwick and I tied for the closest prediction at 26-5.  The remaining guys were just a little too optimistic about our chances.

In terms of postseason predictions, Tyler Fenwick had the closest prediction as he called the Final Four run before the beginning of the year.  Tyler Desy predicted the Elite 8, but did say the team could go further.  Kyle didn't make a postseason prediction and Joel was a little less optimistic with a Sweet Sixteen prediction.  I predicted solid Big Ten and NCAA Tournament runs, but didn't specify on how far.  Honestly, I probably would have predicted us farther in the Big Ten Tournament, but probably not quite as far in the NCAA Tournament.  I had a ton of confidence before the season began, but Final Fours are difficult to make, especially with so little tourney experience on the roster.

So Tyler probably had the "best" overall predictions using these measures, although everybody was pretty close when you break things down.  I also made a TON of predictions regarding different things about the team and the schedule.  If you want to take a peak at them, just click here: predictions.

2012-2013 Michigan Basketball Staff Predictions

Michigan faces an exciting 2012 slate starting off with Alabama, under the lights against Notre Dame and Nebraska, facing rival Michigan State at home, and ending with arch-rival Ohio State in the Horsheshoe with Urban Meyer on the sidelines.  There's no denying that Michigan is set-up for some exciting games and match-ups this season, but how will the Wolverines do this year?  It seems like everybody has an opinion about how the Wolverines will fare against one of the nation's toughest schedules in 2012 and the key offseason losses of Mike Martin, David Molk, and Junior Hemingway.  Well, in unsurprising fashion, our staff has some interesting opinons of their own as well.  They say some things are better by committee, so check out what our staff has to say about Michigan's chances in 2012:

Thomas Beindit - @tbeindit

After months of endless coverage, the moments leading up to Michigan's 2012-2013 basketball season have finally arrived.  The great returners, the increased depth, and the incredible incoming recruits.  There's no way you can look at the team's roster and position and believe that it is a downgrade from last year.  There will obviously be some question marks regarding leadership, replacing production, and freshmen impact, but every team has those and Michigan certainly had those questions last year.  Michigan's frontcourt should be better, with increased depth and the addition of Mitch McGary.  Michigan's wings should be better, with increased depth and the addition of Glenn Robinson III and Nik Stauskas.  Michigan's guards should be better, with a little added depth and Spike Albrecht.  I just can't see a way this team regresses this year with the massive offseason improvements.  The road should be just as tougher or tougher than last season with Indiana, MSU, OSU, and Wisconsin all fielding good teams, but Michigan won the Big Ten last year, right?  I'm predicting a big year for Michigan and a solid conference and NCAA Tournament run.  We will struggle a bit against the best, but so does every team.  I'm predicting splits to Indiana, MSU, and probably a lost to Wisconsin.  One other random Big Ten loss and a non-conference loss.
Prediction - 26-5

Welcome Joel Wiscombe To Hoke's Mad Magicians!

We here at Hoke's Mad Magicians are thrilled to announce that we have added Joel Wiscombe to our staff. He will be one of our football recruiting analysts and will bring us an interesting perspective on all things on the recruiting trail for Michigan.

Joel was born in 1975, attended UTEP, is married, and has 4 children, 1 girl and 3 boys.  He identifies himself as a lifelong Wolverines, despite living in Texas.  His father, who passed away a year ago, was borin in Pontiact to immigrant parents and played for Pontiac Sr High for a former Wolverine, Hercules Renda.  His grandfather worked in GM plants and he was raised as a Wolverine fan, growing up on the stories of Yost, Canham, Bennie O', and of course Old '98.  He grew up in the time of Bo, saw the Moeller and Carr years, and the '97 championship was his senior year of college.

His first favorite running back was Jaime Morris and his favorite Wolverine of all-time is Charles Woodson, not just because of his talent, but because he really experienced his success.  He refuses to wear red for the same reasons as Coach Hoke and balled at his first trip to the Big House.  He has even instructed his family to disperse his ashes there if/when he dies.

Some fun facts about Joel, he loves rock and alternative and especially Metallica.  He has a cousin in the Detroit area who plays in a band.  He also has a lot of family in the Detroit area.  So even though he may not live here, he has many connections.

Joel will be bringing great analysis and original content for our football recruiting.  We all know Michigan fans are passionate about football recruiting, so we expect everyone to enjoy Joel's future posts.  If you would like to read his first featured article for Hoke's Mad Magicians, click here.

If you'd like to follow Joel on Twitter, his username is joelwGoBlue.

Stay tuned for some great updates and Go Blue!

Hoke's Mad Magicians' 2012 Michigan Football Staff Predictions

Michigan faces an exciting 2012 slate starting off with Alabama, under the lights against Notre Dame and Nebraska, facing rival Michigan State at home, and ending with arch-rival Ohio State in the Horsheshoe with Urban Meyer on the sidelines.  There's no denying that Michigan is set-up for some exciting games and match-ups this season, but how will the Wolverines do this year?  It seems like everybody has an opinion about how the Wolverines will fare against one of the nation's toughest schedules in 2012 and the key offseason losses of Mike Martin, David Molk, and Junior Hemingway.  Well, in unsurprising fashion, our staff has some interesting opinons of their own as well.  They say some things are better by committee, so check out what our staff has to say about Michigan's chances in 2012:

Thomas Beindit - @tbeindit

Once last season ended and all eyes turned to 2012, I must have been asked my predictions for Michigan about a hundred times.  Many of the questions revolved around my predictions for the season opener against Alabama, but the context of the questions revolved around the same things.  Could Michigan meet expectations for 2012 and would the insanely tough schedule knock out any chance at having a successful season?  The answer is pretty complex for both questions.  Yes, Michigan has a very difficult schedule, but should the expectation be to win all the games?  Some fans may say so, but most of the realistic fans will probably answer that with a no.  Along with that, two of the most difficult games on the schedule, Alabama and Notre Dame, are in non-conference games, meaning that they don't even play a factor in Michigan's chances to win a Big Ten title and go to the Rose Bowl.  If you believe in Brady Hoke's statements, a Big Ten title will be a successful year in Ann Arbor and I tend to agree, especially this year.  I think Michigan has the pieces for a great run at the Big Ten title.  The schedule is simply too difficult to win double digit games in the regular season, but if Michigan can defeat MSU, they should be headed to Indy for the Big Ten Championship game with a great chance at heading to Pasadena.  Unfortunately, I predict losses against Alabama and Ohio State and I think Michigan will lose to either Notre Dame or Nebraska, but I think the Wolverines should go undefeated at home and although their record will appear worse, the season may actually be better than last year given the circumstances.
Prediction - 9-3

Welcome Tyler Fenwick To Hoke's Mad Magicians

With staff moves and reassignments, we have added young writer Tyler Fenwick to our staff.  He will be primarily covering football, but might touch a bit into recruiting.  Our former football writer, Tyler Desy, will be moving to be our primary Recruiting Analyst.  Michigan football is one of Tyler's biggest passions and one of his future goals is to continue writing about Michigan athletics and perhaps major in journalism during college.

Some interesting facts about Tyler.  Tyler competes in cross country, baseball, and some ultimate frisbee.  His favorite music is hip-hop and rap, although he speculates this might have to do with a rebellious teen phase.  His favorite current Michigan player is Denard Robinsion, but his all-time favorite player is Mike Hart.  The most amazing place he's ever been are the Badlands in South Dakota, although the Big House is a close second.

Tyler should be bringing some great coverage of Michigan football to the blog and will be bringing an interesting perspective to fans as can be seen in his first post here.

If you'd like to follow Tyler on Twitter, you can follow him here: @Real_tFen

Stay tuned for some great coverage from Tyler in the future and Go Blue!

Hoke's Mad Magicians Twitter Chat Session

Next week, we will be hosting another Twitter "Chat Session" for Michigan fans.  Yes, we were actually trending last time and yes, I now consider us bigger than iCarly and the Red Sox (see picture).  It will be taking place on May 26th @ 7:30 - 8:30PM ET.  This should be a fun event and we'd love to have a lot of people involved.  However, I'm assuming by now you're wondering what this actually means.  So, here's some answers to some common questions:

What Is A Twitter Chat Session?
A Twitter chat session just consists of a bunch of people going on Twitter at the same time and tweeting about similar topics.  In this case, we are going to be discussing Michigan sports and some topics related to both the football and basketball teams along with some recruiting topics.  Essentially, imagine a room full of Michigan fans discussing Michigan sports for an hour and a half.

Why A Twitter Chat Session?
We decided to use Twitter and this technique because we thought it would reach a lot of people and get many Michigan fans involved in some exciting discussions about Michigan sports.  With the spring game right around the corner it seemed like the perfect time to make sure everybody knows what's going on with the Michigan community.

Who Is Going To Be Involved?
All of our writers we will be tweeting along with writers and analysts from other Michigan blogs.  We also have a very exciting guest list to answer any questions you might have about any Michigan related subject:

• Former Michigan Player Marcus Ray
• Tremendous - Steve Lorenz and @Mgobluegr have told me to list them as "maybes"
• Maize Pages - Jeffrey Yuan
• Maize & Blue Nation - @MaizeBlueNation
• Michigan Football Recruiting - @mgorecruiting 
• MGoFish - @MGoFish
• Popular Michigan Fan Tweeter - @supprtbradyhoke

How Do I Get Involved?
There are 3 easy ways to get involved with the Twitter chat session.

• Follow @HokeMadMagician or our writers on Twitter
• Tweet @HokeMadMagician or our writers through Twitter
• Use the hashtag #HokeMM on Twitter 

If you use any of these three techniques you are sure to be involved in the exciting discussion on Saturday evening.

Finally, remember to be online!

     May 26th
     7:30-8:30PM ET

Hoke's Mad Magicians Twitter Chat Session

Next Saturday marks a historic event for Hoke's Mad Magicians.  We will be having our first Twitter "Chat Session".  It will be taking place on April 7th @ 7:30 - 9:00PM ET.  This should be a fun event and we'd love to have a lot of people involved.  However, I'm assuming by now you're wondering what this actually means.  So, here's some answers to some common questions:

What Is A Twitter Chat Session?
A Twitter chat session just consists of a bunch of people going on Twitter at the same time and tweeting about similar topics.  In this case, we are going to be discussing Michigan sports and some topics related to both the football and basketball teams along with some recruiting topics.  Essentially, imagine a room full of Michigan fans discussing Michigan sports for an hour and a half.  

Why A Twitter Chat Session?
We decided to use Twitter and this technique because we thought it would reach a lot of people and get many Michigan fans involved in some exciting discussions about Michigan sports.  With the spring game right around the corner it seemed like the perfect time to make sure everybody knows what's going on with the Michigan community.

Who Is Going To Be Involved?
All of our writers we will be tweeting along with writers and analysts from other Michigan blogs.  We also will have @MGoFish, @mgorecruiting, and @Mgobluegr from Tremendous with us to answer any Michigan related questions anybody might have.

How Do I Get Involved?
There are 3 easy ways to get involved with the Twitter chat session.

• Follow @HokeMadMagician or our writers on Twitter
• Tweet @HokeMadMagician or our writers through Twitter
• Use the hashtag #HokeMM on Twitter 

If you use any of these three techniques you are sure to be involved in the exciting discussion on Saturday evening.
 
Finally, remember to be online!
 
     April 7th
     7:30-9:00PM ET


Photo Credit: Twitter Blog

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to Hoke's Mad Magicians, a blog dedicated to Michigan collegiate athletics and the University of Michigan. We have recently formed in order to give Michigan fans a better understanding about the current events and history of Michigan and its history and tradition.

The blog's name, Hoke's Mad Magicians, is in honor of the 1947 Michigan Wolverines. This 1947 team was coached by Fritz Crisler and included star athletes Bruce Hikene, Bob Chappius and Bump Elliot and ended the season oustcoring their opponents 394-53. The team was also nicknamed the "Mad Magicians" and finished the year with victories over Michigan State, Ohio State, and USC (in a 48-0 Rose Bowl victory). This win still remains as the largest margin of victory ever for a Rose Bowl game.

Now, what to expect from our blog. If you're in search of instant updates and quick news, this is probably not the best option. However, if you're looking for great breakdowns, previews, and analysis of games, recruiting, and institutional changes, look no further than Hoke's Mad Magicians. We decided on this route because much of the information circulating the Internet and fan-base today is often based on false pretenses.

There's some fantastic information on the web, but we think that Hoke's Mad Magicians will bring to light some of the most interesting coverage of Michigan athletics. Please make sure to keep following to get some great insider information and analysis.

And Go Blue!