MGoBlog: The MGoPodcast

They debate Daylight Savings and whether the World Baseball Classic has too many teams. They track former Wolverines across the NHL and discuss injuries, trades, and playoff chances. They break down college hockey results, bracket scenarios, and Michigan’s seeding odds. They riff on minor‑league life, European alumni, and fun trade speculation.

1 hour and 44 minutes The Sponsors Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com. Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Venue by 4M where record this, and Introducing this season: Radecki Oral Surgery, and Long Road Distillers. 1. Men's Basketball vs Michigan State Starts at 0:51 Michigan is the best team in the Big Ten since the 1977 Indiana team. You can't say they didn't earn it, they had to win at Breslin, Carver, and Illinois. They would still win the Big Ten outright if you only counted the games that Michigan won by double digits. It was Yaxel's deep shooting that propelled Michigan when they weren't shooting well. Michigan felt mortal with Tschetter at the four but MSU didn't exactly take advantage of that time. There were a lot of 1-on-1 opportunities, Michigan only had 12 assists. 1.27 PPP is crazy against Michigan State. Where does Yaxel Lendeborg rank all time amongst all Michigan players? They had a reel prepared for when Fears would kick someone in the jingle jangles, and it did happen. Credit Dusty for keeping the team calm when things start to go wrong. How is Fears allowed to keep playing the way he does? Congrats to Nebraska for getting the #2 seed.  2. Men's Basketball vs Iowa Starts at 32:06 A very slow game and a very annoying win. Their thing is fouling you constantly and hoping the refs don't call it. They fired Fran and we hate Iowa basketball now. Michigan finally gets some calls in the second half and turns the ball over a lot. Bennett Stirtz's 4-14 from three feels optimistic for him given the shot quality. There was a "sink or swim" moment when Cadeau had to sit out and it wasn't great. Cadeau played 30 minutes but in an important tournament setting he'll probably play more than that. Roddy Gayle has some at-the-rim difficulties that have lasted most of the conference season. Fran McCaffery was a beautiful Big Ten coach and now he's in the Ivy League. 3. Hot Takes and Spring Ball - Offense Starts at 54:05 How excited is everyone for this spring practice? What will Bryce's role as a runner be? JJ didn't run much but in the championship season there were only 4-5 games where he would have needed to. Maybe Bryce looks a little better throwing downfield now that he has actual receivers. JJ Buchanan might have a Colston Loveland level catch radius. There was a moment of silence for Max Bredeson but we truncate silence on this podcast so you didn't hear it. What's the tight end depth going to look like? Evan Link to guard? We're expecting a big third year swing for Blake Frazier.  4. Spring Ball - Defense Starts at 1:22:09 Any sort of news about John Henry Daley being able to play would be high on the list. And Rod Moore. Also hoping to hear good things about Palepale and Cam Brandt. The North Dakota State linebacker (Nathaniel Staehling) transfer could be really good, he was a captain and these scenarios often work out nicely. Ideally he's the 3rd linebacker because that means some other guys popped off. How much much better will everyone look with better coaching? Unfortunately we won't be able to see if rotation on defense gets better in the Spring Game. Could Shamari Earls overtake Jyaire Hill? New kickers but kicking in April seems different than in the Fall. Looking forward to punting drills. Taylor Tatum for punt return?    MUSIC: "Any Major Dude"—Steely Dan "Believe"—My Morning Jacket "Broken Chair"—Luna “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra   

Greg Ross, frequent WTKA roundtable contributor known for bracketology and sharp analysis, breaks down Michigan's defensive switching and matchup hunting. They discuss Yaxel's off-script switching, Cadeau's increased minutes, Mara's rim finishing, and Illinois' physical limitations. The conversation also covers turnover risks without Cadeau and the Big Ten POY debate.

They debate NHL trade-deadline timing, which teams can realistically win multi-round playoff series, and which defensemen and veteran forwards could move. They break down a disappointing Michigan loss where possession meant little, then recap a senior-night bounce-back win with a redirection goal and a controversial waved-off tally. They also gripe about inconsistent college hockey start times and playoff positioning.

They break down Michigan basketball’s big win over Illinois, discuss LJ Kaysen’s torn ACL and rotation changes, and praise Yaxel Lendenborg’s lockdown defense. There’s a deep dive on Cadeau’s turnover-free game and backup point guard plans. They preview the Iowa trip and bracket outlook. Plus college hockey takes on inconsistent play, power play struggles, and wild tournament-format rants.

Things Discussed: Minnesota game: Just shooting over zone. Credit to Medved. Duke: Shouldn't give Szelc an opportunity to give Mara phantom fouls. Want to see us using our size better. Duke was suped up UCLA. Dusty will figure it out. Illinois: Huge, best offense in the history of Kenpom. Don't have a defensive center. Ivisics are stretch bigs. UCLA beat Illinois: When you play the three game you add randomness. Minnesota: Their fans should be happy about Nedved. Ran a zone well, slowed the game down, never got a 2nd shot. Good strategy. In break: Talking great families/USA Hockey. Hockey: Split with Wisconsin means they can't win the B10 regular season crown. Lack that one elite talent. Will be shipped out East because all four 1-seeds are Western teams. Congrats ND for two key Michigan injuries and stealing some points to create this result. WBB crazy game. Shout out to Macy Brown for sticking around to be there in OT. Locked in a 2-seed.

1 Hour and 13 Minutes With David Nasternak and Alex Drain This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games. Segment 1 Watching the gold medal game through scrambling flight delays featuring a mid-air celebration. Canada really underperformed offensively despite having a lot of star power. Finland's medal consistency is relentless, Sweden is disappointing. Remembering the Miracle on Ice. Anyways, Michigan hockey lost a frustrating 4-1 game to Wisconsin on Friday. Will Horkoff scored the first game and it was all downhill from there.The Badgers were desperate and just outshot and outmuscled Michigan.    Segment 2 Michigan bounces back 3-1 on Saturday, their five-on-five effort was much better despite penalty trouble and shot disadvantage. Cason Musser gets his first career point. Jack Ivankovic's 34 saves helped stabilize the night. Michigan is still a 99.6% chance of being a 1-seed in the NCAA tournament. Penn State had a wild 11-4 outburst against Ohio State, Gavin McKenna had eight points. Providence surges, Western Michigan pushes for a 1-seed. If Michigan wants to be perceived as elite this year then a sweep of Minnesota is a must this weekend.     MUSIC NHL on ESPN Theme "Can't Catch Up" -- Rehab Ice Hockey (NES) theme

1 hour and 43 minutes The Sponsors Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com. Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Venue by 4M where record this, and Introducing this season: Radecki Oral Surgery, and Long Road Distillers. 1. Men's Basketball vs Purdue Starts at 0:51 The Duke game was annoying and non-impactful so let's start with Purdue. Purdue comes out to a 5-0 start, Michigan then goes on a 42-17 run. Mackey exploded no matter what, even when Michigan was up 16. Matt Painter is a dude who respects ball. Mara foreshadowed the Duke game by getting into foul trouble, but that wasn't until the 2nd half, otherwise he had a great 1st half. The other subplot of this game was they shot 57% from three, and almost all of them were good shots. Trey Kauffmann-Renn went off for Purdue, historically May has let him go defensively though. Michigan is doing a great job of making the non-contestable guys contestable. What was funnier, the Fletcher Loyer heat-check airball or Cadeau getting to the free throw line and not knowing what to do?  2. Men's Basketball vs Duke Starts at 22:55 A very frustrating game. Mara picks up three first half fouls, the first two of which were not fouls. Playing three bigs in the second half felt like an impulse. Will Tschetter has been a faithful companion for this program but this wasn’t the game for him. Duke went on their end of first half run when Michigan had their small lineup out there. Dusty is usually very calm but he was on the verge of eruption. The official in this game notoriously call more calls than anyone else and didn’t give us a proper Michigan Duke game. You can just give the coach an iPad to decide if you want to challenge calls?? Does Mara need a little more self-confidence? His body language is telling. Michigan didn't get a lot out of guard play. Their quality of looks in this game were nowhere near their looks in the Purdue game. They got out of balance with their lineup changes and shot 24% from three but still only lost by five to Duke so this really isn't that concerning. What was that travel call? LJ Cason is definitely a contested shot guy. Michigan's biggest win over the weekend was UCLA over Illinois. The Minnesota game is for a share of the title, two Big Ten wins means an outright title. Brian still can't believe how good Keaton Wagler is.  3. Hot Takes and Hockey vs Wisconsin Starts at 55:40 Takes hotter than yours truly after Mara's second foul against Duke. Michigan gets a split out of Wisconsin which ends any hope of catching Michigan State in the Big Ten standings. Wisconsin played their backup goalie and Michigan didn't do enough to threaten him. Kason Muscutt got his first goal. BTN+ has announcers that don't even know Michigan's roster. Michigan could get to 51 points after next week which would win the Big Ten in most years. They have a 99.6% chance of being a #1 seed, they would need to win the Big Ten Tournament to get the #1 overall. #2 overall could get Saint Thomas?  4. Potpourri Starts at 1:24:57 Hughe's got it better than us? Michigan shouldn't claim Jack Hughes. Great performances from Michigan hockey players in the Olympics and the gold medal game. Michigan doesn't have these guys on this team (Michigan State doesn't either, though). Canada was sad and then got handed a stuffed stoat. If you haven't seen the figure skating exhibition gala, you should. Michigan has a new general manager. Sean Magee sent Savion Hiter the wrong dollar amount for his NIL?? The new GM is Dave Peloquin who used to work at Notre Dame. Michigan baseball got another ranked win over Louisville. The vibes for Michigan softball aren't good right now. They're like Nebraska football.  MUSIC: "UFOs"—Phoenix and Alan Braxe "Evil Twin"—Cut Worms "Dug"—Dream Sitch, Michael Nau, Floating Action “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra   

Things Discussed: Seth on early: Ohio State has yet another former player admitting he didn't go to class. Mick Cronin doesn't record practices—he's Tom Izzo without being a good basketball coach. Seth gives a history of coaching styles, short version is the Bo/Woody/Izzo/Bear style of drill sergeant was just a post-WW2 thing that just worked in that era. Michigan tampered with [the locks that Mick Cronin puts on the dungeon] UCLA, and Xavier Booker sneaks in while it's open: ooh, more yelling! Purdue: Mackey was lit, 42-17 run after going down five early. Michigan took only one bad three; everything else was open. Purdue was the opposite, all movement. Not thruck. Matt Painter is the anti-Cronin. Explained the game so well: he helped every dive inside and forced M to hit open kickouts. Soon as they did there's nothing more to do If Mara is going to play like he did in the 1st half and Cadeau plays like he did in the 2nd half...yeesh. How would you attack Michigan? Start by pulling Mara out of the middle by going five-out, then survive their size on offense (e.g. Illinois). Duke Preview: Boozer is a suped up Yax, they have incredible length on the perimeter including a 6'8"/190 Italian they put on PGs so we're going to see if Michigan can keep up their scoring or turns it over a ton. Duke's weaknesses are you can get to the rim and get fouls on their young frontcourt, since they don't really have a backup five. Cason: best backup PG in the league? Not sure but turning a corner. Still misses a switch and doesn't have NBA spacial awareness, but he's a very valuable backup now.

1 Hour and 38 Minutes With David Nasternak and Alex Drain This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games. Segment 1 A discussion of the evolution of language and phonetics. It's tough to broadcast a sport you've never broadcasted before. Actual hockey talk starts at about the 20 minute mark. It was a fine weekend getting five of six points. Your best penalty killer is your goalie. Ivankovic still seems a little rusty (except in OT), maybe there's a lingering injury. Friday night was one of the most insane three-on-three OT hockey games we've seen. This is what people wanted three-on-three hockey to be.    Segment 2 5:00pm puck drop is a weird start time. Michigan wasn't very sound on defense all weekend. The plays they run on power plays are really fun to watch, there are always new wrinkles. Why does there have to be pushing and shoving at the end of every series? Nothing happens anyways, they're just yapping chihuahuas. Is Penn State the fifth best team in the country? Catching up with teams from around the country. Team seeding and location predictions for the tournament - more teams should play closer to their home. Michigan is still more likely to be the #1 overall over Michigan State. Penn State basically needs to win the Big Ten tournament to be a 1 seed. Previewing the Wisconsin series.    MUSIC NHL on ESPN Theme "Kitty" -- The Presidents of the United States of America Ice Hockey (NES) theme