The Michigan Basketball team just played its regular season home-opener last night, beating Northern Michigan, 70-44. Bully for them, right? Except for one thing:
Northern Michigan is a "Division Two" Basketball Team!
Why is UM calling this a regular-season game?
This seems like a case of "Deja Vu all over again". John Beilein had his Wolverines host Hillsdale College last season, and called that one a "regular season game" as well, despite the FACT that Hillsdale College - - - - LIKE NORTHERN MICHIGAN - - - is a Division Two basketball team. It was that "victory" that allowed Michigan to claim a 16-16 record last year, rather than the actual 15-16 (losing) record recognized by the NCAA.
Are they kidding themselves yet again? The NCAA now recognizes the University of Michigan as a perfect 0-0 for this season, since they have yet to beat, or even play, a Division One team.
For those of you thinking I'm nit-picking here, let's be clear about one comparative fact:
Michigan State also played Northern Michigan
in basketball, just last week, winning, 94-53.
But the Spartans called that contest
an EXHIBITION GAME!!!
For the record, MSU also played Hillsdale College in basketball several years ago, and that contest was also called an EXHIBITION GAME.
Why is Michigan playing lower-division teams and counting the "wins" on their regular-season record?
How can UM pull such tricks and get away with it?
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NIT did not recognize the Hillsdale game last year. NIT requires a team to have at least a 0.500 record and the Ann Arbor Charm School Ball Club did not get to wear their cute little costumes when the regular season ended.
ReplyDeleteBut you said media, not NIT and the media did not talk much about the stay-at-home chUMps.
I wasn't sure about that even last season as they were stumbling towards the fake 16-16 record so I didn't write about it much. As far as I knew last season, UM might have been picked at 15-16, but I also wondered if they were padding their record for the possibility which occurred; that they were floundering near .500 and needed one more win to qualify.
DeleteAnyway, I just looked it up, and it was apparently true up until 2007. Since that time, sub-.500 teams have bee eligible for the NIT, but none have been selected.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Invitation_Tournament