This is but a humble blog in the early-2000s tradition. If I wanted to accurately recreate the vibes of that era, I would run this site on Blogspot. Like the early 2000s – and, to be honest, it still happens today – sometime random musings about public figures end up being posed as questions to those same public figures:

Please do not ask Syla Swords about the nickname “Swordsy,” I beg you.

Drop Everything and Watch This Instead

I was unfamiliar with Allez! Sports, which, according to its website, is “a global women’s sports media company delivering real, powerful stories that entertain, inspire, and connect.” Their YouTube channel has 32K followers, while their Bluesky account has 10. But they have a partnership with the Big Ten, and they released this yesterday:

It is delightful. Go be delighted.

There is also a new Te'Yala Delfosse interview with Champ Media. Single puff activated in the preview image:

Can I Predict Ball?

Do NOT ask Lauren Betts if I can predict ball.

Michigan 80, Oregon 58

Vibes-based prediction: It's hard to do predictions for the quarterfinal, so let's roll with a classic. Michigan comes out rusty against an opponent that played the day before and trails after the first quarter, but wins by 3+ possessions in the end.

The Wolverines never trailed in this game and had an 18-13 lead after the first quarter. The rust showed in a couple of ways: despite opening the game with a Syla three, the team only went 4-19 for the game. The bigger issue was early foul trouble: both Liv and Mila picked up two quick fouls. While Olson sat most of the second quarter, Mila was not autobenched and finished the game without picking up another foul.

Very specific prediction: Two of Liv, Syla, and Mila score 20.

Liv has 17, Syla had 16, and Mila finished one point short of a double-double with 9 points and 10 assists. Had I made the prediction knowing Oregon were the opponent, I might have predicted Ashley Sofilkanich's big day: while Ehis Etute has emerged a rebounding force for the Ducks, she is at a height disadvantage and Sof exploited that matchup for 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks.

The Weekend Ahead

New Big Ten award winner flair! Black means coaches’ selection, light blue means media, and a mixture means both. Swords and Olson are the first pair of Wolverines to be selected to the first team by both the coaches and the media: the coaches selected both Katelynn Flaherty and Hallie Thome in 2017, but the media didn’t select both of them until the next year. Leigha Brown and Emily Kiser were both coaches’ selections in 2023, and only Brown was chosen by the media.

Michigan now has 10.9 wins above the bubble according to Bart Torvik. With Vanderbilt’s loss to Ole Miss, Michigan is now guaranteed to finish Top 8 in the metric according to both the Torvik version and the NCAA version. Does this lock up a #2 seed in the NCAA tournament? I have no idea.

If you watched the video above, you’ll know what I mean when I say I should probably replace Syla’s Shoresy bulldog with a labradoodle.

Iowa (3/7, about 4:30 EST, BTN, M -4.4 Torvik)

I’m gonna to be at my daughter’s band concert during this game, which will be good for my general mood. While it won't be a true road game like last month's debacle, the crowd will definitely be tilted in the Hawkeyes' favor. Look what institutional support of your women's basketball program gets you!

Iowa got to the semifinals by defeating Illinois 64-43, and then giving up a 15-0 run after the game was over.

Players to Watch

• Hannah Stuelke has Schrödinger's elbow injury, where it's serious enough to miss games at Purdue and Wisconsin, but not serious enough to miss games against any challenging opponent. Expect her to play.
• Hopefully Michigan will have a better plan against the Stuelke to Ava Heiden post game this time around, otherwise it will be a long day.
• Chit-Chat Wright is still good but still short. The only thing that went right in Iowa City was shutting her down.
• I left the mask flair on but I think Callie Levin isn't wearing the mask anymore.

Vibes-based prediction: Michigan will shoot better than 31% from the field this time. Let's say between 35% and 45%. It may not matter.

Very specific prediction: Michigan will finish with two more turnovers than assists, a massive improvement from 9 assists vs. 24 TOs last time around.

Maybe we'll see

Thomas Costello has a good diary at The IX Sports detailing how each team got to the semifinals.

UCLA got punched in the mouth in the first quarter against Washington, falling behind 15-6. The Bruins responded with a 15-0 run in the second quarter and ended up with a comfortable 78-60 win. It was the second most interesting game they played this year.

Ohio State got past Minnesota 60-55, with both Jaloni Cambridge and Elsa Lemmilä putting up 17 points. The Gophers were hampered by both injury and foul trouble limiting Tori McKinney to 2 points in 16 minutes, which definitely matters in a tight game.

Rooting interest? A UCLA win eliminates any chance of the Buckeyes leaping Michigan for the #2 line, so that’s probably the better outcome.

Non-Conference Rooting Interests

As NCAA seeding starts to fall into place, it’s time to scoreboard-watch the other major conference tournaments and root for the results that benefit our beloved B1G the most. Let’s take a look!

SEC: LSU walloped Oklahoma 112-78 yesterday, which should keep the Sooners from advancing past the #3 line and may drop them to #4. In the last Top 16 reveal, LSU was #7 and Michigan was #8, so South Carolina beating LSU by a similar 34-point margin would be most helpful.

Ole Miss helpfully knocked out Vanderbilt on the strength of a 49-17 first half. Vandy’s likely to stay on the #2 line anyway.

ACC: Both Duke and Louisville were #3 seeds in the Top 16 reveal, and it would be best if neither won the conference tournament. The Blue Devils play Notre Dame and the Cardinals play North Carolina, and the mild upsets are the best possible outcome.

B12: Anybody but TCU. Kansas State (8-10 in conference play) has pulled some upsets to advance to the semis against the Frogs. If they can’t pull off one more big win, the other semi pits West Virginia against Colorado, and the second-seed Mountaineers are the favorite, but the Buffaloes beat TCU in the regular season.