Michigan's Recruiting Class (So Far)

Hey Big Ten fans, with National signing day coming to a close, we have learned a few things and found out where some big name players are going. The one thing we have not learned is where Terrell Pryor is going, and who knows when and where he will end up.

According to mgoblue.com (Michigan's official website) this is where the 2008 recruiting class stands:

Player	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Hometown (High School)
Ricky Barnum	OL	6-2	265	Lakeland, Fla. (Lake Gibson)
Boubacar Cissoko	DB	5-9	175	Detroit, Mich. (Cass Technical)
Mike Cox	RB	6-0	206	Dorchester, Conn. (Avon Old Farms)
Justin Feagin	QB	6-0	190	Deerfield, Fla. (American Heritage)
J.B. Fitzgerald	LB	6-3	230	Princeton Junction, N.J. (West Windsor Plainsboro)
J.T. Floyd	DB	6-0	190	Greenville, S.C. (J.L. Mann)
Taylor Hill	LB	6-2	205	Youngstown, Ohio (Cardinal Mooney)
Rocko Khoury	OL	6-5	280	Traverse City, Mich. (Traverse City West)
Kevin Koger	TE	6-4	220	Toledo, Ohio (Whitmer)
Mike Martin	DL	6-2	285	Redford, Mich. (Catholic Central)
Elliott Mealer	OL	6-6	280	Wauseon, Ohio (Wauseon)
Brandon Moore	TE	6-6	221	Trotwood, Ohio (Trotwood-Madison)
Patrick Omameh	OL	6-4	260	Columbus, Ohio (St. Francis DeSales)
Dann O'Neill	OL	6-7	295	Grand Haven, Mich. (Grand Haven)
Terrence Robinson	ATH	5-9	170	Klein, Texas (Oak)
Roy Roundtree	WR	6-0	154	Trotwood, Ohio (Trotwood-Madison)
Michael Shaw	ATH	6-0	185	Trotwood, Ohio (Trotwood-Madison)
Brandon Smith	DB	6-3	210	New Brunswick, N.J. (New Brunswick)
Darryl Stonum	WR	6-3	185	Stafford, Texas (Dulles)
Kurt Wermers	OL	6-5	260	Crown Point, Ind. (Crown Point)
Marcus Witherspoon	LB	6-2	225	Atlantic City, N.J. (Holy Spirit)

That stands at 21 commits. Missing are Kenny Demens a LB, he had a funeral today and just has not been able to fax in his LOI. Long Snapper George Morales has not sent his LOI in yet, there is some speculation that he may grayshirt so his Scholarship doesn't count for this semester. Michigan will not have to worry about these two players wavering.

Obviously one big Michigan verbal commit is missing from that list, Youtube sensation RB Sam McGuffie. There have been rumors that McGuffie is also now looking at Cal and TAMU. The speculation is that he will in the end be at Michigan, but there is some need for concern. For what its worth Tom Beaver (recruiting guru) thinks McGuffie will end up a wolverine.

Of course Terrelle Pryor is not on that list, nor is he on anyone's list. Will he end up at UM? My guess is no, I really think PSU is coming on strong and that Pryor will either end up in Happy Valley or in Columbus. Michigan fans would be much happier with Pryor not going to Michigan as long as he doesn't end up at OSU.

Thats all for now, but once McGuffie situation gets sorted out, and the last LOIS get sent in I will provide a much more detailed post analyzing the impact the recruits will have on the 2008 season.

-JHS, Michigan correspondent

JHS's Fearless Predictions for the 2008 Big Ten Season

Seeing as how there is (most likely) going to be no big college football news until next Wednesday (National Signing Day, as fans of UM and OSU hold their breath and hope they T. Pryor comes to their University), I'm going to act like ESPN and just create my own news in the form of some bold predictions for the 2008 Season.

*Note for the sake of argument - I'm going to create these predictions with the thought in mind that Pryor is not going to neither OSU nor Michigan*

2008 Big Ten Champs: OSU Buckeyes. Not hard to picture this happening - I see them going 10-2 (one loss in Big ten play and a loss to USC). No title game shot this year for the Bucks, but they will continue their (almost yearly) tradition of being in the BCS.

2008 Big Ten Cellar Dweller: Minnesota Golden Gophers. Sorry Gopher fans, but this is just not a good team, they will win more than they did last year (one win). 4-5 wins could be within reach for the Gophers this year.

2008 Big Ten MVP: Chris Wells, OSU. This is a beast, big, strong, fast and will be touching the ball a lot. Expect him to be a top Heisman candidate as well.

2008 Big Ten Coach of the year: Rich Rodriguez, UM. With the loss of basically the starting offense, expectations are going to lower than usual in Ann Arbor this season, some media members have predicted 6 wins and even 4 wins for UM. If Rodriguez can get UM to 9-3 I think he has a great shot at being coach of the year. If he could beat OSU in Columbus, he might be a shoo-in for the award.

Now onto some UM predictions -

2008 UM captains: Morgan Trent, CB; Tim Jamison, DE; and Greg Matthews, WR.

2008 UM Defensive MVP: Morgan Trent, CB. Trent was light years better in '07 than he was in '06. In fact going into '07, many UM fans though he would be a liability on defense, however, he turned out to a major strength. If his progression can continue he could be one of the best CBs in the nation.

2008 UM Breakthrough Player: Steven Threet, QB. Threet is the most likely candidate to start game one: he has been practicing and training at the college football level for a year more than any potential frosh QB, and he will have gotten the playbook months before any frosh QB. Even though Coach Rod favors a mobile QB, I think he will be forced to give Threet a lot of playing time and Threet will deliver.

Well that's all for now, but after spring ball I will release my official predictions for the 2008 college football season.

Also expect some serious analysis next week on UM's recruiting class.

The first of many..

The first of eleven sacred spots on this site has been filled. Jim Harbaugh Scramble, a regular poster on MGoBlog, has been selected to represent the Maize and Blue here at Blog Ten Football.

I've asked him to write a brief introduction, so without further adieu:

Hello fans, I'm Jim Harbaugh Scramble and I'll be your Michigan correspondent here on Blog 10 Football.

About me - I'm 24 years old and a huge UM football fan. College football is my favorite sport but I'm also into the NFL, NBA and MLB. My favorite sports teams are the Wolverines, Detroit Lions, Detroit Pistons, Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings. My passion, however is Michigan football.

I'm originally from Michigan, grew up in the Detroit area, and for whatever reason just became a huge UM fan. I've been a fan for as long as I remember. Some of my favorite UM players of all time are: Harbaugh, Terrell, Woodson, Howard among many, many others. What I love the most about Michigan is a tradition of winning the right way with class and integrity.

I want to thank Blog 10 for this opportunity and I hope you Big Ten fans will have a chance to learn more about me and UM football.

Go Blue!

No, JHS. Thank you. Here's to a bright future of blogging between us and the rest of Blog Ten Football's correspondents (to be announced).