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Nick Hopwood, certified financial planner at Peak Wealth Management. Nick's team of CFP's help high net worth individuals and small businesses owners retire with peak confidence. Nick will build a financial plan you can believe in - Trust the plan! Most advisors are just sales people pushing products, but Nick and his team are fee based planners who always make recommendations which are in their clients best interest - that's what being a fiduciary is all about. Visit PeakWM.com/Gruber to Learn More
Nick Hopwood and Jim Pilat of Peak Wealth, on their Trust the Plan podcast, recently discussed a Chase Bank data report examining spending patterns in partially and fully retired households with $250,000 to $750,000 in investable wealth. They observed that spending often increases shortly after retirement, driven by lifestyle changes and long-postponed purchases. Over time, however, that spending naturally begins to taper as routines settle and priorities shift. Their discussion emphasized the need for thoughtful retirement planning that accounts for these evolving spending habits. — Peak Wealth Management is a financial planning and wealth management firm in Plymouth, MI. We believe by providing education and guidance, we inspire our clients to make great decisions so they can Retire With Peace of Mind. Stay Connected With Us: Podbean: findingtruewealth.podbean.com YouTube: @peakwealthmgmt Apple: rb.gy/1jqp6 (Trust the Plan Podcast) Facebook: Facebook.com/PeakWealthManagement Twitter: Twitter.com/nhopwood1 www.peakwm.com
In a recent episode of the Trust the Plan Podcast, Nick Hopwood, CFP®, and Jim Pilat, CFP®, of Peak Wealth Management, delve into the strategic decision of Roth conversions in retirement planning. They present a case study comparing the financial outcomes of converting traditional IRA funds to Roth IRAs versus maintaining the traditional structure. Through detailed charts, they illustrate how Roth conversions can potentially reduce future tax liabilities and provide tax-free income in retirement. — Peak Wealth Management is a financial planning and wealth management firm in Plymouth, MI. We believe by providing education and guidance, we inspire our clients to make great decisions so they can Retire With Peace of Mind. Stay Connected With Us: Podbean: findingtruewealth.podbean.com YouTube: / @peakwealthmgmt Apple: rb.gy/1jqp6 (Trust the Plan Podcast) Facebook: Facebook.com/PeakWealthManagement Twitter: Twitter.com/nhopwood1 www.peakwm.com
Nick Hopwood, Certified financial planner and Founder at Peak Wealth Management. Nick and his team of CFP's help high net worth individuals and small business owners retire with peak confidence. Visit PeakWM.com/Gruber to learn how YOU can protect your FUTURE The Market Has Been Rising Everyday for Two Weeks Trump Vs. Walmart
On the Trust the Plan Podcast, Nick Hopwood, CFP® and Jim Pilat, CFP® of Peak Wealth Management dive into the importance of starting early when investing for college. They emphasize that the earlier you begin, the more you can take advantage of compound growth, making it much easier to fully fund a college education. Using tools like 529 plans, families can invest in a tax-advantaged way toward future tuition costs. Nick and Jim break down how much you need to save monthly— depending on the target school and timeline—to stay on track. Their key message: trust the process, start early, and stick to the plan. — Peak Wealth Management is a financial planning and wealth management firm in Plymouth, MI. We believe by providing education and guidance, we inspire our clients to make great decisions so they can Retire With Peace of Mind. Stay Connected With Us: Podbean: findingtruewealth.podbean.com YouTube: / @peakwealthmgmt Apple: rb.gy/1jqp6 (Trust the Plan Podcast) Facebook: Facebook.com/PeakWealthManagement Twitter: Twitter.com/nhopwood1 www.peakwm.com
On this episode of the Trust the Plan Podcast, CFPs Nick Hopwood and Jim Pilat of Peak Wealth talk about why rising advisor attrition rates across the industry don't reflect what they see in their firm. By focusing on strong client relationships, a team-based approach, and consistent communication, they've built a model that keeps clients engaged and supported for the long haul. It's all about trust, continuity, and delivering real value beyond just investment advice. From there, they turn their attention to another critical topic: managing risk in today's unpredictable markets. With volatility making headlines and investor anxiety on the rise, Nick and Jim emphasize that not every fluctuation signals a time to act. In fact, they caution against panic-driven decisions, encouraging clients to stay focused on their long-term goals. At Peak Wealth, the message is clear—success comes from discipline, not reaction, and understanding when not to move is just as important as knowing when to act. — Peak Wealth Management is a financial planning and wealth management firm in Plymouth, MI. We believe by providing education and guidance, we inspire our clients to make great decisions so they can Retire With Peace of Mind. Stay Connected With Us: Podbean: findingtruewealth.podbean.com YouTube: / @peakwealthmgmt Apple: rb.gy/1jqp6 (Trust the Plan Podcast) Facebook: Facebook.com/PeakWealthManagement Twitter: Twitter.com/nhopwood1 www.peakwm.com
In this episode, Rocksy is joined by Andrew Debono, Principal Adviser and Director at Peak Wealth Management. He shares his journey from a young financial planner in 2014 to building a successful practice targeting high-income professionals, focusing on comprehensive financial advice, strategic risk management, and continuous business evolution. Andrew Debono LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewdebono/ Peak Wealth Management Website: https://peakwm.com.au/ Rich Dad Poor Dad: https://www.richdad.com/ Response for Life Website: https://responseforlife.org.au/ Visit The Adviser Portal and partner with Zurich and OnePath today: https://ensombl.com/go/20250506 Recognise real-world learning as CPD: https://ensombl.com/cpd/ General Disclaimer – https://www.ensombl.com/disclaimer/
On a recent episode of the Trust the Plan Podcast, Jim Pilat, CFP® and Preston Gee, CFP® of Peak Wealth delved into a compelling case study featuring a couple in their mid-40s with three kids and a strong household income, now getting serious about their financial future. A Certified Financial Planner (CFP) flagged several red flags in their current approach — Jim and Preston unpack these concerns, offering their perspective on whether they agree with the CFP's assessment and exploring how proactive planning could address these issues before they become costly missteps. — Peak Wealth Management is a financial planning and wealth management firm in Plymouth, MI. We believe by providing education and guidance, we inspire our clients to make great decisions so they can Retire With Peace of Mind. Stay Connected With Us: Podbean: findingtruewealth.podbean.com YouTube: / @peakwealthmgmt Apple: rb.gy/1jqp6 (Trust the Plan Podcast) Facebook: Facebook.com/PeakWealthManagement Twitter: Twitter.com/nhopwood1 www.peakwm.com
2 hour and 14 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. Spring Game Vibes and Offense Starts at 1:00 Michigan didn't televise the spring game so now you have to listen to this one! Shout out to men's gymnastics on winning a national championship. Blue team won 17-0, yay. Did Michigan have enough offensive players to reasonably fill out two offenses? Both QBs threw deep balls, most of them weren't particularly close. Bryce had a few Freshman moments as well and everything over 10-15 yards was very flat. There aren't very many receivers but Donaven McCulley wasn't even on the same team as Underwood and was benched after the first quarter (along with most starters). Marlin Klein and Hogan Hansen didn't play. The spring game is delayed on broadcast for a week because of the portal deadline. Haynes and Marshal are it at running back, Micah Ka'apana was slippery like Chris Evans but Michigan hasn't thrown to a running back since 2016. Bryson Kuzdzal looked pretty good! The receivers aren't adjusting to the ball much, Semaj also didn't do much. The 2nd string fullback (Jalen Hoffman) has gotten more targets in a spring game than Max Bredeson has in his whole career and is the highest stock rise of the spring game. Maybe they can stack two wide receivers on top of each other like Vincent Adultman. When Michigan had three tight ends on the field they ran the ball pretty well. According to Sherrone, the three offensive linemen who are locked in are El-Hadi, Crippen, and Sprague. Babalola is big but made freshman mistakes (which is fine). 2. Spring Game Defense Starts at 50:17 Michigan looks like they'll be very tough once again and has a lot of depth. Defensive end is loaded with Big Ten starters. Rayshaun Benny is established where we want him to be at this point in his development. There's going to be a drop-off from Graham and Grant but it'll be fine. It felt like the lines were two good units going against each other. We like the way Deyvid Palepale is shaped, he might be Brian Mone. We didn't learn much about the linebackers but Cole Sullivan was in the backfield a lot. The defensive backs played really well without Jyaire Hill. Shamari Earls is wearing #2 and is looking like #2. All of these defensive backs seem plausible, McBurrows hitting the portal makes more sense now. The secondary might not have any real stars but they won't have any holes, even without Rod Moore. Safeties don't have a real rock like we're used to. 3. Hot Takes and Michigan Hockey Roster Starts at 1:14:49 Takes hotter than the one guy across the aisle at the Spring Game who is already mad at Bryce Underwood. The hockey roster is in a state of flux, we're all awaiting what will happen with the CHL kids. Michigan gets four defensemen back and brings in some transfers and CHL players. Ben Robertson comes in from Cornell after averaging 21 minutes per game. The defense has nine players on roster currently which is probably too many. They could use a goalie! Right now they have 10 forwards on a team that usually carries 14. They have a roster spot for McKenna (the Bryce Underwood of hockey), can they get him? The Big Ten might be top-to-bottom the best quality hockey in the country that isn't the NHL. 4. Potpourri Starts at 1:52:20 Danny Wolf is officially out and headed for the NBA, Aday Mara commits. They're waiting on Lendeborg but they'll still be a good team without him. One more summer of polishing Will Tschetter could make him a really good 4. In football, Luke Bauer comes in as a punter from Missouri - he's an average punter. They get CJ Hester at running back from UMass to replace Ben Hall. He's a little bowling ball. The concession lines at the Spring Game were long! Michigan Stadium isn't catering to the average fan who wants to bring their kids. There are now kids who have attended the Spring Game and didn't have a good time and now they probably won't want to go next year. MUSIC: "Let's Get Down"—Toni Toni Tone "Bendicion Mami"—Fat Joe "Check The Technique"—Gang Starr “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
On this episode of Trust the Plan, Jim Pilat, CFP® and Preston Gee, CFP® of Peak Wealth dive into the current market landscape, highlighting the recent wave of uncertainty that's had investors on edge. Just when things seemed shaky, markets surged after former President Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs—sending a jolt of optimism through Wall Street. Jim and Preston break down what this could mean moving forward and emphasize the importance of staying the course. As always, they remind listeners: trust the plan, focus on the long-term, and don't let short-term noise derail your strategy. — Peak Wealth Management is a financial planning and wealth management firm in Plymouth, MI. We believe by providing education and guidance, we inspire our clients to make great decisions so they can Retire With Peace of Mind. Stay Connected With Us: Podbean: findingtruewealth.podbean.com YouTube: / @peakwealthmgmt Apple: rb.gy/1jqp6 (Trust the Plan Podcast) Facebook: Facebook.com/PeakWealthManagement Twitter: Twitter.com/nhopwood1 www.peakwm.com
On the Trust the Plan Podcast, Nick Hopwood, CFP® and Preston Gee, CFP® emphasize the power of education and guidance in helping clients take control of their financial future. For them, it's not just about managing money—it's about empowering individuals to truly understand their financial plan, be involved in the process, and feel confident in the decisions they're making. By breaking down complex topics and focusing on clear, personalized advice, Nick and Preston aim to inspire clients to make smart choices today that build a secure, fulfilling retirement tomorrow. — Peak Wealth Management is a financial planning and wealth management firm in Plymouth, MI. We believe by providing education and guidance, we inspire our clients to make great decisions so they can Retire With Peace of Mind. Stay Connected With Us: Podbean: findingtruewealth.podbean.com YouTube: / @peakwealthmgmt Apple: rb.gy/1jqp6 (Trust the Plan Podcast) Facebook: Facebook.com/PeakWealthManagement Twitter: Twitter.com/nhopwood1 www.peakwm.com
Nick Hopwood, leads a team of CFPs at Peak Wealth Management. You know it's great to have a team of advisors working together to develop a customized financial plan and investment plan, bc most advisors work as a solo operator. When clients make a change and move from one advisor to another, it often times comes down to communication. In times like these, with 5% swings in the markets, are you hearing from your advisor? You can check out the urgent market video update from nick and his team at youtube.com/peakwealthmgmt. IF YOU ARE QUESTIONING YOUR ADVISOR RIGHT NOW, REACH OUT TO NICK AT PEAKWM.COM/GRUBER FOR A SECOND OPINION
2 hour and 14 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. Men's Basketball Transfer Portal Starts at 1:00 Yaxel Lendeborg sounds Belgian but isn't, this starts out as a World War I podcast. Cadeau is a former five star who started for UNC, he has a Xavier Simpson assist rate but is not the most productive shooter. He also has an elevated turnover rate. Why this move feels like a wash coming from Tre Donaldson. Morez Johnson Jr. fits in well with Cadaeu, also he can thunder dunk the ball into the center of the universe. Illinois' offense would take a slight hit when Johnson is on the floor, but they get a +10 rebound rate with him. His best basket is a dunk. Unfortunately, the day Yaxel Lendeborg committed to Michigan he gave an interview where he said he wants an NBA contract and Michigan is the backup plan. Theoretically he's Danny Wolf but mean. Michigan needs a backup center but is otherwise in good shape. All signs point towards Nimari Burnett coming back. Brian is mad that Duke went 20 minutes without a turnover. We discuss Michigan's projected seed with the Yaxel situation and without the Yaxel situation. 2. Hot Takes and The State of College Athletics Starts at 42:40 Takes hotter than the best night club in Yaxel Lendeborg, Belgium. The state of things seem a bit perilous. Tre Donaldson hit the transfer portal with a broken heart emoji, what happened? It sucks that you don't really get to know players for multiple years up until their graduation. Part of the joy of college sports is watching players step up that you didn't expect to step up. The Big Ten needs an angry coach now that Fran is gone and Mick Cronin will step up. They should give schools incentives for keeping/graduating their players. The 1-4 seeds are all getting better and fans might get frustrated that more upsets don't happen. People want the chaos. Even Michael Jordan played three years in college, imagine if all the best players did that. This doesn't effect football quite as much. Fans and coaches all want roster continuity. Dusty May seems relatively well-positioned to maintain a lot of players. 3. Spring Football Bits Starts at 1:19:47 Spring Football is still happening. Updates on the offensive line, Evan Link has turned a corner after the Ohio State game. Crippen will be just fine at center. Andrew Babaloa won't be ready because he's a freshman and that's okay. Donaven McCulley is the real deal at wide receiver and everyone else is competing for the remaining spots. The running backs are good. The defensive line is not replacing Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant but it has depth. Are the redshirt freshman defensive ends turning the corner? It's being said that they are. Safety updates, with and without Rod Moore. They'll probably look for a punter in the portal. 4. Michigan Hockey Updates Starts at 1:55:27 Who hit the portal and what impact does that have? Michigan needs to get high-end defensive players. Does Gavin McKenna come to Michigan? He could be the number one overall pick. Why is Cameron Korpi in the portal? Is Michigan trying to get a CHL goalie? Or other CHL players? The CHL isn't happy about NIL. MUSIC: "Consideration"—Rihanna ft. SZA "I'm Allowed"—Buffalo Tom "When I Get There"—Grady Strange “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
On the Trust the Plan Podcast, Nick Hopwood, CFP® and Preston Gee, CFP® dive deep into the concept of market corrections and what investors can expect moving forward in the current state of the U.S. market. They discuss how a correction—defined as a 10% drop from recent highs—can offer both risks and opportunities. By analyzing historic market charts, they explain the patterns of past corrections, and emphasize that while corrections are a natural part of market cycles, they often pave the way for future growth. The duo discusses how investors can navigate these times by staying disciplined, managing risk, and looking for opportunities when the market stabilizes. — Peak Wealth Management is a financial planning and wealth management firm in Plymouth, MI. We believe by providing education and guidance, we inspire our clients to make great decisions so they can Retire With Peace of Mind. Stay Connected With Us: Podbean: findingtruewealth.podbean.com YouTube: / @peakwealthmgmt Apple: rb.gy/1jqp6 (Trust the Plan Podcast) Facebook: Facebook.com/PeakWealthManagement Twitter: Twitter.com/nhopwood1 www.peakwm.com
1 hour and 46 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. Men's Basketball vs Auburn - Sweet Sixteen Starts at 1:00 It's times like this that make you think of Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem Ozymandias which has a passage about "when you're leading by 9 points with 12 minutes left don't give up a 20-2 run". Michigan made Auburn as dumb as Michigan for a half and then Auburn remembered they were the #1 overall seed. Michigan gives up 1.04 ppp overall. Turnovers were tied but Michigan was obliterated on rebounds. The season-long issues with the front court came to light in this game. This ended up being what you would expect in a game of Michigan vs Super Michigan. We'll miss Vlad Goldin, Craig has some nits to pick. 2. Looking Back on the Season Starts at 21:51 Dusty May comes into a roster with Will Tschetter and Nimari Burnett, most of his FAU squad doesn't follow him (besides Vlad Goldin). But he assembles this motley crew of a team. The question coming in was "can he assemble a good roster or did he just have one good recruiting class?" Turns out he can assemble a good roster. Brian hoped this could be a 6-seed coming into the season and people thought this was crazy. They probably should've been higher than a 5-seed. This season earns an A for exceeding all expectations, not an A+ but an A. Dusty May was the better choice over Niko Medved. 3. Hot Takes and Looking Forward to Next Season Starts at 42:43 Takes hotter than whatever Craig is about to say. Michigan loses Rubin Jones, Jace Howard, Vlad Goldin, Justin Pippen, and probably Danny Wolf, You now have a roster cap of 15, they can be scholarship or not. They'll be looking for centers in the portal. Get ready for an L.J. Cason glow up. Looking ahead to Trey McKenney as a freshman. If Sam Walters was going to hit the portal, wouldn't he have done it by now? There appear to be a lot of high quality centers in the portal. Transfer portal targets, Brian wants Magoon Gwath. What's the ceiling for next year? They'll finally have some continuity on the roster. Just find a guy who's 7 feet tall and put him on the roster. 4. Michigan Football Spring Practice and Hockey Starts at 1:26:08 The only QBs available are Bryce Underwood and Jadyn Davis, Mikey Keene is injured. Otherwise we're not hearing much of anything. Shamari Earls is supposedly turning out and is Charles Woodson sized. There will not be Jeremy Clark slander. Michigan hockey had a disappointing end to the season, how will they bounce back? How much will Michigan pay for hockey after football and basketball? What does the rest of the Big Ten look like? MUSIC: "Cradle The Pain"—Morgan Nagler "Back to Earth"—Manplanet "I Wish"—Skee-Lo “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
Nick Hopwood, CFP® and Preston Gee, CFP®, hosts of the Trust the Plan Podcast, discuss a tax planning case study focused on achieving early retirement outside of traditional retirement accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs. They emphasized that a key strategy for early retirement is having access to funds without needing to tap into retirement accounts, which often come with penalties for early withdrawal. By effectively managing taxes and diversifying income streams, individuals can set themselves up for financial independence much earlier than traditional retirement planning might allow. This approach focuses on smart tax strategies, investments, and withdrawal planning to create more flexible financial freedom. — Peak Wealth Management is a financial planning and wealth management firm in Plymouth, MI. We believe by providing education and guidance, we inspire our clients to make great decisions so they can Retire With Peace of Mind. Stay Connected With Us: Podbean: findingtruewealth.podbean.com YouTube: / @peakwealthmgmt Apple: rb.gy/1jqp6 (Trust the Plan Podcast) Facebook: Facebook.com/PeakWealthManagement Twitter: Twitter.com/nhopwood1 www.peakwm.com
1 hour and 34 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. Sweet Sixteen Vibes Starts at 1:00 Oh hey! We didn't expect to be here! Roddy Gayle just made more threes in one game than during Michigan's entire Big Ten schedule. He has risen from the dead and Michigan out-rebounded the best rebounding team in the country so here we are! Michigan got hosed by the selection committee but made it to the 2nd weekend anyways. Brian 'Roddy Gayles' the sponsor read. Going into next year, Dusty May needs a center and a backup center but should otherwise be set. 2. Men's Basketball vs Texas A&M Starts at 15:26 Nobody expected this game to go the way it did. Michigan started 1-7 on threes and then started hitting a lot of great shots against a top 10 defense. Michigan got a lot of un-contested rebounds which was weird considering that's Texas A&M's thing. Goldin was probably getting more tired than usual, he got pulled early. L.J. Cason was a game-changer in this one, he could be special next year. Why did Nimari only have 13 minutes? All of Goldin's energy went towards rebounding, his performance would've been very memorable if it wasn't eclipsed by Gayle. Just don't pass to Patrick. 3. Hot Takes and Men's Basketball vs UC San Diego Starts at 37:20 Takes hotter than RODDY GAYLE. UC San Diego is such a weird team. Brian still can't pronounce their star's first name who fouled out in 25 minutes. Michigan should've had the bigs dunk at the rim but UCSD defended them well. Roddy Gaye and L.J. Cason played important roles, not quite as big as in the TAMU game. Michigan's shot parity is only -2 which is good enough. If Wolf played better then maybe Michigan walks away from this one. They hit the Kenpom spread exactly. How well will we remember this game years from now? 4. Previewing Men's Basketball vs Auburn Starts at 1:01:34 Michigan has drawn the #1 overall seed in the tournament. Auburn's greatest strength is shot making and are the 2nd best offense in the country (1st is Florida). They have some super seniors from the Covid year. Auburn has a similar Bigs setup to Michigan so they can handle Goldin+Wolf. One of their biggest weaknesses is that they foul a lot. Personnel wise, these teams are very similar and both coaches will likely match each other. Jahki Howard might be the worst teammate in the country. Auburn will want revenge against Danny Wolf after last year's Yale game. Everyone was watching the Michigan game on Thursday since most of the first round games were uneventful. This Auburn offense is 8 efficiency points better than the 2013 Michigan offense. MUSIC: "Where Do We Go From Here"—Charles Bradley "Monstera Escalito"—Ciao Ciao Marigold "What do You Like"—Tommy Richman “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
1 hour and 28 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. The NCAA Tournament and UC San Diego Starts at 1:00 Michigan is your Big Ten Tournament champions! There was a lot of doom and gloom at the end of the regular season so not many people saw this happening. Michigan might be the most boned team in the tournament draw. Wisconsin is an 18 point favorite against Montana, Michigan is a 3 point favorite over UC San Diego. UCSD is clearly a top 50 team but they can't match up with Michigan's Bigs. Get familiar with the name Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones (in pronunciation and basketball production). The Tritons give up a ton of threes. Yale is a popular upset pick over Texas A&M, TAMU's thing is missing shots but rebounding them. Who would you rather play, TAMU or Yale? That's a tougher question than it would seem. Clearly the results of the Big Ten Tournament don't matter because Michigan is seeded like it didn't happen. [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP] 2. Men's Basketball vs Wisconsin Starts at 32:43 The shooting percentages in this game were... ugly. Wisconsin had good looks but just couldn't hit them. Goldin seemed absolutely gassed this game. L.J. Cason really helped bail out Michigan. Michigan only had eight turnovers! But missed on the boards. 3. Hot Takes and Men's Basketball vs Maryland Starts at 49:43 Takes hotter than your Big Ten Champion Michigan Wolverine Football Basketball team. This is one of the worst officiating games we can remember. Roddy Gayle had a great game... and MADE A THREE. He only had nine points but that level of production is what Michigan needs. The final play was a football play in its design. 4. Men's Basketball vs Purdue Starts at 1:14:01 A nice bounce back game that happens from taking care of the ball. Why does everyone want to kick Goldin in the nuts? Purdue gets more goonish when they're tired and they were coming off a tough game against USC. Michigan wasn't turning the ball over and was assisting well for each other, this was the Dusty May team we love to see. Michigan gets the night game on Thursday and will be played at 5,280 feet. Please fly over right now and get acclimated, you're invited to sleep on my couch (IT'S A NICE COUCH, SETH). It may be a 50/50 chance we preview Auburn next week. MUSIC: "Take This Job And Shove It"—Johnny Paycheck "F*ck You"—CeeLo Green "MUTT"—Leon Thomas “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
In this episode of Trust the Plan, Peak Wealth's Nick Hopwood, CFP® and Jim Pilat, CFP® dive into the growing TikTok debate surrounding 401(k) plans. TikTok critics argue that 401(k)s aren't a reliable retirement strategy, citing concerns over fees, market volatility, and limited flexibility. Nick and Jim take on these claims head-on, sharing their expert insights on why 401(k)s remain a valuable tool for long-term retirement planning. They highlight the benefits of tax advantages, employer matches, and disciplined saving, explaining why 401(k)s can still play a crucial role in building a secure financial future. — Peak Wealth Management is a financial planning and wealth management firm in Plymouth, MI. We believe by providing education and guidance, we inspire our clients to make great decisions so they can Retire With Peace of Mind. Stay Connected With Us: Podbean: findingtruewealth.podbean.com YouTube: / @peakwealthmgmt Apple: rb.gy/1jqp6 (Trust the Plan Podcast) Facebook: Facebook.com/PeakWealthManagement Twitter: Twitter.com/nhopwood1 www.peakwm.com
Sklars performing at Mark Ridley's in Royal Oak this Thursday at 7:30PM (doors open at 6:30) tickets: Supersklars.com We will be there having drinks with copies of VICTORS to sign after the show. If you can't make a weeknight they're performing 2 shows on Friday and Saturday night. 1 hour and 10 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. Men's Basketball at Michigan State Starts at 1:00 We still have to do a podcast. Dave went to go enjoy the weather instead. This game was over in the first half. 3/24 on threes is not good! Last year's team would've given up at halftime, this team at least fought back a little. What has this team improved upon since their trip to California? Michigan doesn't have a guard that can generate offense. We thought a lot of these transfers would've turned a corner by now. This team still exceeded expectations for the season, the way they got there was just not how we expected. There's the potential for Michigan to not win another game this season. 2. Men's Basketball vs Maryland Starts at 21:11 This game was similar to the Michigan State game in that Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin were the only ones scoring. Maryland got to play a Maryland game and Michigan didn't have a plan. 3. Lukewarm Takes and Hockey vs Penn State Starts at 32:11 Just some lukewarm takes this week. Go see the Sklars in Ann Arbor this Thursday-Saturday! Hockey is now just 42% to make the tournament after getting swept by Penn State. Root for Western Michigan, Denver, and Quinnipiac. Friday's game was pretty fun at least! Despite giving up bad goals. It didn't feel like a super talented roster. Imagine if Michigan got goalie Trey Augustine instead of Michigan State. Goal-tending was unclear going into the season and seems like it will continue to be unclear. 4. Football Spring Practice Starts at 57:47 Spring practice starts soon! Is Bryce Underwood already the guy? Running backs have a top two, it's a battle for #3. Will the offensive line look similar to last year? There are some lower level transfers coming in but offensive linemen can flourish in the right system. Please hype up a wide receiver. Hopefully the two transfer defensive tackles come through. They'll be fine but it's still a huge downgrade. Cornerback will be an interesting position, we want to hear that Jyaire Hill is rounding the corner. How is Rod Moore's health? Who's the punter?? MUSIC: "Lie In The Gutter"—Peel Dream Magazine "Dollar Store"—Ben Kellar ft. Waxahatchee "Mr. Chill"—Friendship “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
On the Trust the Plan Podcast, Nick Hopwood, CFP® and Jim Pilat, CFP® of Peak Wealth Management delve into the current economic landscape, discussing crucial topics like tariffs and inflation. Their conversation provides insightful perspectives on how these factors are influencing the market today. They explore how tariffs, especially with global trade tensions, are impacting prices and supply chains, while also analyzing the broader implications of inflation on investments and consumer behavior. This discussion is timely, offering listeners a chance to connect economic theory to real-world market trends. — Peak Wealth Management is a financial planning and wealth management firm in Plymouth, MI. We believe by providing education and guidance, we inspire our clients to make great decisions so they can Retire With Peace of Mind. Stay Connected With Us: Podbean: findingtruewealth.podbean.com YouTube: / @peakwealthmgmt Apple: rb.gy/1jqp6 (Trust the Plan Podcast) Facebook: Facebook.com/PeakWealthManagement Twitter: Twitter.com/nhopwood1 www.peakwm.com
GoFundMes to support victims of the fires in LA who are part of the MGoBlog community: General Fund. Reader's mother-in-law Anne Cohen. Reader Chef Robert. Reader Josh Bishop-Moser. Reader Mike on behalf of Mika Yoshitake & daughter Sora. Readers Liberty and Mark. 1 hour and 21 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. Men's Basketball vs Illinois Starts at 1:00 Michigan was asking for a game like this after the last couple months, you can't give up 19 offensive rebounds in a game and expect to win. Illinois got 9 more shots than Michigan and their young guys went off. Vlad Goldin was the only one who was getting an advantage. Danny Wolf is officially in a funk, this likely doesn't affect his draft stock. Michigan might be a popular pick to get upset in the first round of the tournament. They're fading down the stretch and not getting better in a lot of departments, especially rebounding. [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP] 2. Men's Basketball vs Michigan State Starts at 23:06 This was a "make your shots" game, Michigan State hit their shots. Also Michigan had an 11 shot deficit. Michigan now has a worse 3-point shooting percentage than Michigan State. Roddy Gayle has not hit a three-pointer since January, nobody is covering him anymore and that extra player is guarding the paint. Tre Donaldson might've had his worst game. 3. Hot Takes and Men's Basketball vs Rutgers & Nebraska Starts at 34:06 Takes hotter than yours truly after the 19th Illinois offensive rebound. These two games were polar opposites in what basketball is. Michigan had poor shooting and looked tired after the Michigan State game. The three-point shooting has come down tremendously. Seth thinks the worse three point shooting is mostly random except for Roddy Gayle, opposing defenses can always plan for Roddy not being able to shoot. For one half, Rutgers was the greatest basketball team in the world, then it came crashing back to Earth. Is it time for L.J. Cason to play more? Sometimes he looks great and sometimes he doesn't box out at all. Vlad Goldin is just not a passer in the paint. Who would you take for free throws to win the game, Roddy Gayle or Nimari Burnett? 4. Hockey vs Ohio State Starts at 1:10:08 Michigan steals four points from Ohio State and has their tournament percentage up to 85%. Michigan hosts Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament but Penn State is playing very hot at the end of this season. The "It gets worse" call is now legendary. Win this upcoming series and you're in, get swept and... you might still be in. MUSIC: "You Don't Know The Shape I'm In"—MJ Lenderman "Loser"—Jerry Garcia "Whip Appeal"—Babyface “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
In a discussion sparked by a Wall Street Journal article titled "The U.S. Economy Depends More Than Ever on Rich People", Nick Hopwood, CFP® and Jim Pilat, CFP® delve into the crucial role of consumer spending in driving economic growth. They emphasize how, despite challenges in other sectors, the wealthiest individuals are responsible for a significant portion of spending in the U.S. economy. This group's purchasing power, from luxury goods to high-end services, has become a critical engine for sustaining economic momentum, as their expenditures contribute disproportionately to overall demand, helping to prop up the broader economy. – Peak Wealth Management is a financial planning and wealth management firm in Plymouth, MI. We believe by providing education and guidance, we inspire our clients to make great decisions so they can Retire With Peace of Mind. Stay Connected With Us: Podbean: findingtruewealth.podbean.com YouTube: / @peakwealthmgmt Apple: rb.gy/1jqp6 (Trust the Plan Podcast) Facebook: Facebook.com/PeakWealthManagement Twitter: Twitter.com/nhopwood1 www.peakwm.com
Nick Hopwood, CFP® and Jim Pilat, CFP®, hosts of the Trust the Plan Podcast, discussed the intersection of Big Ten basketball, focusing on Michigan and Michigan State, while also diving into an important financial topic—1031 exchanges. Nick, with his extensive experience in real estate, shared firsthand insights into how clients often come to him seeking advice after selling property and wanting to avoid paying taxes on the gain. They explored the possibilities within the 1031 exchange framework, explaining how this rule allows investors to defer taxes by reinvesting in similar property. Their conversation provided valuable guidance for those navigating the complexities of real estate investments. — Peak Wealth Management is a financial planning and wealth management firm in Plymouth, MI. We believe by providing education and guidance, we inspire our clients to make great decisions so they can Retire With Peace of Mind. Stay Connected With Us: Podbean: findingtruewealth.podbean.com YouTube: / @peakwealthmgmt Apple: rb.gy/1jqp6 (Trust the Plan Podcast) Facebook: Facebook.com/PeakWealthManagement Twitter: Twitter.com/nhopwood1 www.peakwm.com
GoFundMes to support victims of the fires in LA who are part of the MGoBlog community: General Fund. Reader's mother-in-law Anne Cohen. Reader Chef Robert. Reader Josh Bishop-Moser. Reader Mike on behalf of Mika Yoshitake & daughter Sora. Readers Liberty and Mark. 1 hour and 42 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. Men's Basketball at Ohio State Starts at 1:00 Bienvenue! Recorded remotely this week because Seth's 19 year old ski boots exploded. Michigan wins a defense-optional shootout, they rebounded half their misses which ended up being the difference (Ohio State just couldn't out-rebound Goldin and Wolf). There's a big difference between Goldin being the role guy and Tschetter being the role guy, so why did Goldin only get 24 minutes? Officiating in this game and how it relates to the Bo Ryan era. Don't elbow someone in the head but also don't put your head into someone's elbow. Roddy Gayle returns to Columbus and silences the boos out of timeouts. Stop missing dunks. Neither team got a double digit lead, the game was tense the whole time. [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP] 2. Men's Basketball vs Purdue Starts at 24:50 Michigan avenges a terrible loss to become co-favorites to win the Big Ten. Braden Smith plays an insane 12 minutes to open the game for Purdue, making the first half extra frustrating. His mid-range shots weren't even bad shots, necessarily. Rubin Jones and Roddy Gayle combined for 20 points and played excellent, annoying defense. They came through in a way that was required to win this game. Michigan shoots below their season 3-point average but only had 11 turnovers. They also got to the line a lot (off of some calls that weren't great). Caleb Furst should've fouled out in the first six minutes! The physicality of the Big Ten is more than Dusty May realized. Purdue had zero bench points. 3. Hot Takes and Hockey vs Minnesota Starts at 49:12 Takes hotter than Michigan basketball in a three point game. Michigan gets slightly more than a split against Minnesota which decently increases their NCAA tournament chances. A split with Ohio State and a first round win in the Big Ten Tournament should do it. Minnesota was out-shooting Michigan 12-2 to start the game on Saturday, not great! Welcome back, Michael Hage. Tyler Duke played a nice game when everyone else was gassed. Bye week upcoming so we won't know much about tournament chances for a while. 4. Tournament Outlooks Starts at 1:16:40 Men's basketball is now projected to win the Big Ten but Wisconsin is looming with the easier schedule. Purdue and Michigan State both finish with a gauntlet. Of Michigan's last six games, four or five of them will be against tournament teams. Finishing 3-3 could maybe be enough to win a share of the Big Ten and get a banner. It's been a while since it's come down to Michigan and Michigan State down the stretch. Torvik has Michigan jumping between 3 and 4 seeds, which takes win margin into account. Hockey is projected to play Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. They're now 80% to make the NCAA tournament but everyone ahead of them in the Pairwise rankings is pretty much a lock. The worst tournament in sports is suddenly in Michigan's favor! There's a regional in Toledo but Michigan probably doesn't go there. Shout out to Hockey Bear. MUSIC: "Real Life"—The Marias "MUTT"—Leon Thomas "THE BADDEST"—Joey Valence and Brae “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
On the Trust the Plan Podcast, Jim Pilat, CFP® and Preston Gee, CFP® discuss the concept of "money dysmorphia," a psychological phenomenon where people perceive themselves as having more financial stability or wealth than they actually do. They explained how this distorted view can lead to poor decision-making and unhealthy financial habits, as people might feel financially secure when, in reality, they're not. They emphasized that our feelings about money and finances often don't reflect the true reality of our situation, pointing out that our perceptions can be misleading and cause unnecessary stress or overconfidence. It's a reminder to develop a clear, honest understanding of our finances rather than relying on a skewed sense of security. — Peak Wealth Management is a financial planning and wealth management firm in Plymouth, MI. We believe by providing education and guidance, we inspire our clients to make great decisions so they can Retire With Peace of Mind. Stay Connected With Us: Podbean: findingtruewealth.podbean.com YouTube: / @peakwealthmgmt Apple: rb.gy/1jqp6 (Trust the Plan Podcast) Facebook: Facebook.com/PeakWealthManagement Twitter: Twitter.com/nhopwood1 www.peakwm.com
Nick Hopwood, Certified Financial Planner, known as Mr Roth in some circles, leads the team of CFP's at Peak Wealth Management. If you are frustrated with your current advisor, consider a second opinion. Visit peakwm.com/gruber & get a free roth conversion analysis!
On the latest episode of the Trust the Plan Podcast, Jim Pilat, CFP® and Preston Gee, CFP® discuss several hot-button topics, including their Super Bowl predictions (listen to see if they predicted correctly). The duo goes on to examine the stock market's performance over time, exploring key events since the 1900s. By analyzing historical data and trends, they assess how the market responded to major events and how current shifts in the economy might influence future stock behavior. — Peak Wealth Management is a financial planning and wealth management firm in Plymouth, MI. We believe by providing education and guidance, we inspire our clients to make great decisions so they can Retire With Peace of Mind. Stay Connected With Us: Podbean: findingtruewealth.podbean.com YouTube: / @peakwealthmgmt Apple: rb.gy/1jqp6 (Trust the Plan Podcast) Facebook: Facebook.com/PeakWealthManagement Twitter: Twitter.com/nhopwood1 www.peakwm.com
GoFundMes to support victims of the fires in LA who are part of the MGoBlog community: General Fund. Reader's mother-in-law Anne Cohen. Reader Chef Robert. Reader Josh Bishop-Moser. Reader Mike on behalf of Mika Yoshitake & daughter Sora. Readers Liberty and Mark. 1 hour and 28 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. Dusty May Talk Starts at 1:00 Welcome to the Plodcast. This game had the awkward undertones of Mike Woodson getting "fired" and Indiana wanting to hire Dusty May. What's a better job, Indiana or Michigan? Indiana is home for Dusty but there's also a lot of pressure there. If Michigan needed the money to match, they could get it. He did turn down the Louisville job so maybe the biggest thing that would bring Dusty May back to Indiana is that his mom still lives in Bloomington. [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP] 2. Men's Basketball vs Indiana Starts at 22:30 Once again it is the story of the season where Michigan gets a big lead and then suddenly looks like they forgot how to play basketball. Kenpom said Michigan would win by four so maybe we're overexaggerating. They've gone from a top 10 team to a top 25 team, so a 5-6 seed in the tournament. The turnover margin between the most turnovers and the fewest in the Big Ten is only four turnovers. Three point shooting was extremely frustrating. Gayle is driving to the basketball when he should be shooting a 3. Screwing up the foul on Goldin really hurt Michigan. Nimari Burnett's shooting percentages have simply fallen back down to earth. 3. Hot Takes and Men's Basketball vs Oregon Starts at 41:22 Takes hotter than the Indiana fanbase when Dusty May spikes a three hundred million dollar offer in their faces and says "I'm a Michigan man forever, babyyyy". Another game where Michigan had a double digit lead that they almost blew! Roddy Gayle got to the line a lot but also traveled enough that John Beilein would've ripped his esophagus out. Will Tschetter had a nice game and led the team in scoring. The bench players aren't quite ready and that's okay. Is Supreme Cook the best version of Brian? 4. Michigan Hockey vs Michigan State Starts at 1:13:28 Michigan picks up a split against the #2 team in Pairwise, getting one win was the best possible scenario. Both games were about the same but Michigan State actually scored in the second game. Michigan is a team of just guys. Nobody really pops besides Hage. The WWE aspect of these games in the 3rd period against Michigan State has become a bit much. Michigan has a 70% projected chance of making the field, which feels great right now. Is the most boring Michigan hockey team in memory? This isn't a bad team, they're just not the team last year that booted Michigan State out of the tournament. Pre-season expectation was to hopefully make the tournament and that hasn't changed. MUSIC: "Aston Martin Music"—Rick Ross "Waiting For The Bells"—Joel Alme "Vines"—Cameron Winter “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
GoFundMes to support victims of the fires in LA who are part of the MGoBlog community: General Fund. Reader's mother-in-law Anne Cohen. Reader Chef Robert. Reader Josh Bishop-Moser. Reader Mike on behalf of Mika Yoshitake & daughter Sora. Readers Liberty and Mark. 1 hour and 9 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. Men's Basketball vs Rutgers Starts at 1:00 Brian returns after a week (or two) of trying not to die ala ice and norovirus. The Rutgers game was a weird game of two offensive-oriented teams not scoring much. Rutgers has 15 more shots than Michigan and still loses due to poor shooting. Michigan did a great job defending Ace Bailey. Rubin Jones made a two! Rutgers likely won't make the tournament but this was still a solid road win. Tre Donaldson is averaging 1.7 fouls per game, can't just pull him with two fouls. Things feel bad but Michigan has a tournament bid pretty much locked up if they stay the course. 2. Men's Basketball vs Penn State and Purdue Starts at 21:34 Penn State is the most Clingon team in college basketball. Tre Donaldson was the hero with 21 points, also the Vlad Goldin "empty tubes" game. Only nine turnovers was a great improvement against a team that forces a bunch of turnovers. Speaking of poop, the Purdue game! This was not a game from the start. Michigan can't handle Purdue's pace and then the second half is just coasting home for both teams. Every Michigan coach has to get their head caved in by Painter once. It was discombobulating to see Michigan so discombobulated. The final stretch of this schedule is a gauntlet, they're all quad 1 games (besides maybe Rutgers). If Michigan finishes .500 they'll be fine. 3. Football Stuff Starts at 41:23 Ross Dellenger got a leak of a portion of Michigan's NCAA response. Michigan is taking the route that the allegations are unsupported and should be level 2 allegations. In the past they've laid down and taken it for allegations. All the released texts about Connor Stalions within the program almost sound like they're annoyed with him. The portal has been pretty quiet recently, this might be it for the incoming wide receivers. All signs point towards Ty Haywood coming to Michigan. The NIL values you see are probably made up. 4. Michigan Hockey vs Penn State Starts at 56:09 Michigan is down to 14th in Pairwise and on the bubble. The remaining games are the hardest part of the schedule so they need to go at least 3-3 to try and get into the tournament. This is such a frustrating team to watch. In some years, the Michigan defense can do spectacular things while making mistakes, this year they just make mistakes. They're running out of time to figure stuff out. MUSIC: "Alaska"—Maggie Rogers "Help Me"—Joni Mitchell "Don't Dream It's Over"—Crowded House “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
Nick Hopwood leads his team of certified financial planners at Peak Wealth Management and loves to give second opinions to folks who aren't feeling the love from their existing financial advisor. You can learn more about Nick's team at peakwm.com/gruber Get your free roth conversion analysis
In this episode of the Trust the Plan Podcast, Preston Gee, CFP® sits down with Nick Hopwood, CFP® to discuss his financial plan for 2025, reflecting on the lessons he's learned from the challenges and successes of 2024. Preston opens up about how his approach to investing, budgeting, and wealth-building has evolved over the past year, highlighting key adjustments he's making to better navigate the shifting economic landscape. With a focus on adapting to both market uncertainties and personal growth, Preston shares actionable insights on how he plans to stay ahead in 2025, while avoiding the pitfalls that held back some investors in 2024. — Peak Wealth Management is a financial planning and wealth management firm in Plymouth, MI. We believe by providing education and guidance, we inspire our clients to make great decisions so they can Retire With Peace of Mind. Stay Connected With Us: Podbean: findingtruewealth.podbean.com YouTube: / @peakwealthmgmt Apple: rb.gy/1jqp6 (Trust the Plan Podcast) Facebook: Facebook.com/PeakWealthManagement Twitter: Twitter.com/nhopwood1 www.peakwm.com
GoFundMes to support victims of the fires in LA: https://gofund.me/79ecde48h https://www.gofundme.com/f/ysggb https://gofund.me/79ecde48 https://www.gofundme.com/f/liberty-mark-need-our-help?attribution_id=sl:bdeebeeb-00cf-4385-9fae-567d43bae218&utm_campaign=fp_sharesheet&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link 1 hour and 29 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. Football Portal Starts at 1:00 Find out which MGoPodcaster almost ran over Craig. Michigan picks up UMass wide receiver Anthony Simpson from the portal, hopefully he can be Drew Dileo. They also get Louisiana cornerback Caleb Anderson, he played injured last year so his PFF grades weren't terrific. He's a great tackler. OT Ty Haywood has de-committed from Alabama and was set to visit Michigan over the weekend. Apparently he wanted early play time. Cade McNamara has committed to ETSU. Ohio State and Notre Dame is not a meteor game, the choice here is obvious! 2. Men's Basketball vs Minnesota Starts at 17:47 Lack of toughness was not the issue! Minnesota hit 50% from mid-range which was the difference between OT and a Michigan win, they usually don't make these shots. The Gophers also changed their lineup quite significantly. Nimari Burnett was held in check (and was in foul trouble), Roddy Gayle was having an off game as well. Giving up 71 points in regulation to Minnesota is concerning. Need Will Tschetter to be able to put up 6-8 points per game. 3. Hot Takes and Hockey vs Michigan State Starts at 37:22 Considering Michigan State is currently #1 in the country, getting some points over the weekend is nice. Michigan is giving up a lot of goals in the five-hole. They were was able to hang with #1 MSU but there is a skill gap, Michigan doesn't have a dynamic skater and is playing a lot of freshmen. There were three penalties in Yost on Friday and 21(!) in Munn on Saturday. TJ Hughes has 10 points in six games, How should Michigan approach player development moving forward? Need to win three of the next four. 4. Men's Basketball vs Northwestern Starts at 1:05:35 Attending this game in person was torture because you can't even see what they're reviewing. Can't have your foot too close to the jingle jangles. Goldin is 9 of 16 on threes! He needs to wear a cup or something. Is this Michigan's first game this season where they had fewer turnovers than the opposition? The offense needs to diversify because opposing defenses are collapsing on the center and Wolf has been having issues. Is Tre Donaldson or Roddy Gayle the answer? Gotta respect Chris Collins for having a competitive team every year. Purdue is smaller than we're used to seeing but playing them at Mackey is a tall order. MUSIC: "Trouble"—Father John Misty "Never Ending Math Equation"—Sun Kil Moon "One Of These Days"—Michigander “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
In this feel-good edition of the Trust the Plan Podcast, hosts Nick Hopwood, CFP® and Jim Pilat, CFP® come together for their highly anticipated annual episode, offering an in-depth look at their personal financial family plans for 2025. Nick dives into the strategies and goals he's crafted to secure his family's financial future in the coming year, while Jim shares his own unique approach to financial planning, offering valuable insights for listeners. With a focus on long-term stability, family values, and actionable steps, this joint episode serves as both inspiration and a roadmap for families looking to build a secure and prosperous 2025. — Peak Wealth Management is a financial planning and wealth management firm in Plymouth, MI. We believe by providing education and guidance, we inspire our clients to make great decisions so they can Retire With Peace of Mind. Stay Connected With Us: Podbean: findingtruewealth.podbean.com YouTube: / @peakwealthmgmt Apple: rb.gy/1jqp6 (Trust the Plan Podcast) Facebook: Facebook.com/PeakWealthManagement Twitter: Twitter.com/nhopwood1 www.peakwm.com
1 hour and 32 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. Football Transfer Portal Starts at 1:00 Wwwwwwelcome! To one of the internet's college football podcasts. We can't wait to talk about Mick Cronin. The defensive front seven looks pretty set for next year, now just need a cornerback (which happened after recording). OL Lawrence Hattar transfers in from Ferris State, he will likely move to guard. Still need a tackle but most plug and play guys are off the board. Everyone is nervous about wide receiver, this is problematic because Chip Lindsey wants a balanced attack. They might have to overpay for a receiver at some point. Michigan is good at tight end (unless it's one that looks like a wide receiver). WE HAVE A LONG SNAPPER. [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP] 2. Men's Basketball vs UCLA Starts at 26:22 The win over UCLA is probably not going to look as good by the end of the year. Michigan had an 18 point lead, then was down by 5, then wins by 19 (something similar may have happened under Juwan Howard?). Tre Donaldson has not had to put the team on his back until now. Which Michigan team was the best shooting team? This team is up there. Nimari Burnett has finally found his place. Vlad Goldin with 36 points, and now he's a shooter! Michigan is currently favored in all but two of their remaining games. 3. Hot Takes and Men's Basketball vs Washington Starts at 54:28 Takes hotter than Mick Cronin when somebody did something wrong that's not him. Michigan's bigs get into foul trouble early but collectively pick up one foul in the 2nd half. It was a parade to the basket. Great Osobor is tough to cover for anyone who isn't Goldin. How worried should we be about free throw shooting? Michigan matched their missed two pointers with their offensive rebounds! Michigan's turnover rating on Kenpom is out of the deep blood red (it's still red, just not the worst red). They're the best offense in the country if they can just stop turning the ball over. 4. Hockey vs Notre Dame Starts at 1:19:09 The hope for this team at this point is just to make the tournament. This has been a very good defensive team, giving up three goals in 32 seconds is nearly impossible. Michigan doesn't have top-end talent and especially doesn't have back-end talent. The Big Ten is a tough conference, need to scrap for points where you can. Michigan State got really good really fast. MUSIC: "Can't You Hear Me Knocking"—The Rolling Stones "Unforgettable"—French Montana "Giving Up"—Michigander “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
Nick Hopwood, Certified Financial Planner for the last 25 years. Known is some circles as Mr Roth. Leads the team of CFP's over at Peak Wealth Management. Get your free roth conversion analysis at peakwm.com/gruber.
2 hours and 2 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. Retrospective Vibes Starts at 1:00 The second funniest game of the season, and our lives. After three first quarter turnovers (plus a turnover on downs) it was about to become frustrating if Michigan lost. What was the low point of the season for you? 19 is a fun number for Bryce Underwood. The defensive performance against Alabama is encouraging for next year, which should be set. Still some work to do on offense. Michigan needs to do a better job at developing relationships with guys hitting the portal. [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP] 2. Offense vs Alabama Starts at 23:58 All things considered the offensive line performance was encouraging. Check Sarah Jessica off your bingo card for this podcast again. Jordan Marshall - Blake Corum comparisons are made. PFF said everyone had solid pass protection except Sprague, but Sprague had the best run blocking. Where does Frederick Moore fit on the depth chart that would make you comfortable? Ben Hall was okay, he was less patient than Marshall. Davis Warren tore his ACL, if he's back in time for Fall camp would he even be an option? Expect the beginning of next season to have Bryce run packages but not be fully deployed. 3. Hot Takes, Defense, Special Teams, and Game Theory vs Alabama Starts at 54:36 Takes hotter than your 15-2 Detroit Lions. Michigan sacked Jalen Milroe 11 times in the year 2024 (six in the Rose Bowl, five in this bowl). Michigan's ends got in the tackles' heads and the blitzes prevented Milroe from escaping up the middle. Credit Wink Martindale for understanding how to coach college kids mid-way through the season. Alabama's run game was relatively non-existent. Bring on analyst Don Brown. Aamir Hall had some Will Johnson-esque plays towards the end of the season. Zvada remains very good. Let's talk about the timeout at the end of the first half. Do you kick that field goal to go up 16-0 or try for a touchdown? Any deviation from 1950s football would've lost this game. 4. Basketball vs USC Starts at 1:34:30 This game was frustrating, sometimes they had it together, then lost it, then fixed it, then didn't. Let's play the game of "did they have more offensive rebounds or misses from two?". Danny Wolf had a superlative game (please don't go to the NFL). The fouling was a bit out of control but that went both ways. Can two teams just agree to fire the refs mid-game and play without them? There are too many Big Ten teams now, we don't want to know about USC. How far do we expect Michigan to go into the tournament now? UCLA forces a lot of turnovers which will be interesting against Michigan. MUSIC: "Can't You Hear Me Knocking"—The Rolling Stones "Unforgettable"—French Montana "Giving Up"—Michigander “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
1 hour and 25 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. Alabama "Preview" Starts at 1:00 Welcome to the utterly meaningless bowl game we are less excited for than any Michigan game before. Now that we're paying the players, shouldn't they be expected to complete the season? Contracts would do that. Is Alabama interested in showing up? They have a few players like Milroe who need to show something. Michigan's offense was bad to begin with so what are they now? Jadyn Davis should play at least. Glorified spring game bits: looking forward to seeing Andrew Sprague, the running backs. [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP] 2. Portal: Offense Starts at 19:59 Mikey Keene is a floor, played with Dillon Gabriel (and Chip Lindsay) at UCF so it's not the first time he's been with a talented dual-threat. Thrown a LOT of passes, can loft one downfield, isn't a run threat, was probably a scramble after Billy Edwards didn't want to compete with Bryce. When do you start Bryce, because Game 2 is in Norman and Game 3 is in Lincoln. They got OL Brady Norton who's an addition to the 2023 class, Donaven McCulley we like as that downfield threat. Wanted to see more WRs and a TE and better luck at OL: Josh Thompson chose LSU. 3. Portal: Defense Starts at 43:50 Hot takes segment has ideas for retaining the Outback Bowl legacy. Damon Payne is a very good pickup even though he's not flashy because DTs are a premium position and he's a decent SEC player. Troy Bowles was in a stacked LB room, comp is Hausmann. Metcalfs played at Chip Lindsay's high school in Pinson, Alabama, TJ is a high floor for the safety position and Tevis is a developmental cornerback. Don't have any glaring needs. Discussion of Barham's move to edge—think it's a Jaylen Harrell position thing in the 5-2, which is more about holding the edge than rushing it. Always get a 5th year cornerback, but they can get that on the cheap later in the process. 4. Basketball vs WKU/PFW and Big Ten Outlook Starts at 1:04:48 After the Oklahoma loss that we're STILL MAD about, the threes are falling, which makes this team utterly terrifying. WKU chose not to defend the perimeter, had a lot of injuries, and PFW was also super small up front so those are not great tests. Good news: Big Ten doesn't have a lot of NBA guards who can tear them up by driving. USC-UCLA road trip next week will be fascinating—USC is a bunch of power forwards even with T-Will out for the season and UCLA is all defense. MUSIC: "Antarctica"—Divorce "Cinderella"—Remi Wolf "Everyday Hustle"—Metro Boomin and Rick Ross “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where we recorded this. 1. Chip Lindsey and Transfer Portal Starts at 1:00 The first half of this podcast is not just talking about how Michigan beat Ohio State 13-10. Imagine your season ending on December 21st in Columbus, Ohio. Mark your calendars for Davis Warren day on October 13th! Chip Lindsey is the new offensive coordinator out of North Carolina. The run game will be the run game, he's going to be the passing game coordinator. We are feeling exactly whelmed about this hire. Donaven McCulley comes in at wide receiver from Indiana, he's a legitimately good Big Ten receiver. Still need at least three more receivers. Billy Edwards comes in from Maryland and the worst offensive line in the country, he's a big guy. On the offensive line they bring in Jordan White from Liberty, need a tackle. It's been frustrating that Michigan hasn't brought in as many new players as we'd like to see. Derrick Moore and TJ Guy are back next year. [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP] 2. Basketball vs Arkansas Starts at 36:36 Arkansas 89, Michigan 87. This basketball game was three different basketball games. Michigan goes from a four point lead to an 18 point deficit once they start turning the ball over in the 2nd half. The boxscore is fun at least. There were some desperation zones. The shot distribution was as good as you could expect. Goldin's usage has finally gone up and Wolf is making the plays he needs to make. Roddy Gayle has been making some bad decisions. Should Michigan slow it down a bit? Are the turnovers mental because they tend to come in bunches? Wolf is the alpha on offense (get it?). The rest of the non-conference should be wins and then they ease back into the Big Ten conference play against USC. 3. Hot Takes and Hockey vs Wisconsin Starts at 1:03:45 Takes hotter than the Heisman voters who got it right for once. Hockey finally scored a goal! And they're still 9th in Pairwise. Take a breath into the break and say "it's fine." Michigan probably isn't winning the Big Ten but they're not bad, they're half of a gritty hockey team. Wisconsin is a good team, they've just been unlucky on their shots this season. Right now Michael Hage is really the only guy driving plays. 3-on-3 overtime needs a shot clock! They're good enough to be a tournament team and the shooting will probably get better. 4. Gimmicky Top Five Starts at 1:30:24 Gimmicky Top Five worst bowl matchups! Marshall entered the transfer portal and opted out of their bowl game and now Louisiana Tech has to face a furious Army team. Seth has real world bowls, Brian has hypotheticals. Don't play BYU in Miami. A bowl game in Middle Earth. PLAY A BOWL IN DUBLIN. MUSIC: "Q4" -- Father John Misty "Love Town" -- The Glands "What's The Rush?" -- Jesse Woods “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
1 hour and 59 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where we recorded this. 1. Michigan Men's Basketball vs Iowa Starts at 1:00 The first half of this game was a battle of mid-range jumpers and not turning the ball over (Iowa) vs going to the rim aggressively but turning the ball over a lot (Michigan). Michigan's amplitude of proficiency changes throughout a game are huge. This team is dead set on not taking mid-range jumpers. Addressing Michigan's rebounding woes. Did they play great against Iowa and Wisconsin? Not really. Are they still 2-0 in the Big Ten, though? Yeah. Danny Wolf turns the ball over too much by throwing the ball too hard. The play of the game played off of the big pick and roll. Michigan vs Iowa is an oddly friendly rivalry. Be careful with playing neutral site games when it comes to NET rankings. [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP] 2. Transfer Portal Needs Starts at 35:24 Michigan needs an offensive coordinator first. Jason Candle (Toledo head coach), Dan Mullen (former Florida head coach), and Joe Craddock (Tulane offensive coordinator) are among the biggest names rumored. Scott Frost mentioned! Michigan needs a quarterback and multiple wide receivers. Running back might be okay? Offensive line is a lot more interesting. Would like to get a defensive tackle since you're not getting either starter back. Linebacker is probably okay. 3. Hot Takes & Transfer Portal Names Starts at 58:13 Takes hotter than the fact that Georgia should not be in the playoff because they don't have their starting quarterback. Miller Moss would be the ideal scenario at QB. There's a case for Billy Edwards out of Maryland! The list falls off pretty quickly after that. Ideally you want someone to start for the year and then Bryce Underwood gets ~100 snaps. Michigan has some connections with Oklahoma Wide Receiver Nic Anderson. Michigan needs to get as many as they can. A biomechanical engineer out of Rice would be nice. There will be some players from playoff teams that hit the portal later. 4. The 2025 Recruiting Class Starts at 1:39:02 Bryce Underwood is not allowed to be the answer to any of these. Favorite guy in the class? Most unlikely to be in this class? Sleeper of the year? Most Important? Michigan is 9th in recruiting but recruiting at the same quality as Ohio State. It revolves around one guy. MUSIC: "It Ain't Easy" -- 2Pac "Vaping In Vegas" -- Wolves of Glendale "Let's Go Back" -- Jungle “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
Thank you to 247's Steve Lorenz for joining us, as always, for a Podcast-length edition of Across the Crooked Blue Line. The Sponsors We want to thank Underground Printing for starting this and making it possible—stop by and pick up some gear, check them out at ugpmichiganapparel.com, or check out our selection of shirts on the MGoBlogStore.com. And let's not forget our associate sponsors: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Champions Circle, Human Element, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Venue by 4M, Winewood Organics, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Royal Oath Insurance Group, Community Pest Solutions, Autograph: Fandom Rewarded, who just launched an app where you earn rewards for things like reading MGoBlog and listening to our podcast, and SignalWire where we are recording this. THE VIDEO: [After THE JUMP: People in yellow puffy jackets.] --------------------- 1. Things We're Watching and Offensive Recruits Starts at the top PEOPLE OF INTEREST: Jayden Sanders will sign tomorrow; that's just when his school does that. Olesh might get caught up in Oregon's big day, since he's their final target. Good that he's held out, Michigan's working the phones. Lean? Who knows. Derek Meadows: sounds like Alabama came in with a bigger NIL offer. Ty Haywood: 5-star, as long as he makes it up to campus we're in good shape. QB BRYCE UNDERWOOD: The cackling segment. Been a five-year recruitment—there was a Bryce Underwood recruitment paragraph on every QB target since Dante Moore was on their radar; shows M is serious. Steve's comp is Trevor Lawrence, but runs like Vince Young. Ivins thinks the distance between #1 overall the the #2 and #3 guys in the class is massive. RB JASPER PARKER: So underrated he can't be called underrated anymore. Not fast but is Hart-But-Big. RB DONOVAN JOHNSON: Freaks list, early 5-star because IMG, big injury drop and other schools dropped out, but made Freaks list after recovery. WR ANDREW MARSH: Elite WR. How? Bellamy did work. Seth comps to Cornelius Johnson, because elite double-moves and intellectual family. WR JACOB WASHINGTON: Never wavered even though big Sr season and had Washington come calling. Bellamy's HS, his HC is still the HC. Adrian Arrington/Marquise Walker tall possession type, but needs a redshirt. WR JAMAR BROWDER: Might be 6'5"—flipped from NC State and big riser, contested baller. NC State thought they had a dude. Common pick for class sleeper. Nico? Nico was a unicorn because of his speed. Bellamy recruiter of the year? West Bloomfield legend, Louisiana legend, and owns North Carolina since brother-in-law Biakabutuka lives out there. FB ELI OWENS: Wants to be Max Bredeson!!!! LT ANDREW BABALOLA: Comps to Stanford guys don't work; Jake Long in that he's a bit raw, basketball, length. OG AVERY GACH: Yay Groves, Yay Seth's Temple. Zinter/Sainristil of the OL who led Groves to the greatest season in school history (along with Barry Sanders's son). Why hasn't been bumped up? Nobody was at his games. C KADEN STRAYHORN: Funniest commit; dad is the color guy on MSU radio, but MSU was out a long time ago, won over OSU. IMG center, might be a little small. 2. Defensive Line and Linebacker Starts at 43:25 DE/DT NATE MARSHALL: Most surprising commit x2. Big win out of Chicago. Steve sees him growing into a DT but has the athleticism to stay outside. WDE JULIUS HOLLY: Injury meant nobody got to see him after a killer start to his Sr year but great measurables, guy Michigan sees as next Dom Nichols. DT BOBBY KANKA: Matt Godin. SDE BENNY PATTERSON: Might be the Wormley of the class. Build-a-bear rose late, should have been a 4-star. Edge for sure. PSU and USC were also trying to flip off senior tape. DT TRAVIS MOTEN: Wrestlers have the stamina as well as the leverage. His Hudl looks like Chris Hinton. Might be 280 already. Seth comp: Rayshaun Benny. MLB NATHANIEL OWUSU-BOATENG: Another early highly ranked IMG kid, injury hid him as a senior, probably much much larger than his listed 6'0"/200. More of a MIKE to Michigan. WLB CHASE TAYLOR: The Sullivan-esque super long athlete, outside linebacker with crazy athleticism and length, finally rose late. 3. Secondary and Class Wrap Starts at 1:00:40 CB JAYDEN SANDERS: Legit 6'3" and long. Ceiling is insane. Amorion Walker but this time he's starting as a CB. Freakish ability to move—if you can play cornerback at that size… CB SHAMARI EARLS: Will Johnson Memorial Hey Elite Cornerbacks Are Good. Sam Webb all over this recruitment. Expect the 5-star cornerback track. ATH ELIJAH DOTSON: Pat Narduzzi complains about Michigan throwing around money. Freaky athlete, late riser, CB-WR-S freaky athlete type. Might be best as a CB (think Jeremy Clark). FS JORDAN YOUNG: Clemson decommit because "their recruiting class wasn't that good." Michigan operating in the real world. Flipped him after we lost Ike Taylor, similar ceiling, similar profile (think Zeke Berry) but he's right that he needs some development. NK KAINOA WINSTON: Reminds Brian of Quinten Johnson. Reminds Seth of Rod Moore and Mike Sainristil in that Winston is a football savant. Also a sprinter. THE CLASS AS IT STANDS: Talent parity with Ohio State! What happens when Michigan isn't disadvantaged by rules they follow and their competition doesn't? Look at 1990s: they had a LOT of talent on those teams. Now they just need to get an OC who isn't going to run 80% of the time when he has Tom Brady. Class put together in adverse circumstances: Yes a natty run but also Will Harbaugh Go to the NFL? Their slow walk to taking NIL seriously. Their rough 2024 before winning The Game. OFFENSE Pos Player State Stars In a nutshell QB Bryce Underwood MI 5.0 Drew Henson 2.0, basically. RB Donovan Johnson GA 4.0⬇⬇ Elite as a Fr, IMG, injured as Jr. RB Jasper Parker LA 3.8⬆ Hart-selected, Alford approved WR Andrew Marsh TX 4.5⬇ Gliding track athlete/deep threat WR Jacob Washington LA 4.0 Parker's teammate. Big & Tall WR Jamar Browder FL 3.6⬆ Giant contested baller. TE Andrew Olesh PA 4.4⬆⬆ #1 target, catchy-blocky, Bama wanted. TE Eli Owens TN 3.7⬇⬇ Blocky FB/TE. OT Andrew Babalola KS 4.8 Elite 1st rnd type but a bit raw too. OG Avery Gach MI 4.1⬆ Smart and nasty Zinterish G. C Kaden Strayhorn MI 3.8 IMG, top C in class, son of MSU radio DEFENSE Pos Player State Stars In a nutshell NT Travis Moten KY 3.5⬆ Wrestling build-a-bear DT Bobby Kanka MI 4.0⬆⬆ Tenacious DT DT/DE Benny Patterson IN 3.6⬆ Build-a-bear flipped from Cincy. SDE Nate Marshall IL 4.6⬆ Elite heavy edge, maybe DT WDE Julius Holly GA 3.9⬇ Solid high-floor pass rusher. MLB Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng MD (IMG) 4.3⬇⬇ Ravens-type, BJM top target all cycle. WLB Chase Taylor GA 3.6 Lanky/speedy underrated athlete Nk Kainoa Winston DC 4.4⬆ Rod Moore-ish Mike Sainristil. S Jordan Young NC 4.3 Zeke Berry-ish burst CB Shamari Earls VA 4.5 Elite tall CB flipped from UGA CB Jayden Sanders TX 3.9⬆ Tall/skinny super athlete ATH Elijah Dotson MI 4.2⬆⬆⬆ Very tall CB/S/WR, Belleville 4. Hoops vs Wisconsin Starts at 1:21:29 What did we learn? We learned WOLF! He wasn't playing like this at Yale—he was a point center but not a point GUARD. Finding that 14-foot pick-and-roll and Wisconsin has no answer. Defense is also this team's calling card, because Wolf can stay in front of a 6'5" guy. Rebounding? Maybe they didn't focus on it because everyone is still playing icebreakers to get to know each other, maybe they didn't practice it because Wisconsin and Gayle used to guard PGs. Songs: “Hi, Hey There, Hello”—The Mowglis "Strawberry Letter23”—The Brothers Johnson “Mr. Fear”—SIAMES Also because Across 110th Street will get our Youtubes taken down, the opener and outro: “The Employee is Not Afraid”—Bear vs. Shark “Ruska Vodka”—Motorboat
3 hours and 9 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where we recorded this. 1. Hahahahahahahaha Starts at 1:00 lol. lmao. An NIL booster in Dayton has no soul because MICHIGAN SUCKED IT OUT OF HIS CHEST. THE PUNTERS MOCKED YOU. There has never been a season like this that we have experienced. This is the most surprising win since we've started watching Michigan football. Ohio State probably wins easily if they just play their game but they played too conservatively. WE IOWA'D THEM. It was a little windy :( Michigan didn't get to knock them out of the playoff but now they have to regroup and win four playoff games instead of three. They should've gotten that QB that went to Syracuse. Ryan Day's insecurities are coming back to haunt him and they snowballed in this game, he's never had to learn how to lose. Ohio State is 10-2 and their fans are miserable. [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP] 2. Defense vs Ohio State Starts at 32:56 Let's all apologize to Wink Martindale. Mason Graham does not play defensive end, so thanks for that. Was all the weird stuff all season a rope-a-dope?? Kenneth Grant had the best game he's ever had in a Michigan uniform. Ohio State's offensive line is one of their biggest issues and they played into Michigan's biggest strength, the defensive line. They didn't run their running quarterback. Quinshon Judkins was supposed to be that guy and Makari Paige cancelled that. Who on Ohio State has dat dawg in them? Ohio State probably could've dumbed down their offense and scored more than 10 points. Rod Moore was still the Sainristil of this defense even though he didn't play. They just didn't call holding in this game. 3. Hot Takes, Offense, Game Theory, and Special Teams Starts at 59:36 Takes hotter than anything Ryan Day sits on. Kalel Mullings had the most hoss-like game since Chris Perry. On 3rd and long they still give it to Kalel even when the percentage of success was low. Michigan's last two drives before the kneel down ate up almost a whole quarter of time. Where will Davis Warren be next year? No matter what, he's entered the lore of Michigan football. Was Michigan playing too safe as a 21 point underdog or was their bag of plays just not that deep? Zvada is the #1 FEI kicker by a billion. Tyler Morris caught the punts, woo! College kickers are back and Ryan Day is haunted by them! Ohio State still just doesn't have it in short yardage. Ryan Day doesn't believe he can get that one yard, but he keeps trying. The first incident is a kerfuffle, the post-game was a level 4 melee. With respect to the pepper spray - now the wind is important! Michigan turned Ohio State into Michigan State. Gus Johnson had a horrible game. Three controversial non-PI calls that went against Michigan. Jeremiah Smith is going to be a physical athlete that drives Seth and Craig crazy for the next two years. Need a seppuku touchdown celebration. 4. Around the Big Ten with Jamie Mac Starts at 2:16:55 Indiana 66, Purdue 0 This game was one yard away from a total rutger. Ryan Walters was fired immediately after, he was 5-19 at Purdue. If you're Indiana, who do you want to play in the playoffs? Who does Purdue replace as their coach? Iowa 13, Nebraska 10 Iowa wins with five total first downs and 49 rushing yards. Nebraska dominated this game all the way and still lost by one score. Michigan ended their season by finally being Iowa with upside. Cade seems to have left the program. Rutgers 41, Michigan State 14 You've gotta really be nervous about Aidan Chiles moving forward if you're a Michigan State fan. After the game Chiles had some spicy quotes about the fans. Michigan State might not be able to just portal fix things. Jonathan Smith might not be mean enough to coach Michigan State. Illinois 38, Northwestern 28 Northwestern outgains Illinois but turns the ball over four times. AJ Henning has 119 receiving yards. UCLA 20, Fresno State 14 UCLA gets to 5-7 after looking absolutely terrible at the start of the year. They're a team to watch out for in the portal, though. It'll be a whole new team. Penn State 44, Maryland 7 Maryland goes up 7-0 and then decides not to do football. They're a dead fish right now but hey they still beat USC. Penn State earns a spot in the Big Ten championship game in a year where they don't beat Michigan or Ohio State. Would they be the #1 overall seed if they win the Big Ten?? Notre Dame 49, USC 35 Notre Dame gets TWO ~100 yard pick sixes. Does USC need to think about moving on from Lincoln Riley? Oregon 49, Washington 21 Oregon is the team that combines the west coast passing attack with a running attack better than anyone. The ducks crunch the OW game. Oregon gets 10 sacks! Minnesota 24, Wisconsin 7 A slow motion blowout. How does Wisconsin recover from this season? Fickell is on contract until 2029. MUSIC: Carry Me Ohio"-- Sun Kil Moon "Crybaby" -- Cults "Bloodbuzz Ohio" -- The National “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
The Sponsors We want to thank Underground Printing for starting this and making it possible—stop by and pick up some gear, check them out at ugpmichiganapparel.com, or check out our selection of shirts on the MGoBlogStore.com. And let's not forget our associate sponsors: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Champions Circle, Human Element, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Venue by 4M, Winewood Organics, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Royal Oath Insurance Group, Community Pest Solutions, Autograph: Fandom Rewarded, who just launched an app where you earn rewards for things like reading MGoBlog and listening to our podcast, and SignalWire where we are recording this. Featured Musician: Tree City THE VIDEO: [After THE JUMP: Things said.] --------------------- 1. Ohio State Preview: Offense starts at the top Is Howard any better than Kyle McCord? Because McCord was actually really good in The Game last year. How Chip Kelly is the running game? How Ryan Day are they on 3rd & 3? Injuries to the offensive line have drawn in a couple of guards who weren't expected to play yet, put Carson Hinzman back at C and kicked Donovan Jackson out to left tackle, but these are first-world problems. Jeremiah Smith's freshman eligibility is a global problem. Emeke Egbuka is a dangerous slot weapon that wasn't fully utilized until he got to play there. 2. Ohio State Preview: Defense starts at 18:02 They brought back almost everybody and added the #1 transfer in the portal, meaning 5-star Sonny Styles is now at WLB for new Bandit uber 5-star Caleb Downs. Not as relevant that you can block JT Tuimolaoau and Jack Sawyer and survive because Evan Link isn't blocking those guys. Lathan Ransom has been a superstar at Adjuster safety for them. Weakness is the cornerbacks get left in man and are not elite—a weakness that Michigan is in a particularly bad position to exploit. 3. Basketball vs Xavier and Virginia Tech starts at 35:17 They faced a switching team and switched Everything! On-ball defense was brilliant in both games. Coming from guys we expected and from guys we didn't expect. Offensively they can find a guy (Gayle vs VT, Wolf vs Xavier) to keep them going until they get good at their offense, but that's coming too and you can see it in Vlad's usage. Seth wants an NIL program to pay Vlad $1000 per dunk and subtract $100 for every shot missed at the rim that's not a dunk. 4. Recruiting starts at 54:36 Underwood's arm strength is THERE but he varies his angles and speed, and that's why there's a hitch. His movement is also THERE: breakaway speed to extend plays. Seth runs us through guys to pay attention to down the stretch. See you next time for our live Signing Day show. About the Featured Artist: Tree City I call them 7, 3, and 4. [photo: Benjamin Weatherston] Those of you who've been paying attention know we always have a little surprise for The Game, but this one surprised even me. Nadim got in touch with local legend/Michigan grad Evan Haywood just in time to get us a preview of Tree City's highly anticipated next album "Pure Levels." For those who are tapped into the Ann Arbor music scene, you're going "Holy shit they got a copy of Tree City's new album!???" (it won't be released until December 13). For the rest (vast majority) of you: Tree City is a hip-hop collective from Ann Arbor that formed in 2005 and quickly became an integral part of the local scene. Three original members remain: Haywood ("Clavius Crates"), Kyle Hunter ("Silas Green"), and Jacoby Simmons ("DJ Cataclysmic") along with Charles Cheek ("Cheeks"), who joined in 2008. It's a big deal because we haven't had a Tree City release since their critically acclaimed "Thus Far" back in 2010, meaning the entirety of the Hoke and Harbaugh eras went by with people wondering when these guys are going to make another. Haywood calls "Pure Levels" the… magnum opus of homegrown hip-hop, over a decade in the making. It promises to be the definitive statement from several of the finest lyricists ever to emerge from Michigan. Their sound is intellectual, futuristic, and—IMO—a little bit jazzy in the way they quote and reference. It's fun and danceable stuff, but the lyrics are the thing. If you like grounded philosophy in your hip-hop this is the hip-hop for you. Songs: Love Hotels (produced by Dykehouse) Story 2 Story (Dykehouse) Raspberry Balm (produced by Vulfpeck) Also because Across 110th Street will get our Youtubes taken down, the opener and outro: “The Employee is Not Afraid”—Bear vs. Shark “Ruska Vodka”—Motorboat
1 hour and 56 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where we recorded this. 1. Offense vs Northwestern Starts at 1:00 We got in a time machine and went back to 2023 and it felt pretty good. Michigan and Northwestern were about even in yardage towards the end of the first half and then Michigan runs the worst two-minute drill to result in a touchdown ever. Can you do anything Michigan did in the 2nd half against Ohio State? No. A rare compliment to Kirk Campbell. Looking ahead to Bryce Underwood. Michigan is also going to portal a quarterback. A few guys who will contribute next year got to play in this game. There's a vibe about upcoming coaching/coordinator changes. [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP] 2. Defense vs Northwestern Starts at 34:01 Michigan was playing one of the worst offenses in America and made them look like it. Who comes back next year? The defensive tackles are gone but some ends are probably back. Will Johnson is gone but Hall is probably back. Zeke Berry is a safety playing corner so he has his limitations. 3. Hot Takes, Game Theory, and Special Teams Starts at 48:06 Takes hotter than Tavierre Dunlap. What would be this team's record against last year's schedule? What would this team's record be with last year's coaching staff? Zvada is 6/6 on 50+ field goals this year. The transfer portal opens in one week and is only open for three weeks! Evaluating next year's offensive line. It will be interesting to see how a new offensive coordinator would evaluate the talent. They're probably fine at linebacker next year but the secondary is a concern. 4. Around the Big Ten with Jamie Mac Starts at 1:19:27 Ohio State 38, Indiana 15 Indiana's offensive line got destroyed which doesn't bode well for Michigan! Indiana's coaches are great but they played this game with James Madison's talent. Michigan State 24, Purdue 17 This one was fun to watch after the Victors signing event. This was being enjoyed by anyone who wasn't a Michigan State or Purdue fan. Michigan State has a "win and you're in" against Rutgers! Illinois 38, Rutgers 31 A wild ending to this one. Rutgers just stops playing defense on Illinois' game winning touchdown. Penn State 26, Minnesota 25 Penn State just hanging on by the skin of their teeth all game. There's a blocked extra point for a 2-pt return! This was a very MGoBlog score. Nebraska 44, Wisconsin 25 Nebraska is bowl eligible for the first time since 2016! Another poor performance for Wisconsin on both sides of the ball. Wisconsin hasn't had a losing season since 2001 (they're 5-6). Iowa 28, Maryland 13 Iowa runs their running back 35 times, naturally. Is it time for Maryland to move on from Locksley? Iowa Nebraska on Black Friday is now a fun tradition we're excited for. USC 19, UCLA 13 One of the Big Ten's all time greatest rivalries! There was a kickoff at the 5 yard line. The decision to bench Miller Moss is weird because he didn't appear to have been the problem. MUSIC: "Life Is"-- Jessica Pratt "Lou's Tune" -- DARGZ, Moses Boyd "The In-Between" -- In This Moment “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
REMINDER: BOOK RELEASE PARTY! SEE YOU TONIGHT AT VENUE, 6PM The Sponsors We want to thank Underground Printing for starting this and making it possible—stop by and pick up some gear, check them out at ugpmichiganapparel.com, or check out our selection of shirts on the MGoBlogStore.com. And let's not forget our associate sponsors: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Champions Circle, Human Element, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Venue by 4M, Winewood Organics, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Royal Oath Insurance Group, Community Pest Solutions, Autograph: Fandom Rewarded, who just launched an app where you earn rewards for things like reading MGoBlog and listening to our podcast, and SignalWire where we are recording this. Featured Musician: Magic Toaster THE VIDEO: [After THE JUMP: Things said.] --------------------- 1. Bryce Underwood and Recruiting starts at the top High-five everybody! Is he the starter next year? What does it do for the class? Guessing this means Michigan gets Derek Meadows, who was a package deal, and keeps Olesh, and can finish strong. What to make of other flip possibilities, including an OT committed to Alabama? What happened to Jaylen Williams? 2 & 3. Northwestern Preview starts at 24:19 (offense) and 35:38 (defense) Offense isn't SO bad but still quite bad. Offensive line issues are not just injuries. Mirror Michigan in that they have similar weaknesses and an OC who doesn't really know what he's doing or how to evaluate what he has. Defensively well-coached guys but few dudes. One dude they do have is a cornerback who's playing hurt. 4. Basketball vs Tarleton State and Ft Myers Preview starts at 46:57 A glitchy shooting night and a lot of fouling in a low-care blowout, but we only care about the turnover rate. Well not ONLY: Vlad Goldin needs to stop and gather when he gets the ball low in transition. Defensively the starters are so much better than other lineups. Seeing good play from Pippen—has he earned a role? Fort Myers: Virginia Tech is Not Good but also important to beat because South Carolina and Xavier would both be very good resume games we'd like to get to. Xavier is on par with Michigan; South Carolina looks like Wake and TCU. About the Featured Artist: Magic Toaster As far as I can tell we're getting in on the ground floor of this local dude—and I have to know is that a sample from Chrono Trigger at the beginning of Blue Night Oberon, which is his latest single? Magic Taster calls his music "igneous rock recorded in my basement" but it's got deep prog and rock roots. The lyrics are accessible, smart, and funny. He came up on a playlist of Indie Ann Arbor music and I wrote the last couple of articles with him on in the background. I don't know any more about him but I'm featuring and finding out and giving you a selection of three different songs that show off his range. FWIW the third one—Saturday Nite—is the one that caught my ears. Song choices: Blue Night Oberon Anything's Fine Saturday Nite Also because Across 110th Street will get our Youtubes taken now now, the opener and outro: “The Employee is Not Afraid”—Bear vs. Shark “Ruska Vodka”—Motorboat
2 hours and 10 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where we recorded this. 1. Basketball After TCU Starts at 1:00 Gee golly willickers that was a lot of turnovers. Michigan's team of point guards has none, unless you want to call Danny Wolf the point. Weird game where they turned the ball over 16 times, most of those steals, and still led at the half because when they do get a shot it's always at the rim or an open look from three. How to get Goldin involved? He's not really into the game, not just on his teammates not seeing him, but it's that as well. Walters is the most efficient offensive player in CBB but he's playing the same position as Wolf. Trying to figure out how the lineup shakes out because we're not going to have an eleven-man rotation all year. [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP] 2. Big Ten Basketball Preview: The Bottom Nine to Kenpom Starts at 29:14 Washington: Great Osobor was a great portal pickup but they can't keep C Franck Kepnang healthy. Rice transfer Mekhi Mason and NoDak transfer Tyree Ihenacho are uptransfers who had high usage at the 3 and 2, Butler transfer DJ Davis doesn't really do to for us either. Injuries already. Predicted finish: 18th. USC: They got Terrance Williams and they're all Terrance Williamses: 6'7” guys who can shoot save for “PG” Desmond Claude. Already injured. Projected finish: 16th. Minnesota: Speaking of injuries already; Year 4 for Johnson is another Year Zero after the guy they spent on in the portal got hurt. Seth likes (and pronounces) Lu'Cye Patterson at PG, and we all respect Dawson Garcia, but with their only other returner being carried off the court it could be rough. Predicted finish: 17th. Nebrasketball: Welcome to The Great Mid: Every basketball team from here on save Purdue is ranked closely together. Close loss to St Mary's in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Injury to stretch 5 Rienk Mast really hurts them. We like Brice Williams and Juwan Gary, think Rollie Worster from Utah is a decent PG, but lost too much to make the tournament. Predicted finish: 15th. Rutgers: This is where I'm mad about the Kenpom format. Two top-5 freshmen join a very good backcourt of Williams and Derkack, but the loss of their center looms large. Problem is spacing. Predicted finish: 5th. Northwestern: Respectable loss at Dayton (71-66) and nonrespectable OT win vs #324 Eastern Illinois. No more Boo, and you can't make Ty Berry into that guy. Matthew Nicholson is a truck driver, Brooks Barnhizer has a bad stache, Nick Martinelli will have to drive the team. True freshman PG? Ew. Predicted finish: 12th. Iowa: Payton Sandfort is going to have to shoot, and shoot he shall. Josh Dix is going to have to take on a lot more usage unless Brock Harding can learn to score. Will be bad on defense but mid their way to wins with Owen Freeman the latest yucky C. Predicted finish: 13th. Michigan State: What are they doing in this section? It's a very Izzo team, with no idea what they're doing at C because nobody gets developed, and nobody making threes. But they do have athletes and Izzo will make them play defense. Frankie Fidler from Neb-Omaha was the top transfer in the conference, Jaden Akins and Jeremy Fears have talent. They'll be…MSU. Predicted finish: 5th, deservedly 8th. Maryland: I don't know any of these guys –Brian. Julian Reese at center you know. They're heavily reliant on a #12 overall Derik Queen, a one-and-done at the wing, but that's working so far, got a 4-point loss to Marquette out of him. Ja'Kobi Gillespie and Selton Miguel are a decent backcourt. Very mid. Predicted finish: 11th. 3. Big Ten Basketball Preview: The Top Nine to Kenpom Starts at 1:01:27 Penn State Way high at #34 due to a win over (very bad, no PG) Virginia Tech. Ace Baldwin is the latest PG who carries them, though there's some upside in Tennessee transfer Freddie Dilione. Predicted finish: 14th. Oregon is also rated too highly. Altman gets the kinds of guys who get rated for NBA purposes but makes decent teams out of them. C Nate Bittle and SF TJ Bamba are good enough to carry them, got an efficient PF from Stanford and upgraded PG Jackson Shelstad to a sophomore, so they're mid. Predicted finish: 10th. Indiana got some decent portal pickups but let's say it again: no shooting! We like former 5-star Stanford transfer Kanaan Carlyle and PG Myles Rice from P12, Oumar Ballo is 5-star from Zona to rim protect. So athletic, so little shooting. Predicted finish: 9th. Michigan 6th. Wisconsin: Back to being extremely Wisconsin including a 103-88 win vs Zona that featured a parade of whistles. Steven Crowl is now a point center extraordinaire, Nolan Winter is the next 6'11” shooter and rebounder, John Blackwell, Max Klesmit, and former CSU guard John Tonje can all play but not well enough to go to the NBA. PG Camren Hunter injury could set them back. Predicted finish: 4th. Ohio State: Led the year off with a win over Texas and a closs loss at A&M. Kept Bruce Thornton out of the draft and got back Meechie Johnson from a two-year lease to South Carolina. Added bigs from UK and Duke so maybe they can defense their way through the season. Predicted finish: 7th. Illinois: Only returning starter is burlyguard Ty Rodgers but they picked up two internationals who are Working Out: see threeing the hell out of Bama in a surprising road win. Ivisic is a 5-star little bro of the UK/Arkansas one, Kasparas Jakucionis is a lottery pick, Evansville transfer ben Humrichous is a stretch 4 with range, and backup PG from Zona Kylan Boswell and L'vile transfer Tre White have evident talent. Upgraded to predicted finish: 2nd. UCLA: Have a loss to New Mexico (not too bad and UCLA shot 5/23). Might be a defensive nightmare. Got Eric Dailey who we wanted, also Tyler Bilodeau, an Iggy like PF. Skyy Clark is not a good basketball player but Mick Cronin manages to win in ways Brian hates. Predicted finish: 3rd. Purdue: Matt Painter is the best coach in CBB. Braden Smith it turns out is much better than “guy who lobs it to Edey.” They found three more huge centers, though none are 7'4”, and the new freshman Gicarri Harris fits right in, looks like a find. Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn round out the most complete roster in the league. Predicted finish: distant 1st. 4. Hot Takes and Around the Big Ten with Jamie Mac Starts at 1:36:13 Guys I want to get this out: you know the scores. Northwestern shot themselves in the foot, MSU has no pass rush, Purdue is dead as a door nail, Washington-UCLA is how we learned UCLA lost their 4th eligible year of a starting quarterback to being the holder in 2021. MUSIC: "Moving Without Touching”—Rubblebucket "Old School"—2Pac "Water Underground"—Real Estate “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
1 hour and 39 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where we recorded this. 1. Offense vs Indiana Starts at 1:00 When the head coach makes a completely obvious bad decision about something, that's when your patience gets especially broken. Let's talk bout Sherrone's game management. Sorry to Drake Johnson for catching strays in this segment. If he has the best players, would he even realize it? Why is Ben Hall coming in over Kalel Mullings? Davis Warren is just not good enough, he missed too many passes that should've been routine. All problems at some point go back to the offensive line. Kirk Campbell seemed to have a good gameplan for Michigan State but this was bad. How would you compare this to the Threet/Sheridan offense? Kalel Mullings' flea flickers are beautiful. 2. Defense vs Indiana Starts at 26:05 Defense completely dominated the 2nd half at least. They didn't give up 8 yards on the first play of a two-minute drill! Indiana turtled at the end of the first half and it almost cost them the game. Shout out to Zeke Berry for having a great game. Michigan ran blitzes but they weren't six man blitzes. Cam Brandt looked like Taco Charlton for a moment there! Michigan is in a reasonably good spot for next year's defensive line. Hillman came back from the dead on a MISSION. It gets Italian for a second. Indiana's punt return was a Jabrillian return. Special Teams have done worse than regress, they've become disorganized. 3. Hot Takes, Men's Basketball vs Wake Forest Starts at 49:39 Takes hotter than the flu fever that struck CJ Stroud in the 2nd half of the Lions game. Statwise, it was a very even game between Michigan and Wake Forest. Michigan is a team of passers without a total dude and they're still getting used to each other. Goldin was underused in this game and is getting shots that are outside of his game. It's a competitive loss against a good team at the start of the season so no need to panic. 4. Around the Big Ten with Jamie Mac Starts at 1:14:03 UCLA 20, Iowa 17 UCLA ran the ball, Iowa did not! Iowa is down to their 3rd QB since Cade has a concussion. There are six total turnovers in this game. Suddenly UCLA is eyeing down a bowl game! Rutgers 26, Minnesota 19 Rutgers gets a safety. Greg Schiano has one of the most egregious uses of the word "literally". The Rutgers train horn grinds Seth's gears. Oregon 39, Maryland 18 Oregon with only 363 total yards of offense. The ducks killed the clock with a 3(!) minute drive. Penn State 35, Washington 6 This might mean something for Penn State because they completely dominated an offense that has been at least decent all year. Where was this Penn State offensive gameplan against Ohio State?? Washington kicked back-to-back sad field goals in the redzone. Ohio State 45, Purdue 0 Nothing to see here. The Michigan Indiana game did raise some red flags for the Indiana Ohio State game. MUSIC: "Cruel To Be Kind"-- Nick Lowe "Favourite" -- Fountains DC "We Gonna Make It" -- Jadakiss “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
The Sponsors We want to thank Underground Printing for starting this and making it possible—stop by and pick up some gear, check them out at ugpmichiganapparel.com, or check out our selection of shirts on the MGoBlogStore.com. And let's not forget our associate sponsors: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Champions Circle, Human Element, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Venue by 4M, Winewood Organics, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Royal Oath Insurance Group, Community Pest Solutions, Autograph: Fandom Rewarded, who just launched an app where you earn rewards for things like reading MGoBlog and listening to our podcast, and SignalWire where we are recording this. Featured Musician: Oren Levin THE VIDEO: [After THE JUMP: Things said.] --------------------- 1. Indiana Preview: Offense starts at the top High-flyin' kind of like Oregon in that they have a great backfield, great tackles, great receivers, and are just-okay in the middle of the line. Been sticking it to bad defenses. There's a cascade aspect to them though. 2. Indiana Preview: Defense starts at 16:40 It starts with the run defense. Cignetti imported an Anchor and two great LBs to be the core of an excellent run defense. They're good at getting off of blocks, dodging OL in space, and tackling. Held the MSU backs to nothing. CJ West at nose is a very good run defender. Pass defense is mostly zone, mostly effective because they can stop the run on early downs. 3. Basketball starts at 28:54 What negatives can we take away from a 101-53 trouncing of a Cleveland State team that was pretty good last year? Hard to know because Cleveland State was starting three transfers and a freshman, but Wolf vs their switchable center was eye-opening, and the freshmen, especially Cason, look like they can give you minutes. Especially cool they did it without Rubin Jones. Negatives: rebounding and turnovers, the latter which is part of playing fast. We also preview Wake Forest a bit because they play fast and Michigan might do well to adopt a Beilein approach. 4. Gimmicky Top Five Things We're Excited to Talk About starts at 45:06 Star Trek, film adaptations and fan recuts of The Hobbit, Legos, and of course, The Lions. About the Featured Artist: Oren Levin Ann Arbor native, Michigan alum, and Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and producer Oren Levin's music combines alternative pop with a folk lyricist's sensibility. Through soft and delicate acoustic guitars, heartbeat-like drums, and dreamy synths, Levin's music is like drinking hot chocolate on a cold night, something comforting in an otherwise uncomfortable situation—you know, if you're in need of something like that right now. Levin has made an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, winning the "Battle of the Instant Songwriters" segment. “Nothing happens as planned.” is Levin's most recent EP, drawing upon Levin's experiences with lost love, heartbreak, anxiety, and social pressures. Socials: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook. Website: www.orangelemonsw.com Song choices: I Just Want to Love You Now Can I Ride It Out Alone? Until I Hit the Ground Also because Across 110th Street will get our Youtubes taken now now, the opener and outro: “The Employee is Not Afraid”—Bear vs. Shark “Ruska Vodka”—Motorboat
2 hours and 2 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where we recorded this. 1. Offense vs Oregon Starts at 1:00 This was a Fetty Wapping at the hands of Oregon. Davis Warren didn't really have negative throws but he's missing receivers and not pulling the trigger on open guys. Oregon's linebacker said in the post-game that when Orji is in the game it's pretty simple. Michigan isn't running stuff that looks like the other stuff they run, it's more of a grab bag. When was the last time they threw over the top of a safety? They don't really have packages, they just have plays. Gotta talk about The Razzles. [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP] 2. Defense vs Oregon Starts at 35:15 Twitter had some harsh comments about Wink! But by the end of the game it was okay in context, especially with only one cornerback. Oregon has an extremely efficient offense that doesn't have to attack downfield so they didn't (much). You know it's a good catch by the away team when they show the replay and the big screen and the home crowd goes “woah!” Linebackers/safeties missed some tackles but it was a much better performance than against Michigan State. You have to take this defense in context with all the injuries and transfers. 3. Hot Takes, Game Theory, and Special Teams Starts at 1:01:08 Takes hotter than Jason's immune system which is working overtime to make him better. Accidental hockey segment! What is the point of video replay if you're not going to use it, Big Ten?? Is Dan Lanning scheming some of these miscues that Michigan had? Did the boos from Michigan Stadium convince Sherrone to challenge the Loveland drop? Shout out to Joe Taylor on special teams. 4. Around the Big Ten with Jamie Mac Starts at 1:29:51 Indiana 47, Michigan State 10 9Windiana has finally happened! Kurtis Rourke is back despite the injured thumb. They just played good, solid Indiana(??) football. Michigan State finished with -36 rushing yards. Ohio State 20, Penn State 13 We've seen this game before. A lot of weird things happened, though. There's always time on the clock for Frames Janklin. What was that goal line decision making? Minnesota 25, Illinois 17 Luke Altmyer didn't put the ball into danger but didn't add much. This was like the Michigan Illinois game but not stupid. Washington 26, USC 21 USC throws three interceptions, they're 0-3 when they throw more than 50 times. Are they even going to make a bowl game? UCLA 27, Nebraska 20 This came out of nowhere. Here comes the annual impending collapse of Nebraska. Iowa 42, Wisconsin 10 Before the season started, we thought Michigan was good Iowa. Turns out Iowa is good Michigan. Wisconsin had only a 5% havoc rate and their linebacker factory is dismantled. Northwestern 26, Purdue 20 Purdue gave up 302 passing yards to Northwestern! MUSIC: "I Don't Love Anyone"-- Belle and Sebastian "Our Hometown Boy" -- The Hard Quartet "Mystified" -- Same Eyes “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
The Sponsors We want to thank Underground Printing for starting this and making it possible—stop by and pick up some gear, check them out at ugpmichiganapparel.com, or check out our selection of shirts on the MGoBlogStore.com. And let's not forget our associate sponsors: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Champions Circle, Human Element, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Venue by 4M, Winewood Organics, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Royal Oath Insurance Group, Community Pest Solutions, Autograph: Fandom Rewarded, who just launched an app where you earn rewards for things like reading MGoBlog and listening to our podcast, and SignalWire where we are recording this. Featured Musician: Mark Zhu [After THE JUMP: Things said.] --------------------- 1. Oregon Preview: Offense starts at the top They got a quarterback in the portal, they did. Jordan James was a backup last year, already broke out but now he gets the carries to show it. Two great OTs especially Conerly, and a squirrelly slot. They normally run tempo and pass around but against OSU they went max pro and tested whether the WRs could beat their CBs one-on-one (they could!) Several TEs if they can't get Ferguson back but he's a difference-maker as a blocker. Interior OL might be a little sketch—IU transfer Matt Bedford was supposed to be their RG but has been out all year. 2. Oregon Preview: Defense starts at xxxx Dan Lanning knows what he's doing; Michigan does not. They run a 3-4 Georgia system (Lanning was the DC when we faced them) and have a lot of talent. They went to the portal at DT and got a couple of good ones but the old DTs are beatable if you can get to them. Is Jordan Burch going to be available? He's a major pass-rusher, but they've been blitzing successfully to cover for his absence. Excellent in the secondary. LBs rotate through three good ones. Special teams: dangerous returners (Noah Whittington and Tez Johnson) but not great kickers—Ross James 100th in FEI, kicker Atticus Sappington has a career long of 48. 3. Seth's Hockey Segment starts at xxxx Big series with #5 BU starts tonight, and Big Ten on the docket. Better team defensively but looking for chemistry. Last two series Night 1 has been good, Night 2 has been the same game but nothing goes in the net and they blow it. Hage is their one skill guy, next most skilled player is Schifsky. St. Cloud State game was an extreme example of that but shows they really needed Rutger McGroarty. USNTDP game. 4. MSU After Review starts at xxxx Quarterback wasn't as good as it looked—only a few downfield passes, concerning play given State has no pass rush to speak of. MSU was playing Dantonio Ball against the run and this led to a lot of going nowhere even when things were blocked up well. Defensively they're fine until 3rd & long, when Wink tries to do something. Tackling is an issue because they've moved usage to Paige and it's exposing his issues there. About the Featured Artist: Mark Zhu Drawing from the pain of love and loss, Mark Zhu (pronounced "Joo") explores relationships, mental health, and identity through his songs rooted in healing and emotional vulnerability. A Chinese American artist from Ann Arbor, he studies data science at the University of Michigan by day and plays shows by night. As an award-winning pianist with three performances at Carnegie Hall, Mark leverages his classical training in his production, creating piano-driven ballads, synth-driven R&B, and fearless pop anthems. Links: Website. Instagram. Spotify. Song choices: Dead or Alive Paint the World Red Slayin' Also because Across 110th Street will get our Youtubes taken now now, the opener and outro: “The Employee is Not Afraid”—Bear vs. Shark “Ruska Vodka”—Motorboat
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