Tag: michigan wolverines

Georgia transfer, son of NFL coach, commits to Michigan

Georgia loses a transfer, who’s the son of an NFL coach, to the Michigan Wolverines

Georgia Bulldogs linebacker Troy Bowles committed to the Michigan Wolverines out of the transfer portal on Saturday. Bowles was a four-star recruit and the No. 6 linebacker in the class of 2023. Bowles is the son of Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles.

Bowles played sparingly as a reserve with the Georgia Bulldogs. He appeared in seven games: five in 2023 and two in 2024. In 2023, he recorded five tackles, including three against UT Martin.

In the wake of C.J. Allen’s emergence as an every down linebacker, along with Chris Cole and Raylen Wilson getting more playing time, Bowles announced his decision to transfer on Dec. 13.

He joins a group of SEC transfers committing to the maize and blue. Brothers TJ and Tevis Metcalf join the Wolverines from Arkansas, and Belleville, Michigan, native Damon Payne transferred from Alabama.

Bowles will have three more years of eligibility for the Wolverines. Given his father’s expertise, he has a great football background.

Six Georgia defenders have entered the portal since the window opened. Of those, three have not announced a new destination. Cornerback Julian Humphrey transferred to Texas A&M, and Jamaal Jarrett committed to transfer to USC, following the Bear Alexander route.

Desmond Howard thinks Ohio State put too much pressure on Ryan Day, which is objectively hilarious

It’s pretty tough to tell if Des was trolling here or not.

There is perhaps no better way to sum up the current state of the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry than ESPN’s Desmond Howard going on live television to express both pity and sympathy for Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day.

Howard, the 1991 Heisman winner at Michigan and Wolverines icon, went on an impassioned rant about Day’s critics during College GameDay before Friday night’s College Football Playoff game between Notre Dame and Indiana. Whether this was an elaborate troll is certainly up for debate.

What is clear however is just how funny the whole thing was, intentional or not.

With a straight face, Howard explained that Ohio State’s athletic department put too much pressure on Day by giving him the type of resources the vast majority of programs would sell their souls to obtain.

Take a look:

Here’s the transcript, per Awful Announcing: 

“During the offseason, when they spent $20 million to go handpick some players in the portal to bring them to Columbus, the primary reason was to beat Michigan,And I thought they put him in a bad situation. Not only that but then they went out and got Chip Kelly, who was the head coach of UCLA and became his offensive coordinator. In my opinion, that was like the athletic director and the powers that be saying, ‘We’re pushing all of our chips in the middle of the table, Ryan, this is the year you have to get it done.’ And I thought that was too much pressure on him — I really do. I put out an Instagram message once I saw that, and I said, ‘Man, this is unfair.”

Desmond Howard thinks Ohio State spending $20 million dollars to handpick players from the transfer portal and getting Day’s old buddy Chip Kelly to leave his head coaching gig at UCLA to become Ohio State’s offensive was somehow unfair to Day. He probably feels bad about Goliath having all that pressure to defeat David.

Alabama crying poor has been dethroned as the most obtuse comment of the season in less than 72 hours.

Look, there are a lot of things unfair in the world of college football. Ohio State’s losing streak against Michigan is not one of them. Especially considering the Buckeyes are in the College Football Playoff!

As for Day, he’s paid quite handsomely to handle the pressure of coaching at Ohio State. No one needs to weep for the man earning $10 million per year because he lost a football game. Not when the standards for success in Columbus have remain unchanged since the Woody Hayes era.

If Howard is trolling here, it’s absolutely masterful. Michigan went 7-5 this season and was more or less a huge disappointment. Yet beating Ohio State allows Wolverines fans to hold the high ground and offer some unwanted words of advice for their rival.

If Howard isn’t trolling, he’s completely lost the plot. Either way, college fans should enjoy a good, hearty laugh at his comments.

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Former Alabama defensive lineman Damon Payne to sign with the Michigan Wolverines

Michigan Wolverines land commitment from former Alabama DL Damon Payne.

There was some back-and-forth, but ultimately, former Alabama Crimson Tide DL Damon Payne will sign with the Michigan Wolverines. Payne reportedly initially signed with the Wolverines Wednesday morning, but there were conflicting reports that his signing was voided. However, he cleared up the confusion with a commitment post-Wednesday evening.

The former four-star recruit was ranked No. 39 overall in the 2021 recruiting cycle and the No. 9 DL prospect and will see significant minutes for the maize and blue immediately. He becomes the Wolverine’s fifth transfer portal commitment of the cycle with just one year of eligibility remaining.

In 2024, Payne recorded 14 tackles and a fumble recovery with Alabama after being mostly a rotational piece the previous two seasons. Payne is a Michigan native and had been heavily pursued out of high school by now-head coach Sherrone Moore.

For Alabama, it likely isn’t a massive loss as he wasn’t going to be a starter in 2025, but a lack of depth never helps. It will be interesting to see what DeBoer and his staff are able to find in the transfer portal.

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Best Photos from Oklahoma Sooners incredible win over Michigan

The Oklahoma Sooners pulled off an incredible win over the Michigan Wolverines and here are some of the best photos from the matchup.

The Oklahoma Sooners continued their incredible run to 11-0 with an impressive 87-86 win over the No. 25 Michigan Wolverines (Coaches Poll).

Oklahoma faced a pair of 11-point deficits in the second half but showed resilience in the face of adversity to battle back both times. Over the final five minutes, Jeremiah Fears and Duke Miles accounted for all 11 of the Sooners’ points.

Fears came through in the clutch with a three pointer with 11 seconds left. He was fouled on the shot, and the true freshman was clutch at the free throw line to give the Sooners the lead and the win.

It’s the first 11-0 start to the season for the Oklahoma Sooners since the 2015-2016 season. That year, the Sooners were led by another dynamic guard, Buddy Hield. Hield was a first-team All-American for an OU team that ended up in the final four.

This is the best team the Sooners have had in the Porter Moser, led by Fears,  Miles, and Jalon Moore. All three scored in double figures on Wednesday night to propel the Sooners to their second top-25 win of the season.

Oklahoma has two more nonconference games against Central Arkansas on Sunday at the Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners have an opportunity to enter SEC play undefeated before they open their conference slate against Alabama, which could be a top-10 matchup in Tuscaloosa.

Relive the Oklahoma Sooners incredible come-from-behind win over the Michigan Wolverines with some of the best photos from the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte.

Oklahoma Sooners, Jeremiah Fears stun Michigan Wolverines in comeback effort

Led by Jeremiah Fears, the Oklahoma Sooners pulled off an incredible come from behind win over the Michigan Wolverines to improve to 11-0.

The Oklahoma Sooners improved to 11-0 on the 2024-2025 college basketball season with an incredible come-from-behind win over the Michigan Wolverines in the Jumpman Invitational.

Jeremiah Fears dazzled with a career-high 30 points, including the game-tying three with 11 seconds remaining, and after being fouled on the three, put the Sooners ahead for good at the foul line.

The Oklahoma Sooners are 11-0 for just the second time in the last 10 years and are now 2-0 against top-25 opponents this season.

Sooners Battled

Porter Moser’s squad showed incredible toughness in the win over the Wolverines. Michigan boasts two of the better big men in the nation in Vladisl Goldin and Danny Wolf. The two combined for 41 points, including 27 first half points.

But Moser made adjustments, and the Sooners defense battled back in the second half to limit the two to just 14 points. Despite being undersized on the inside, Jalon Moore, Sam Godwin, Luke Northweather, and Glenn Taylor Jr. took the fight to the Wolverines impressive big men.

The Sooners overcame 11-point deficits on two different occasions in the second half to take a four-point lead late in the half. And even after they allowed Michigan to take over and go up three with just over a minute to play, Moser drew up a great play to get Fears just enough space to hit the game-tying three with just 11 seconds to play.

It was a resilient win for the Sooners. Through 11 games, Oklahoma looks like a team ready to make a tournament run.

Phenomenal Freshman

Jeremiah Fears has been impressive throughout the season, but he took his game to another level in the win over Michigan. He was 8 of 12 from the field, 3 of 4 from three, and 11 of 13 from the free throw line to lead the Sooners.

His previous career high came in Oklahoma’s other top 25 win of the season against the Arizona Wildcats. Fears has put together his best performances for Oklahoma’s toughest tests.

In the final five minutes of the Sooners’ comeback win, Fears accounted for seven of Oklahoma’s final nine points to earn the win.

He’s been sensational this season and looks every bit the part of a future NBA Draft Lottery Pick.

Three’s the Difference

The Oklahoma Sooners were outrebounded by six on the offensive glass, but they overcame Michigan’s edge on the boards with a really good night shooting from a distance.

Oklahoma was 12 of 25 from three, while Michigan was just 4 of 28 from downtown. Moore, Fears, and Duke Miles each hit three triples and Taylor added a pair off the bench.

If the Sooners can continue to shoot with consistency from three, they’ll be really tough to beat this season. Especially as Fears and Moore continue to finish in the paint.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.

Alabama starter to reportedly miss ReliaQuest Bowl vs. Michigan due to injury

An Alabama starter will reportedly miss the ReliaQuest Bowl due to injury.

According to head coach Kalen DeBoer on Wednesday afternoon, Alabama Crimson Tide starting safety Malachi Moore will miss the ReliaQuest Bowl against the Michigan Wolverines due to an injury.

“Malachi Moore, he’s been going through an injury pretty much a lot of the season,” DeBoer said. “Just got to the point where he wasn’t going to be able to play, so just kind of putting that out there. He’s having surgery actually today. He wanted to do everything he could to get out there, was trying to wait it out to see if it could possibly be something he’s able to participate in. Probably the biggest thing I’ll say is he just grinded through the year with it. It’s not something recent, it’s been something that’s been ongoing. Maybe some kind of saw or felt something like that.”

A graduate student, the game vs. Michigan would have been Moore’s last of his lengthy Alabama career, meaning that the veteran safety’s time with the Crimson Tide has now officially come to an end.

Moore leaves Tuscaloosa as one of the more experienced Alabama safeties in recent program history, spending five seasons with the Crimson Tide dating back to his freshman year in 2020. Over those five years, Moore was a multi-year starter in Alabama’s secondary, and leaves Tuscaloosa with a combined stat line of 214 tackles, 16 TFL, 2.5 sacks, seven interceptions, 25 PD, two fumble recoveries, and three forced fumbles, as well as with one national championship in 2020.

This season, Moore had a career-year for the Crimson Tide where he started in 12 games, amassing a career-high 70 tackles with three TFL, one sack, two interceptions, eight PD, one fumble recovery, and two forced fumbles.

“Just hats off to how much he loves this place, how bad he wanted to be out there on the field each-and-every Saturday, and even how bad he wanted to be out there with these guys and finish off his career for the bowl game,” DeBoer said. “Unfortunately we’re not gonna have him. Love that kid to death. He has a bright future in everything he does. He poured a lot into this place, a lot of passion, a lot of want-to, a lot of desire. A lot of things that I know the rest of our team really took from him and learned along the way.”

Alabama will play Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Dec. 31, with kickoff set for 12 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Oklahoma Sooners battle to top 25 win over Michigan Wolverines

Takeaways from Oklahoma Sooners Basketball’s gritty win over the Michigan Wolverines.

The Oklahoma Sooners earned their second top 25 win of the season on Tuesday night, defeating the No. 25 (Coaches Poll) Michigan Wolverines 72-62.

It was a hard-fought win as the Wolverines tested the Sooners physically and pushed the pace offensively. And on a night when Oklahoma didn’t shoot their best, they still found a way to come out on top in the end.

Here are three takeaways from the win.

Experience Shines Through

Michigan is young and scrappy. They’d won nine in a row coming into the Jumpman Invitational and gave Oklahoma everything they could handle. In the end, the Sooners were able to pull away.

The Sooners trailed 39-35 with just over six minutes to play in the third quarter. A 9-0 run, where Oklahoma scored on four of their next five possessions, helped the Sooners establish control of the game. And the Sooners never looked back. They outscored Michigan 37 to 23 over the final 16 minutes of game action.

Overcame Adversity

The Sooners came into the game shooting 50% from the field. Against Michigan, OU only shot 37.5% from the field and 30.8% from three. In the first half, Oklahoma shot just 31.4% from the field and were just 3 of 14 from three.

The Sooners also had 21 turnovers in the game. Oklahoma also had to overcome foul trouble for their leading scorer and rebounder, Raegan Beers.

It wasn’t the cleanest performance from one of the best shooting teams in the nation, but they were much better in the second half, where they shot 44.8% from the field and 41.7% from three.

Team Win

Despite her foul trouble, Beers chipped in nine points and 10 rebounds. The Sooners ended up with four players in double figures, including a team-high 12 points from Payton Verhulst and Skylar Vann. Lexy Keys chipped in 11 points off the bench, including 3 of 7 from three.

Oklahoma had eight players score at least six points in the game and received 23 points off the bench.

It wasn’t the cleanest performance for the Oklahoma Sooners. But they found a way to get a tough win in a neutral site contest against a top 25 team. They’ll hope to build on that performance with two more nonconference games against Omaha and New Mexico State before what will likely be a top 10 showdown against the Texas Longhorns to open SEC play.

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Scouting Alabama’s ReliaQuest Bowl opponent: Everything to know about Michigan

Alabama will play Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

On New Year’s Eve, the Alabama Crimson Tide will take to the field for what is the final time during the 2024 season when the program faces the Michigan Wolverines in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

An opponent whom Alabama is familiar with, these two programs met just a year ago in a matchup that would certainly more high-profile than this one is shaping up to be. That is because the game was in the CFP Semifinal at the Rose Bowl, which is where Michigan handed Alabama a loss on their way to winning the national championship.

This year’s meeting between the two however will not take place in the CFP, instead featuring an Alabama team outside of the Top 10 against an unranked Michigan program.

Here are a few things that you need to know ahead of Alabama vs. Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl:

Who will Alabama play in the ReliaQuest Bowl?

The Crimson Tide are matched up against the Michigan Wolverines in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Michigan is coming off a 7-5 regular season in which the Wolverines went 5-4 in Big Ten play.

How Alabama, Michigan match up

As indicated by the record above, Michigan did not have as good of a season as the year prior, but make no mistake, the Wolverines are a talented team.

Michigan’s resume is headlined by a road win at Ohio State, with their next biggest victory likely being against USC. The Wolverines’ losses have come against Texas, Washington, Illinois, Oregon, and Indiana, and have not been ranked since mid-October.

Stats-wise, Michigan’s strength comes on defense where they rank No. 25 in the nation at only 20.5 PPG allowed, while also sitting No. 112 nationally on offense at an average of 22.2 PPG.

Alabama is 9-3 overall this season with a highlight win over Georgia, while their losses came against Vanderbilt, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. The Crimson Tide rank No. 17 nationally with an average of 35.5 PPG offensively, as well as No. 10 in the nation in scoring defense at 17.2.

What bowl game will Alabama play in?

Alabama and Michigan will play in the ReliaQuest Bowl, which will take place Dec. 31 at 12 p.m. ET from Raymond Jones Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

When is Alabama vs. Michigan? Time, date for ReliaQuest Bowl

Alabama and Michigan will play on New Year’s Eve.

Even despite missing out on the College Football Playoff, the 2024 season is not quite yet over for the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Yes, that is because, even despite missing the CFP, Alabama still qualified for a bowl game where they will face an opponent that is familiar to the Crimson Tide in the Michigan Wolverines.

Michigan was the team that ended the Crimson Tide’s season a year ago in the CFP Semifinal at the Rose Bowl, with the Wolverines eventually going on to win the national championship.

Here is everything you need to know about this season’s matchup between the Crimson Tide and Wolverines, such as the date, kickoff time, and more:

Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Michigan Wolverines in ReliaQuest Bowl date

  • Date: Tuesday, Dec. 31 (New Year’s Eve)

What time Alabama plays Michigan in ReliaQuest Bowl

  • Time: 12 p.m. ET on ESPN

Where is Alabama vs. Michigan

  • Location: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida

Alabama vs. Michigan prediction

Alabama vs. Michigan is still weeks away, but as for a current prediction, this feels like the Crimson Tide’s game to lose. The difference maker in this game is Alabama’s offense, which will help the Crimson Tide come away with the victory.

Prediction: Alabama 33, Michigan 17

Payton Sandfort shares appreciation of fan’s message following recent loss vs. Michigan

Payton Sandfort called Michigan “one of the best fan bases” and shared a unique interaction with a Wolverine fan in Iowa’s recent contest.

Despite Iowa basketball (7-2, 1-1 Big Ten) suffering their first conference defeat at Michigan (8-2, 2-0 Big Ten) on Saturday, senior forward Payton Sandfort shared his appreciation for the friendly Wolverines fan base ahead of Iowa’s Dec. 12 clash vs. No. 3 Iowa State (7-1).

Sandfort, who led the Hawkeyes‘ offensive attack with a team-high 19 points on 6-of-20 (30%) shooting from the floor, praised the generous atmosphere in Ann Arbor and noted the kind words of one Michigan fan who complimented Iowa’s play and team cohesion.

“I got a really nice message from a Michigan fan after the game. That’s one of the best fan bases I’ve been around. They were nice to us the whole game. They were complimenting us walking off the floor.

“But I got a really nice message just about how connected he thought our team was. He said he was sitting courtside and talked about just the leadership that I brought and how hard it looked like all of us were playing. So I shared that with the team, and I think people were really happy with that. It’s nice to get some of those messages every once in a while,” Sandfort said.

While Sandfort and the Hawkeyes did not get a desirable result from their trip to Ann Arbor, it’s great to see the team receiving positive feedback and good sportsmanship from opposing fans. These interactions are truly what makes college basketball a place for growth, no matter the result.

Sandfort is off to another solid start for the Hawkeyes this season. The 6-foot-8, 215 pound forward is averaging 16.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game while shooting 38.6% from the field and 31.5% from 3-point range.

Iowa returns to action with its in-state battle versus Iowa State on Thursday night in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on FS1.

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