I haven't seen a thread of this nature yet this year and I've thought it's been of great use in the past, so I figured I'd start it off this year (mods, if I missed a similar thread or this isn't appropriate yet at this junction please feel free to delete/move as needed). I also wanted to start it based on somewhat selfish motivations to talk about Michigan's thrashing of Villanova, in a true road game, last night.

As amazing as our performance against Kentucky was, this dismantling was arguably on par with it... and it was on the road against the defending national champs. Right now Michigan looks like it'll have one of the best defenses in the country, and is making all those pollsters who picked MSU to win the B1G on Izzo's name alone look somewhat silly. Michigan held Nova to 17 points IN THE FIRST HALF and just 46 for the game, even though the game was never in doubt in the second half.

Michigan lost arguably its three best offensive players from the National Runners Up last season in Mo Wagner, Duncan Robinson, and Muhammad Ali Abdur Rakhman (MAAR as we affectionately, and perhaps necessarily, abbreviated it), but arguably replaced each player with an upgrade defensively. Jon Teske is a legit 7-1 with mobility and shot-blocking ability... if you're a coach and need a textbook example of how a big should play the pick-and-roll, he's the guy to watch. Ignas Brazdeikis is the "other" big-time Canadian entering the college ranks this year, and he's the textbook John Beilein 4... not to mention he played shut down defense all game yesterday and already has an NBA body at 19. Jordan Poole was last year's hero with the buzzer beater against Houston in the tourney and is now starting and providing more athleticism than either Robinson or MAAR, and he has the capability to be a deadeye shooter. All that, plus junior Zavier Simpson is the best on-ball defense PG in the country (I'd bet money on that assertion any day of the week), not to mention a great leader... there were dozens of stories coming out of practice this year about how he was so intense and so mad when anyone scored on him, even in drills, that the coaches needed to get him to take it easy to let the freshmen learn.

The offense is lagging a bit behind the D early on, especially given that this team doesn't shoot the 3 as well as typical Beilein teams. But every Beilein team has improved significantly over the course of the season (think inverse Roy Williams, lol). With this elite D Michigan will be in every game it plays this year, and probably should be the B1G favorites. If the O catches up to the D, which history indicates is a real possibility, Michigan is a legit Final Four contender.

So, with that out of the way... what other non-Duke/non-ACC action has caught your attention so far this season?