Blue By Ninety - Ant Wright Joins | Yaxel Lendeborg Staying in College | Bryce Underwood on NCAA Cover

Episode Date: May 29, 2025

Just and Tanner are joined by Ant Wright who breaks down the massive pick up Dusty May and Michigan basketball added to the fold this week.

Alright, welcome back to Blue by 90 presented by Felvin Chevrolet of Highland I am Justin joined today by Tanner and we've also got aunt right on You know, he's a good friend of the pod Good friend of blue by 90 as a whole and so follow him at where you at. It's aunt, right? Yeah, yeah, it's that right and appreciate you coming on bro I'm like, where are you at? we're like seeing who's like who left right right how many times of has a guy like him came back or like said hey i'm going to go to michigan not the nba you know just right you know this is a new territory for michigan fans for sure yeah and i think just in general too um you know you're obviously talking talking about exl lendeborgborg, who this week withdrew from the

NBA draft and is going to play for Dusty May in Michigan this year. But just in general, obviously, NIL has changed everything with this whole NBA draft process, right? You know, there are guys like a Yaxle, like a lot of other guys who are like, they're first round prospects that are deciding against doing that. I mean, could you ever imagine you obviously, you know, you played high level college basketball at Michigan. Like, could you imagine ever imagine like, Hey, you know, you've got this chance to go first round in the NBA and you're like, actually I'm going to hold out for a second. It sounds, it sounds, it sounds crazy, but you know, players have so

much leverage now and you know, being able to be able to have that option. And I feel like like Todd Pettiford is, is, you know, someone who going back to Auburn, you know, some, some people saw him in the first, um, mostly second, um, LeBaron Phon, someone else who's coming back. Nate Beto is going, going back to Oregon when he had, um, really perfect calm to one of the Lopez twins where you could rim protect, shoot threes. And, you know, he was probably going to get a guaranteed contract somewhere in the second round as well.

he was probably going to get a guaranteed contract somewhere in the second round as well. And when you're seeing these guys come back and then like I'm going to draft chat with varying levels of people like some of like the higher level ones who are very mainstream. Some are very low stream, but very good at what they do. A lot of stat guys, a lot of eye test guys, a lot of just, you know, boots on the ground, evaluators looking at these players. A lot of guys came back yesterday and the day before, even like Yannick Conan, the Niederhäuser for Penn State.

And there was no reaction like the one for Axel, because so many people had him top 25 top 20 and everything too. Sorry to interrupt you, but everything too, that was leading up to it in the last like two weeks, I would say it was like, okay, he had a great combine, you know, all these guys, like these NBA teams like him, like it seemed like everything was trending that way too. He blew it out the water, man. Like he blew it out the water. When you're looking at what he did for himself in the MA draft process, whether it is,

you know, the way that he was moving up just with his story is one is that, yeah, he's older, but he's very young basketball wise. Like he really didn't start playing until a few years ago. Then you're looking at what he did at the comp, like six, eight and a half without shoes. That is a very good measurement. Seven foot four wingspan. That is an elite measurement. So you're looking at someone who was six, nine, six, 10 on a basketball court with that type of wingspan. You know, there's a reason why he was two time deep defensive player of the year in the American athletic.

And this is someone who has just gotten better and better and better every single single year. And you know, that's why I'm kind of excited about this is because this isn't a made or finished product. I'm really excited to see what he's like when he's playing around much better players and not having to just carry these players to like wins. And that's another thing, like he's a winner, right?

It's not like he would stack in all these numbers and his team was like, like 12 and 22 or something like that. Like, no, like they were competing for a championship. They were competing for the NCAA tournamentnament birth and it was him. He was carrying them in pretty much every category and that's why he's the number one portal person. One of the guys in the NBA Draft Chat who constantly, constant chatter about where he would go, whether it's mid first, late first, can he get a steal? Like early second and guys are like, he will never get that far.

So it's still unreal because I thought it was a done deal. Like the whole draft process, it was like, okay, I'm 50 50. Then I'm seeing these things come out. I'm like, okay, 60 40 he's gone like easily. And then I'm like, 75 25 he's gone. But there And then I'm like, 75, 25, he's gone. But there's so much that goes on in the background, whether it's what you're looking for, you're doing the numbers, you're working things out. And man, NIL is, you know, came in, you know, this is such a clutch play.

Um, using that to say, Hey, look, even if you go late first, I mean, you're going to get twice as much this year, and then you may be able to earn yourself a little bit more money next year in 2026. Well, I was looking for the quote. I couldn't find it, but I saw it this morning, or maybe it was late last night, but he said something along the lines of he had teams that were like, hey, we like you in the first round, but he didn't get a guarantee. And I think that was part of the reason to your point, and of, hey, you've got that money on the table at Michigan. And also a chance to play, excuse me,

for Big Ten Championship, Final Four appearance, maybe a national championship, because his team, I mean, probably going to be preseason top 10, maybe top 5. So to your point, he blew it out of the water at the combine. I think he hit on every measurable. So I'm with you in, you know, when he committed for the, you know, back, what a couple of months ago, you know, Davis Mosley, we had him on the show. And it was like two days before he committed, but he's like, don't count this

out, like even if he commits and people are going to say he's going to go to the NBA, there's a really good chance he comes to Michigan, but man, like all the message board people were just super pessimistic. I was pessimistic because I didn't want to get my feelings hurt. I mean, it also just like didn't make sense. You know, to me, I'm sitting here like, okay, yes, he can have a multimillion dollar offer from Michigan and it's still like the money doesn't add up, right? Like you're still going to make, uh, you know, whatever double, triple, whatever

it is in the NBA and you're playing in the fucking NBA, you know, that's the old you gotta go to class you gotta do homework. I Think what also helps too is that like on top of everything else is like it helps your personal brand Like not a lot of people know about yaxle at UAB, right? That's just how that goes But now you're in Michigan. And if you put up, don't even need to be the same numbers, but you do something similar ish, a little bit lower, like 85, 90% of what you did. That's just going to help him out just from a personal branding, facial recognition standpoint, where like, Hey, maybe that first NBA contract is not like that, but that Puma, that Jordan,

that Adidas, that Ansa, Nike, whoever you wanna go with, that contract's gonna look a little bit sweeter because you do have that recognition, because you have more on your socials. And I think all that comes into play too. It could go, he could become a country music star. You know? Hey, like a Shaboosie.

Yeah, no. Adrian Nunez. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Hey, shout out to Shaboosie. I'm completely off topic. Shaboosie is a country artist now. Bro, I was listening to Shaboosie

when he was a rapper back in 2014. I just wanna throw that out there. Yeah, I was in early, man. Yeah. Stock, you know? Put that on the record. But hey, Michigan, to your point, and the Michigan brand, I mean, you go all the way back to the fab five of when that really became, I mean, you know, I wouldn't consider Michigan a blue blood in that term with the Kentucky, UCLA Duke. Um,

but I think the brand is so strong. The Michigan brand, the block M, um, you know, you have a lot of doors open and that network too of like post basketball, right? That, that Michigan alumni network, uh, is crazy. So there's a lot of pros for him coming to Michigan. Yeah. And what I wanted to ask you this. So like you talked about, um, you know, the brand part of that and all that, what about just the fact that like, do guys really want to play in the G league? Like I always think about that too. Like there's a big

difference of playing in Chrysler and going to Breslin or playing in the jump man classic or playing in the big 10 tournament in Chicago versus playing for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, right? Or whatever, you know, like no more RIPs, no more, you know, but like, you know what I mean? The the I mean, like, I do think that, well, I guess more my question to you is like, how much does that factor in to these guys' decisions? Um, I think if you're going in as a rookie, either way, that's always on the table. You know, you could be a lottery pick. And if you're on a decent team and you're not getting the reps, you're, you're going to get sent down. Like you saw that with tension and junior, right?

Um, you know, he's playing in the Western conference finals, but you know, he was chilling for the Minnesota G team for a while there because their team was doing so well, um, so it's, it's always going to be there. It's always going to be a possibility. Just depends on what situation you're in, right? Like if you're a Zach Eadie on Memphis, Memphis wasn't very good this year, but he had an opportunity to play right away.

He was on there too deep for Biggs, right? So he's not going to get sent down. Stephon Castle for the Spurs, he's not going to get sent down because he was in there too deep. But if you're like, like terry junior and you're sitting there behind Anthony Edwards and you're sitting there behind, uh, jaden McDaniels and all these guys, and they still want you to get reps.

It's not like the front office thinks less of you, but that's not great. You know, doing all the G league stuff And then you got to go work out. And then you got to go to the NBA game and then sit there. Then you got to fly back out to like Des Moines or somewhere like random and play a G League game. And then, oh, no, they want you over in Golden State to be ready. You got to dress out there. And you're always going to be busy no matter what. Of course, they're they're they are spending and investing millions of dollars

into you to make sure you already when your numbers called. But yeah, like there there is a sense. I won't say they don't want to do that. But you know what? When you're in college, you're not a grown up yet. You know, and a lot of times like, hey, when you when you leave this, you'll never have this back. Right. Right. There's no more chilling with your boys and going out and just

hanging with no real responsibility outside of do your work and who, right? Like you're like, you'll never have that again. Right. So I think there is something to be said there where like mentally and maturity wise, it was like, you know what, that's been in play too. Yeah. I think, I mean, there's a lot of factors there. I just always think about that from a, just a simple quality of life. It's like, dude, I either get to live in Ann Arbor and go to skeeps on Tuesday nights and hang with my boys and chase girls around and do whatever, or I'm just going to go to the club and I'm going to go to the club and I'm going to go to the club and I'm going to go to the club and I'm going to go to the club and I'm going to go to the dude, I either get to live in Ann Arbor and go to skeeps on Tuesday nights and hang with my boys and chase girls around and do

whatever. Or I'm in Des Moines, Iowa in a hotel room by myself, right? Like there's, there's a very vast difference there. Um, but, uh, I want to talk about what this means for Michigan. Now. I think, you know, everybody's pretty clear this obviously elevates Michigan. Um, but the question to me is how much, right? I think, you know, you see obviously what you actually can do on the floor. Um, you know, different than Danny Wolf, but similar in like what, you know, just being versatile, right? Like they can do, do a lot of different things. Um, but, but from your perspective, you perspective, where does this push Michigan to?

Is it to, you know, Sweet 16, the lead eight, final four, where are we at with Michigan now going into this season? Yeah, so like, this has been a rule for over 70 years now. Every single national champion has had a top 30 draft pick on the roster. Wow. If you look back, every single national champion has had a top 30 draft pick on the roster. Wow. If you look back every single one, so Michigan has that Michigan has that. So in my opinion, ceiling is a natural championship for sure.

Uh, I would say floor is like bubble team. So much like Indiana last year where, you know, maybe the pieces are there, but takes a while to glue and get together. Cause you know, chemistry is a real thing, right? Not, not every team is going to be, is going to be gelling, you know, like up here. And sometimes it takes longer than others. And you see a team like Kansas state come together and, you know, you saw how that went. Uh, you see a team like Kansas State come together and you know, you saw how that went. You see a team like Kentucky come together and I thought that they overachieved because they really bought into their system with each other. It was more about, hey, let's

win games rather than, hey, I got my bag. I'm just here for a good time. So I think, you know, those are the two very, you know, those are the extreme examples, but no, the teams, like, if you look at the, um, if you look at the like elite aid and you're looking at the rosters, I believe that there was, um, like a, uh, I saw this little graph come out of like the remaining sweet 16 teams and the school where they started from it looked like a damn collage right and and those are the top teams right like i think that's what's always interesting to me is is guys transferring from good teams to other good teams

it's not just like a yaxle transferring from UAB to, you know, a sweet 16 team. Right. So like you have some that came from Tennessee, either at Alabama or like they're at all these places and you know, it's, um, it's, it's all about, it's all about chemistry. And I think continuity helps big time to, uh, Namaari being there is great. Roddy Gale, I know he's polarizing, but him coming back for year two is great. Cheese is back. He's gonna graduate from Michigan, which is like, get that man a pension, bro.

I'm telling you, get that man a pension. He comes back. LJ Kasin, who I think is bound to have a step up this year. He comes back. So having those guys continuity wise to really connect the dots between the coaches and the newcomers, I think also is a huge thing too. But not everybody could be Purdue where we're like, do we wanna transfer this year?

I don't know, maybe. Not everybody has that luxury of guys just like, you know what, I don't wanna go what? I don't want to go anywhere. I don't want to leave, you know? So I think Purdue and Michigan State have been the best team in terms of continuity and rockstar. I mean, you have painter and is all right. Like it doesn't get much better than that. Right. So like culture and they've been there forever. So there's like, there's a cemented culture there between them, the fan base,

and it's just a different level. So, but Dusty being able to keep together a few of those glue guys who, who had meant a lot to the team last year for sure. And being able to get them going up into this season along with the new guys, I think is super important. Well, I was gonna say on that graphic you mentioned, I think the only team, the two teams that I remember having a majority of their guys with their logo

was Michigan State and Purdue. Like I think that was the two that I remember from the tournament teams. Otherwise, it was just a hodgepodge of some of the logos. I couldn't even tell you what school they were, to be honest with you. Right. But and I wanted to ask you because, oh, the other guy I wanted to mention too was Oscar Goodman was with the team

for the winter spring semester as well. So he was practicing with the guys last year. The New Zealand guy, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's another guy who's at least been around, been around the culture, but I wanted to ask you, Ant, with how things came together last year where, look, it was what, it was Namaari and then Will I think were the only you know guys that had played it all that were on that team that going into 2024 do you think that bumps up the

kind of the floor for them because Dusty's basically done this and now hey you know what compared to last year he's got a hell of a lot more guys coming back that kind of know what he expects and what what to you know what the the system is and all those sorts of things um yeah I mean I think it helps but like at the same time I think that uh Michigan went through a lot of growing pains throughout the year too yeah and I think it helped with Danny being as good as he was one. Vlad flipping a switch in that Virginia Tech Xavier tournament, where things just turned on.

And it was like he missed every puppy, every layup before that. And then he just decided that tournament, he's never gonna miss again. Except for some of those dunks that he missed, but that's okay. Yeah. Yeah, right. But we see one of his dunks. Yeah, so he flipped the switch and I'm just like, cuz people were like, should Vlad be starting?

Why is he at Michigan? And I'm like, relax, calm down. Let him get his feet wet. I don't know what's going on, but we'll see. But I don't know if he talked to someone, I don't know what's going on, but we'll see. But I don't know if you talk to someone, I don't know what happened, but I mean, him flipping switch, uh, Danny Walping as good as he was, not only that, but dusty allowing Danny to be good. That good, right?

A lot of guys, you like he, he turned the ball over a shit ton, right? We all, we all know. Yeah. He turned the ball over a shit ton, right? We all know. Yeah, put a ball over a lot, but It's like you kind of you know, just let the lion loose, bro Just look I know you're gonna f it up sometimes but I know you're gonna bring home a few gazelles Right, and I think he was the difference in a lot of these four-pointer less wins Right. Sometimes it comes down to,

do you have a pro on your team to lead you to victory? And they had a pro, right? And that's just what happens when you're one possession game 16, 17 times in a year. You got Danny, you got a seven footer, you have a point guard, give them the ball and clear out, figure it out like that. But, um, I mean, I think that, um, I, dusty still has a lot to figure out. I think in terms of like in game coaching and especially, you know, that is difficult when you have

a brand new lineup almost every year. Right. And he's had, you know, he, he obviously had a brand new lineup this year because he was, it was his first year. It's also, he's just figuring it out. He hasn't played, he hasn't coached at this level and the big 10 yet. Right. So, you know, that's going to take years and years to get to be a painter or an ISO or somebody where it's like, okay, you know, the ins and outs of how a game goes and all that. Um, but, um, I mean, just evaluating where dusty's at right now, like it's, it's hard for me to say that he's not just absolutely crushing it. Um, um, so like, I mean, he, you're sitting here with a big 10 tournament championship, uh,

you know, a solid NCAA tournament run. Um, you know, you now, the worst season ever after the worst season in the history of the program where, you know, no slight against the players that were playing, but like we had guys in the rotation in 2023 that were, had no business playing big 10 basketball. I'm just going to say it like, that's just the reality, you know, and it was rough. It was, it was rough. Um, and so for the, for that turnaround of, you know, getting here and making this team a contender right away. And then in year two, it's not like, all right, let's, this is going to take three, four years. It's like in year two, all of a sudden we're talking the ceiling is a national

championship. This is not like, Hey, it's going to take a minute. And obviously the portal makes that a very different situation than what it was, you know, five years ago. Um, but you look at even, you know, from my perspective to the NIL situation, like this, that's an off-court, you know, thing, but he took the NIL situation from abysmal to top of the country in literally a year. So, um, just from your perspective, where do you have dusty may at, you know, in terms of big 10 coaches in the country, like, is he at the top already? Or does he have some room to grow still?

Um, I always say there's room to grow. I think where I think the best coaches are the ones who learn who were, who, who continue to mold their games. Uh, I think. Like, uh, a good example is like a Matt painter last year, right? Like a good example is like a Matt Painter last year, right? He loses Daniel Jacobson seven three seven four Shot block your really good player was was with team USA

Loses him so he has zero run protection None the entire year and they they switched defensive schemes like several times Just to figure some things out and They overachieved I believe this year when when you're looking at dusty I felt in the first half of the year He kind of let he kind of let Michigan play through a lot of Mistakes where I think that he could have put his hands on the game a little bit more by calling some timeouts Selling them, calling some sets. And we saw that more in the second half, where I think the timeout against Penn State saved that game. I mean, they were down five with like two minutes

since some change left. And they finished that game on a 9-0 run and they win by four. I think that he got better throughout the year and I think that's the one part that is going to stick with me till year two is that he got better throughout and now he has six months to kind of look back at that like okay what can I improve on now so we're at that next level right away and then how can we get better throughout again and get better from the beginning not like you know in the middle of the year, but Absolutely like great job and like the NIL and like portal I've kind of changed the game in terms of how many years it should take to get back

Right like before it was like, okay We have to give them like three years to kind of figure it out like like you said like now it was like, okay, we have to give them like three years to kind of figure it out like like you said like now it's like You could get it right in a year or two look at Pat Kelsey at a Louisville, right? They might win the ACC next and they were they were the worst team in America They were like Single-win team as well like they were they were so bad back-to-back years like that was the worst They're the worst power fighting like them in Georgetown I think they were worse than Georgetown they were really really bad yeah but you

can flip this thing very very fast and you know he's uh he's putting on a clinic on like how to do it for sure Tanner you got anything on that oh man I think I'm excited for this year. I'm excited Yeah, I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm excited. He's done a great job. Obviously your one your two I mean the potential is even even higher for this for this, you know, I I kind of joke to people Last year, especially at the beginning of the year when like we went out and played well early I was like you kind of don't want to set the standard so high so quickly, right? Like, you know, then all of a sudden it's like, you know, you're one, you're winning

the big 10 tournament. It's like, okay, now, and this is Michigan fans to a T it's like, dude, if you don't go win the big 10 tournament, like your ass, you know, like that might be just college sports fans and sports fans in general, right? But yeah, banner hanging a banner isn't is insane. After that 2324 year, think about how that went. No point guard and then the point guard got got suspended for road games, road like what a cluster in like the coaches fighting the the everyone the strength the road games. Road like what

a cluster in like the coaches fighting the the uh everyone the strength coach every year fighting other coaches his own coaches. Oh man. To go from that to hanging abandoned the the next year is such I don't know. It's it's such a change

of emotion to going into the off season and like expectations. And then now you're getting a first round graded draft pick back on your team who like this isn't like a six to right guy who's really good. No, this is like a six nine six 10 do everything 240 pound point forward. High level defender high level rebounder. I mean, when you compare them to, to Danny, it's obviously, again, there are different body types, right? I feel like Danny was never going to just like muscle somebody up, right? For the most part, but that's what the axle is going to do, right?

Like, I feel like he, you know, he's going to be able to handle the ball, but he's also, he, he can pound it down low if he needs to as well. Yes. He could, he can go down low. He can go for mid range. He could shoot threes play defense. Like, I mean, like there's nothing really, there's nothing really there's nothing really that I'm like okay he probably can't do that right um like he's shooting threes off the dribble I don't know man it's I am I can't wait to see what Dusty does with him and I don't know how much you a be gave the actual a leash but I know Dusty doesn't have a leash for some guys it It's like, yo,

if you could do it, just go, just do it. I feel like we're going to, we're going to see him just take over games at times because Dusty is going to be like, Hey, he's going to roll out the ball and be like, you do whatever you need to do here. You know, um, and him surrounded by talent. I can't iterate that enough, bro. Like he's going to have people around him who know what to do. And we haven't even talked about trade, trade McKinney yet. That's why people are kind of forgetting about trade McKinney. Like I literally went through the, like, I put out a little like depth chart projection for this year after the axle ended up, you know, staying and withdrawing from the draft. I'm like, tray McKinney is not even like being

talked about, but you know, because you have Kato, you have a LJ, right? Who'd obviously had the experience, but like I was, I was going back and looking like Trey McKinney's huge. He's a huge point guard shooting guard and can do it all. Like there's a good chance that he just like takes over as, as, as a, as a starting guard, right? I mean, yeah. And then L I mean, there's so many, there's so many weapons that he can use.

Um, I'm glad that I'm not the one making these decisions because Elliott Cadeau is super important. And I, people talk about him and Trey Donaldson being similar, like outside of being light skin and having bushy hair, they are so opposite. They're not the same at all. So Ellie can know it's like a real point guard. Like he is a past first point guard.

He wants to run the team. Like that's what he wants to do. Right. Then you have LJ. I just feel a year to explosion from him. And then you got Trey McKinney coming in who was going to be, he should be very, very good. Then you have to work out minutes for Namaari and Roddy.

And then that's not even counting. Um, you know, man, it's just so many. I mean, there's just so many dude. Morris Johnson, right? Like more as an Eddie Mara. I like, Oh my gosh. I think Mara is real. Oh my gosh. He's seven foot four. Like we had seven,

we had seven foot guys last year and we're upgrading in height at our, at our center. Right. Like that's so crazy. Um, I mean, here's the last thing I'll say about this. I want to talk about EA sports cover, um, with Bryce Underwood in a second, but, um, I, I want to hear your thoughts on this as I, I, I am a little bit of an iso hater. I'm an iso respecter, but an iso hater as a Michigan guy. I think that's pretty normal. Right. Um, and I just don't want to do what is, oh, did last year where he played like 15 guys in a game. It's like

nobody can even get in a rhythm. Like that would be my one worry about being as deep as Michigan is this year. Yeah, it's tough. And it's like depth isn't always a good thing. Right? You can, you could be too deep where like nobody's in rhythm. Uh, who said that? Um, the new Iowa coach said something about that when, uh, he was in the tournament, he was like, Hey, how you feel about the depth? And I'm like, and like the guy goes, you know, depth is overrated. Like you want me to just sub guys out who are hot, like, right. What are you talking about? So it's great when guys get hurt. That's like, you know that yeah, follow trouble and stay healthy

That's when it's amazing obviously, but like to your point, you know, there were times when is o subbing Jace Richardson out and I'm like dude. He just hit three threes like how what are you doing? You know, obviously Tom is oh knows a hell of a lot more than I do and this is me watching from the couch eating a bag of chips But you know, I do think that there's a little bit of balance there. Yeah. And it's, it's, uh, man, the front court, I'm really excited about, I think defensively they're going to be mother efforts. I think they're going to be so good defensively. I think they're I mean, do you think there's a chance that Yaxle, Morris and Mara are on the floor all at the same time? I think so. I think so. Probably not often, right?

But I don't know because have you watched it? No, I'm just gonna ask. Have you watched any of Mara's Spain film at all? Not really, no. He could shoot threes and like jump shots so mean Understanding how dusty kind of operates dusty is just gonna ask him one day Shoot it from right here, right? That's what see just shoot it and then okay sure you again. All right next time we scrimmage

You have to shoot three threes or the whole team run stairs Or something silly like that, right? So, like that's kind of really appealing if you're a transfer and you're like, that's why Yaxle, that's why all these guys are choosing to play for Dusty, right? Adey Mara is choosing because, wait, you let Vlad Golden kind of do what he wants to do

Right like vows out here three threes when he wasn't supposed to and he was staying in the game Big Cronin would go on the floor get a tech just pull his ass out and kick him in the tunnel, right? Like that would never happen. So they they they just see the free flow, bro. They just see it. No, you actually see it. What Danny Wolf did as a, it was a backup center in the Ivy to being a point forward in this offense. I mean, it's, it's very, very appealing. It was very appealing. Yeah.

I mean, I'm super excited to see it again. I think these are like, you know, champagne problems to have, right? Like we got too much talent on the team right now to figure out who's going to get the minutes. Um, which again, uh, props to dusty for, you know, again, NIL in the transfer portal has changed everything, but for that to happen, you know, in just going into year two and it's like, Oh my God, you know, we went from two years ago, not having enough guys to feel the, like a true big 10 roster to like too many guys. Um, so pretty,

pretty damn good. But, um, want to wrap it up here real quick. Uh, just talking, um, about the EA sports college football, uh, 26 release, um We had Denaard and Bryce on the cover. Again, that's three straight. I know it's very different now because there's a thousand guys on the cover rather than just one guy, but three straight NCAA games, EA Sports games with Michigan guys on the cover. Tanner, what are your thoughts here?

The Buckeyes are in shambles already. Yeah, I mean Bryce Underwood was in the trailer that dropped today with him breaking out of a sack against Ohio State, so I'm sure the internet will be very calm and rational about that. No, man, I think it's cool. I mean, look, it's a different era. Last year, three guys on the standard cover, obviously Donovan Edwards was on it, and then there's a different era. Last year, three guys on the standard cover, obviously Donovan Edwards was on it. And then there was a bunch of guys on the deluxe. Same with this year.

So it's again, it's a lot different. It would be a lot different if Bryce was like the solo, standalone guy on the cover. But like, if you don't understand why he's on the cover, we talked about the brand, the Block M, what it means across football, basketball, hockey, all these sports at Michigan. It carries a lot of weight. And so look, EA Sports, yeah, you could, you know, sit there and say all the creative directors of Michigan grad or whatever nonsense

they spew, but like, look, Ohio State players have been on the cover. You know, last year it was Quinshaw and Judkins on the cover with all the guys on it. So, um, you know, a couple, couple of how to say players Ryan days on the cover. Like I just, again, we talked about this a couple episodes ago, maybe last episode, just, I just don't have the energy to ever get mad about this kind of stuff. So I'm just looking forward to playing the game. And if you're super angry about this stuff, like I need you to go outside once again, um, you know, just please go or just play the game, man, or just play the game. You know, they got high school in there. You can relive the glory days. Here's the reality of what

happens when you get the game, it, you open it up, you, you know, you open the game up and guess what? You can go in there and choose any team you want. You don't have to play with Michigan. You don't have to play with Bryce Underwood. You can do whatever you want. Uh, and yeah, team you want. You don't have to play with Michigan. You don't have to play with Bryce Underwood. You can do whatever you want. Uh, and yeah, if you think that Michigan having when they have, when the brand of Michigan has the number one recruit in the nation, that was all the talk about his recruitment. He's not going to be on the cover as a, as a quarterback, like you're crazy. So it is what it is.

Um, I, you know, I'm. I'm laughing at everybody who's mad about it. If you're mad online about this, you need to re-evaluate things. Well, the one thing, last thing I'll say about it that I'm excited, so they kind of hinted at Road of Glory having high school, which it used to have back in the day now they have like a like you have the hats So like can I have like a mini game where it's like right click to troll, Illinois? Throw it away, you know, so I'm wondering if that if there's gonna be anything like that Other thing too is that thank God those I don't know how much you guys played it But the the theme song was so repetitive and it was those snare drums. Yes, they're gonna have fight songs

and then like marching band versions of actual like songs that are popular today. So thank God because my my ears are sick of hearing those snare drums. I thought it was Nick Cannon in the game manages drum lines. So we're done with that only only about a month and a half of playing 25 until the new one comes out. Yeah. It will be incredible, um, to be able to throw just deep balls with Bryce on there with like, I mean, having him on there, he might even, again, this is, we don't know what he's actually going to be like on the field as a real human being yet, obviously, but from a video game perspective

he's a six foot five really fast guy that can throw it 70 yards like that's exactly that's the creative player that you want to play with on a video and if you're good enough like i i've had davis warren throw 45 touchdowns before that's what you know what i mean i've had alex orgy look like pete manning out there accurate. They're on the ball. Exactly. So, oh man. Trevor McHugh had a hilarious, had a hilarious tweet though, about that. He said that, uh, he was like, you can't see it, but under the EA sports logo, Jack Sawyer's complaining about the missing blanket. So good. So good. So good. So good. That game will forever be like just from the memes alone and the like tweets alone like Michigan beating Ohio State last year is just such good content. So, oh man. Can I put you guys on the spot right quick? I know we have to go but I want to

put you on the spot right quick. Go for it. I think I did this in like a poll this past This is a February but ranked the last four wins one through four. Oh We've we've talked a little bit about this I've had discussions with behind the scenes with friends, too Do you want to go first Tanner? Yeah Because I was there 23 21222424 is the funniest, but the other ones led the big 10 championships and 23 under national championship. So yeah, 24 is by far the funniest. It literally is a comment. It's like a comedy. It's not even subjective. It's objective. It's the

fun. Yes. Um, I would say I still think, uh, first of all, I was at 21, 22, and 23 did not go to 24. Um, I still think 21 is, is up, is the best for me. It's just like the beginning of it all. Right. And like, you know, the, the snow globe on the field in the fourth quarter and like all of it, just like the energy in the building was incredible. quarter and like all of it, just like the energy in the building was incredible. Um, I'd go 21, I'd probably go 21, 22, 23, 24, actually in that order.

Cause I will say, um, 22 being in Ohio stadium, like physically me in the stands, watching that unfold and watching them walk out and just be silent was a feeling I I would if I could bottle that up like that is a drug that I would take every single day with no quorum right no quorum no quorum like he had just gotten hurt the year or the game before you know we all thought like oh shit how are we gonna do this we haven't won in Columbus since the year 2000, right? It was like over two decades since we had done it. Um, it was unbelievable to watch them just like, especially cause that year, what they were, what everybody was saying was like, we're never going to let this

happen again. You, you beat us last year, but we're going to write the ship, you know, all this stuff. And then they're just like, they watched out of an Edward just run through the heart of Ohio. Just, it was unbelievable. Oh, shout out to start asking stuff. I mean, shout out Hassan in 21 unbelievable performance. I'll, I'll never get tired of talking about those games, but, um, all right.

And appreciate you coming on, man. Uh, go follow him at at it and it's ant right um also it's ant right on youtube as well um so he's got i'm sure you're putting up a bunch of stuff on on a bunch of prospects and everything and um we're also blueby90.com of course um ants got a whole network uh that of of you websites out there, so we've got a bunch of people you know over at armchair, Illinois for Illinois Spartan shadows over at MSU, so there's a bunch going on there, so check it all out. We appreciate you and And shout out to Feldman Chevrolet of course as always we appreciate them for being our title sponsor. For us you can follow us at Blue by 90 on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook at Blue by 90 Podcasts on YouTube and Blue by 90.com.

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