Lions, tigers and bears — oh, my.
And wolves. Especially wolves.
It will surprise no one to learn that Michigan’s always-colorful, always-entertaining football coach, Jim Harbaugh, likes to plop his players in front of a screen on game days and show them scenes — sometimes entire documentaries — of predatory animals on the hunt and tearing lunch or dinner limb from limb.
Wolves are Harbaugh’s favorite because of how they stick together and work together.
“That’s what we want to channel,” he said Sunday in Houston, a day before the national championship game against Washington (6:30 p.m., ESPN). “Probably nature’s greatest fighting unit.”
Best of all: the way wolves celebrate together after a successful outing. For the last week, Harbaugh has imagined his players — freshly 15-0 — howling on the field after dismantling the Huskies, or at least handing them their first loss.
Will Harbaugh boogie to the NFL after this game? We’ll see.
Either way, it’s too good a matchup to let Harbaugh’s future overshadow the on-field story lines. Michigan’s defense — which sacked Alabama six times and had 10 tackles for loss in a devastating semifinal performance — is the best in the country. Washington’s passing attack, from Michael Penix Jr.’s pinpoint accuracy to Rome Odunze’s elite route running and Ja’Lynn Polk’s and Jalen McMillan’s game-breaking ability, is state of the art. But the Huskies can sling some “D” themselves, as they’ve displayed in the fourth quarters of one close game after another all season. And the Wolverines have NFL talent all over their offense, with skill guys J.J. McCarthy, Blake Corum, Roman Wilson and others plenty capable of stealing the Huskies’ thunder.
These are two impressive groups of players. The Huskies absolutely refuse to lose. The Wolverines, 4½-point favorites, absolutely want to chew up and spit out everything in their path.
“I’ve had to pull them back at times,” Harbaugh said. “Have never had to talk them into anything. And I just can’t wait. I can’t wait to watch them compete, watch them have at it. That’s going to be my overwhelming feeling is, ‘Let’s just go let it rip.’ ”
Wolves — sorry, make that Wolverines — 34-27 is the pick. …
One other thing Harbaugh told reporters sounded almost a bit defensive.
“I really feel like these are the two best teams,” he said. “They’re the last two standing.”
Translation: Will everybody please stop pointing out that Georgia would be favored against either one of us? …
Zach Edey and Purdue are overwhelming favorites to repeat as Big Ten basketball champs. Illinois has played well enough since losing Terrence Shannon Jr. to protect its rep as a top contender. Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State and others have a good bit of potential. But watch out for Wisconsin, people. The Badgers seem to get better offensively with each game and are off to a 3-0 start in league play. This could be a better squad than the Johnny Davis-led one that tied for first place. …
How big were Loyola’s wins last week at Saint Louis and at home against Duquesne? Reminder: The Ramblers finished in 15th place — dead last — in the Atlantic 10 last season. They were 6-9 this time last year; now they-re 10-5 and on a four-game winning streak. Starting 2-0 in their second season in the league was a game changer. …
DePaul athletic director DeWayne Peevy gave it a “no comment,” but you can believe the outlook is bleak for third-year coach Tony Stubblefield after the Blue Demons lost at Georgetown Saturday to fall to 3-10. Peevy has said he’d prefer to avoid an in-season dismissal, but this already is looking like an unavoidable last-place scenario in the Big East. It could get that bad, and quickly. …
My ballot for the new AP Top 25, which comes out Monday: 1. Purdue, 2. Kansas, 3. Houston, 4. Arizona, 5. UConn, 6. Kentucky, 7. Tennessee, 8. North Carolina, 9. Memphis, 10. Oklahoma, 11. Duke, 12. Baylor, 13. San Diego State, 14. Illinois, 15. Wisconsin, 16. Auburn, 17. Marquette, 18. Colorado State, 19. Ole Miss, 20. Texas Tech, 21. Texas, 22. Seton Hall, 23. Creighton, 24. Nevada, 25. BYU.
