By Bart D.
Co-Founder
Follow the author on Twitter @Bart_cfn or the site @bestdamnpoll

It was a good weekend to be a Michigan Man. Actually, every weekend is. But this one was the weekend in Vegas ménage a trios with the two hottest strippers at the bar/winning at the slots then having someone buy you free Denny’s breakfast after all the action. First, basketball clubbed around top 10 Ohio State. Then, football decided to almost one up them (it’s impossible to one up beating OhowIhateohiostate at anything though) by obtaining eight…count em…eight Rivals Top 200 commitments. Now, as I always say, I typically don’t analyze teenage kids in high school and project their greatness…so I won’t start now. (Is ESPiN showing middle school games on TV yet?) But there is validity to entire class ranking, as noted 1,874 times by myself. So this haul means something, my friends. This is vintage Lloyd Carr stuff. He was chided by Rich Rodriguez for “leaving the cupboard empty” but that was just Rich Rod whining. Carr routinely was a demon on the recruiting path and left Rich with all top 20 ranked classes. It’s called “coaching,” dude. Anyways, Brady Hoke’s first two years look very Carr-esque when it comes to high school kids, and wouldn’t ya know? I look forward to telling you about it. Here are the kids that committed and then the ones already in the fold, then what it means for Michigan…and everyone else. Cover your eyes, “everyone else.” Rivals.com rankings are in the little curvy bracket things (for our Ohio State readers). Yes, I know, those numbers are big, guys…

(#16) Shane Morris - QB, Michigan
(#46) Chris Fox - OT, Colorado
(#60) Kyle Bosch - OG, Illinois
(#77) Dymonte Thomas - SS, Ohio
(#96) Jake Butt - TE, Ohio
(#109) Logal Tuley-Tillman - OT, Illinois
(#160) Wyatt Shallman - FB/TE, Michigan
(#167) Jourdan Lewis - CB, Michigan
(#183) Taco Charlton - DE, Ohio
(#199) David Dawson - OG/C, Michigan
(3*) Khalid Hill - TE, Michigan

What it means for Michigan: All good things, predictably. A glance at those positions shows a dramatic tilt to the offensive side of the ball, specifically on the line, where there were times the last few years that Rich’s slimming program for OLs looked as foolish as a screen door on a submarine. Four top shelf linemen, three top shelf TEs and oh, by the way, the consensus #1 overall QB recruit in Shane Morris, who brazenly declared that “he promises to be the first LOI sent in for Michigan’s next class.” Led by Morris, the future is in sickly good hands just based on attitude alone. Anyways, what it means is, in case you didn’t notice…Michigan is “back.” Full throttle. Hard core. A few other stupid catch phrases that sound like cheap energy drinks. And they’re back in a big way, raking in talent…which also means it’s not going elsewhere. It means that kids have noticed Michigan’s winning ways, and you can essentially add a sleeping (losing too much before last year) giant back into the recruiting fold. Whether ESPiN or whomever wants to admit it, the winged helmet still has more allure than most of those southern teams, the way the golden dome and the Buckeye stickers on that grey hat never fade too far from memory. This is a big deal for Michigan, who is using this past top 10 class and what’s sure to be another one to challenge for a national title. You don’t win titles without major top 10 classes, and that is a statistical fact. Michigan has officially placed the Mythical National Title game on watch.

What it means for the rest of the league: Unless your name is “Ohio State” it probably is a nice warm stream of pee right in your Cheerios. As long as Ohio State wins, they’ll get theirs. Reality is, there are enough 5 star kids to stock three teams in the Midwest so long as they’re successful enough to lure kids: Michigan, Notre Dame, and Ohio State. Those three have a flat vice grip on everyone else. They’re the guys that can text the girl on Friday night at 8 and she’ll blow off her plans with Mr. Backup Plan and give up a nice roll in the hay at last minute’s notice. For the remainder of the B1G? It sucks. Michigan has been piddling around with losing seasons under Rich Rod and everyone else was reaping the spoils. Even Notre Dame has been eating hind teet, opening up more and more top flight recruits for places that normally can’t out-recruit them. Now, that essentially ends. No more cleaning up in-state for Sparty. No more using the ole “they don’t win anymore, no one’s going there” card if you’re Wisconsin through Purdue and add about 9 more. Winning is, has been, and always will be the barometer that helps tilt the balance, and when one of the heavyweights is not winning…well, the talent goes elsewhere. Couple in the fact that Penn State is in some sort of PR version of hell, and there are even more kids for the Big Three’s taking. Things just got a lot harder for a lot of teams.

What it means for stinking Ohio State: Very little. They get theirs, and so does Michigan. The Game just got infused with a lot more talent on both sides of the ball now, and that should make everyone involved happier than a puppy with two peckers.