#GoBlueTweetUp: How Michigan Basketball is Using Social Media This Season

Source: @umichbball

The University of Michigan Men's Basketball team is utilizing the hashtag #GoBlueTweetUp to promote the team this season. Sporttechie.com says "this is one of the first major instances in which sports brands are promoting their Twitter material by using the players themselves as advertisements." As seen in the picture above, the players have their Twitter handle and #GoBlueTweetUp. The picture was tweeted from @umichbball, the official Twitter of the Men's team. The account has around 80 thousand followers and continues to grow by the hour. The purpose of this campaign is to continue the growth of their already large audience. When looking at the pictures they post, they've added @umichbball to all of the photos. This is constantly exposing their name. Not only are they utilizing their Twitter to promote the team, but they interact with their followers. I quote-retweeted them today and they favorited my tweet. Michigan is doing great things with their social media and it is something to be noted of. What other colleges are doing this?

Source: @umichbball

Maryland & Rutgers Join Big Ten in 2014

The Maryland Terrapins and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights will officially join the Big Ten Conference for the 2014-2015 academic year.

The Legends and Leaders division will then be changed to the Eastern and Western divisions. The East Division will be: Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, and Rutgers. The West Division will be: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, and Wisconsin.

Each school will play the other six schools in its division and also two teams from the other division.

Source: sbnation.com

The Terps were previously members of the Atlantic Coastal Conference (ACC) and Rutgers were previously members of the Big East. Rutgers is one of three schools to leave the Big East along with Pitt and Syracuse who moved to the ACC and West Virginia who moved to the Big 12 Conference.

SRU Football Returns to The Big House

Source: rockathletics.com

On October 18, 2014 Slippery Rock University's football team will travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan to play Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division rival Mercyhurst University. The Wolverines have a bye week during that time.

Sounds a little random doesn't it? Well it's actually not all that random. The University of Michigan and Slippery Rock have a long history starting back in 1959.

During Michigan football games, PA announcer, Steve Filipiak, saw Slippery Rock's name on the wire service ticker. The game he was announcing was boring. Wanting to interject some life into the fans, he announced the score of the unusual name. The Michigan fans loved it.

From that day on, the University of Michigan would announce the score of the SRU games during their football games.

Source: bentley.umich.edu

On September 29, 1979 the U of M invited Slippery Rock to play at Michigan. They lost 45-14 against Shippensburg. That game set a record for the largest crowd at a Division II football game with 61,143 fans. This year SRU hopes to break that record. Two years after their first visit to Michigan, SRU was invited back to play against Wayne State (Mich.). Slippery Rock lost 14-13. These games were "Band Day" at Michigan where high school marching bands across the state were able to play at the games. Michigan has decided to re-instate the tradition for next years game.

Source: bentley.umich.edu

In 2010, coaches and select players from Slippery Rock were invited to a Michigan home game to be introduced. Check out the video below:

5 Big Ten Basketball Teams Ranked in Preseason

Last Thursday the USA Today Coaches' preseason poll for the 2013-2014 men's basketball season was released. Of the 25 teams in the rankings, 5 of them are Big Ten schools. Michigan State is in the No. 2 spot with 749 points and a 27-9 record. Michigan State only received 3 first place votes. They trail the No. 1 spot, Kentucky, by just 18 points. However, Kentucky received 16 first place votes. Last season Michigan State was ranked No. 14 for the 2012-2013 season. Michigan will return four of its starters who reached the NCAA Sweet Sixteen last year. They will open their season on Nov. 8th against McNeese State.

The Michigan Wolverines are ranked at the No. 9 spot. Last year they made it all the way to the championship game and lost to Louisville (who is ranked No. 3 for this season). Michigan received zero first place votes and was ranked No. 5 for the 2012-2013 season. They will return three starters including sophomores Mitch McGary and Glenn Robinson III. The Wolverines will start their season against UMass-Lowell on Nov. 8th.

Right under the Wolverines is their rival, Ohio State. The Buckeyes also received zero votes for first place and was ranked No. 4 last year. They reached the NCAA Regional Finals last year and will return four starters. Among the starters include senior point guard Aaron Craft and Shannon Scott. The Buckeyes will start season play on Nov. 9th against Morgan State.

The last two teams representing the Big Ten in the poll is the Wisconsin Badgers at the No. 21 spot for a second season. They finished last season 23-12 with 148 points overall. The Badgers will open the season on Nov. 8th against St. John's.

The Indiana Hoosiers are ranked at the No. 24 spot. They finished last season 29-7 and were ranked No. 1 last season receiving 21 first place votes. Last season they earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and made their way to the Sweet 16. They will open their season on Nov. 8th against Chicago State.

I am a huge basketball. Especially college hoops. I'm anxious to see these teams back in action and who can prove themselves worthy of an NCAA Championship title. What teams are you looking out for this season?

What exactly is the Big Ten?

About 120 years ago, president's from Purdue, University of Chicago, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and University of Wisconsin sat down to organize regulations for intercollegiate athletics.

Their first order of business was setting a rule that "restricted eligibility for athletics to bonafide, full-time students who were not delinquent in their studies" (bigten.org). This along with other legislation became the building blocks for not only the soon to be conference but amateur intercollegiate athletics as well.

Timeline of the Big Ten:
 1896 - "Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty and Representatives" or "Western Conference is established
1899 - Indiana University and the State University of Iowa were admitted
1901 - first Big Ten Chamionship event for outdoor track and field
1908 - Michigan briefly leaves the conference
1912 - Ohio State University joins conference
1917 - Michigan returns to conference, conference was first referred to as the "Big Ten"

At this point the schools in the conference are: Purdue, University of Chicago, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, University of Wisconsin, Indiana University, State University of Iowa, and Ohio State University.

Ten schools.

In 1922, Major John L. Griffith became the conference's first "Commissioner of Athletics". In 1989 James E. Delany became commissioner of the Big Ten and is now the current commissioner of the conference.

In 1946 the Big Ten dropped to nine schools when the University of Chicago dropped out. Then in 1949, Michigan State College (now Michigan State University) was added to the conference.

On June 4, 1990 the conference added another school, Pennsylvania State University.

Now there is 11 schools.

In 2006, commissioner Delaney announced the creation of the Big Ten Network (BTN). This would be the first conference-owned TV network, a 20-year agreement with Fox Cable Networks.

On July, 1, 2011, the Big Ten gained its final school: Nebraska.

Now there are 12.

In 2011, the Big Ten broke up the 12 teams in to two divisions: Legends and Leaders.

LEGENDS: Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern
LEADERS: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin

 "'Legends' is a nod to our history and to the people associated with our schools who are widely recognized as legends - student-athletes, coaches, alumni and faculty. 'Leaders' looks to the future as we remain committed to fostering leaders, the student-athletes who are encouraged to lead in their own way for the rest of their lives, in their families, in their communities and in their chosen professions," said Delany. "We're proud of our many legends and even prouder of our member institutions that develop future leaders every day" (bigten.org).

Jim Delany, Big Ten Commissioner. Image courtesy of Sportsillustrated.com

Legends and Leaders Fact Sheet

Football Saturday

Today's schedule/results:

Illinois (3-2, 0-1 Big Ten) vs. Nebraska (4-1, 1-0 Big Ten), 11:00 a.m.
Final Score: 39-19 Nebraska
ESPN Box Score

Michigan State (4-1, 1-0 Big Ten) vs. Iowa (4-2, 1-1 Big Ten), 11:00 a.m.
Final Score: 26-14 Michigan State
ESPN Box Score

Penn State (3-2, 0-1 Big Ten) vs. Indiana (3-2, 1-0 Big Ten), 11:00 a.m.
Final Score: 44-24 Indiana
ESPN Box Score

Minnesota (4-1, 0-1 Big Ten) vs. 19 Michigan (4-0, 3-0 home), 3:30 p.m.
Watch live on ESPN2 or ESPN GameCast


4 Ohio State (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) vs. 16 Northwestern (4-0, 3-0 home), 8:00 p.m.
Watch live on ABC

Happy Game Day Saturday!

- Julie

My name is Julie Jurich and I am a full-time student at Slippery Rock University majoring in Communication and minoring in Sport Management. This blog is for my Sports Journalism class. From this blog I'm hoping to develop my writing skills, specifically for writing about sports. I will be blogging about the Big Ten Conference. When most people hear the Big Ten they automatically think of the powerhouse football teams and basketball teams, which I will talk about. However, I want to shine some light on the minor sports as well. After all, they're hard working athletes too! I look forward to learning more about the Big Ten and blogging about the wonderful world of sports. As the weekend approaches, I will be blogging about the match-ups and doing some previews. Enjoy!

- Julie