It was none other than rival Michigan, which upset Clemson on the road 69-61 behind 18 points from freshman Evan Smotrycz and 15 from freshman Tim Hardaway Jr.
Green watched almost the entire game from his hotel room in North Carolina on the eve of Michigan State's matchup with Duke. He expected Michigan to struggle because of its deficit in athleticism to Clemson, but came away impressed with how much the Wolverines have improved.
Michigan struggled in the first half, but in the second half they turned it on and Tim Hardaway Jr. had a great game for them. He's very versatile, can shoot it from all over and he has great ballhandling skills. He's going to be vital to their success this year.
I had a feeling that, based on the guys they have in that system, it would start to work this year. Coach (John) Beilein now has guys that really work in the system and it's starting to show. I know they're our big rival and people will be surprised I was pulling for them. That's fine. We didn't get the win, so at that point it's just about the Big Ten winning the challenge.
Michigan has lost 11 straight games in East Lansing and 18 of 21 games in the series overall, but Beilein is attempting to build the program back to the point where the Wolverines can be competitive with their rivals again. Expected to finish in the bottom third of the Big Ten again this season, Michigan is off to a 6-2 start heading into a matchup with Utah on Saturday.
Would Green be happy if Michigan sustained its hot start? Surprisingly enough, yes.
Michigan being better is really going to intensify the rivalry. After a big win in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and having played Syracuse down to the wire, they're showing that they're actually better than everyone expected -- which should make our game a lot better.
Classy comments from Green. Perhaps he feels safe saying that knowing it's unlikely Michigan will be much of a threat until he's graduated.
Eva Mendes Sarah Polley Aisha Tyler K. D. Aubert Sara Spraker
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