The first round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (full bracket here – background here). Here’s a printable version. Jimmy Harbaugh (Stanford) v Urban Meyer (Florida) As 3 and 4 seeded players, realistically neither of these guys is a candidate for the position for different reasons. Harbaugh burned the bridge this summer, and Meyer both burned the bridge last year during the BCS title game debate and given the fact that the Florida gig isn’t exactly a stepping stone to Michigan. We’ll start with Harbaugh [bio from Stanford official site]. The question really isn’t whether he’ll be a candidate. The answer is a big fat ‘No’. Vegas thinks he’s got a shot for some reason as he’s coming off at 10 to 1 to get the position. I’d work a strategy to short that. I have an MBA but struggled in derivatives…anyhoo, there’s a profit in shorting Jimmy somewhere. Harbaugh has sufficiently burned the bridge with the current administration whether it be AD Bill Martin or search committee members such as former RB Jamie Morris. No, not going to happen. BUT..obviously a Michigan man, long ties to the program and did pull off the 2nd biggest upset in football this year when he downed the Trojans… The question really comes down to whether Harbaugh could ever be a candidate. Meyer…

The first round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (full bracket here – background here). Here’s a printable version. Mike DeBord (Offensive Coordinator, Michigan) v Cam Cameron (Miami Dolphins) As 3 and 4 seeded players, each has an outside shot for the position. Bill Martin will interview Mike DeBord for this position. If he gets hired Ann Arbor will burn. We can only imagine the complexities of his job but Coach DeBord is just not a popular figure amongst Wolverine fans. Per the mgoblog: The one silver lining in this turd sandwich of a season is getting this guy the hell away from Michigan’s football program. Yikes. His status as Lloyd Carr’s buddy is probably the biggest thing in his corner. He quit the CMU job and there are still many bitter fans in Mount Pleasant. He certainly qualifies as a ‘Michigan Man’ as a loyal assistant and he served Carr during the great year of 1997, when everything seemed to work just fine. We’ll see what happens. I know there are a few DeBord people out there, I saw you come out during the original vote in September. Cam Cameron has had a charmed career in athletics. Just look the folks he played under during his days at IU: Before embarking on his coaching career, as a collegian Cameron…

The first round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (full bracket here – background here). Here’s a printable version. Bret Bielema (Wisconsin) v Gary Pinkel (Missouri) As 5 and 6 seeded players, each is considered a longshot for the position. Bielema has come into conversation lately as a candidate, but it may not be the right time for the young Bielema to leave the high profile job in Madision that he just took over. He would have instant recruiting ties to the Midwest, and may be buddy-buddy with current Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman due to his pedigree on Iowa’s coaching staff. More on Bielema here from the Wisconsin official site. I’m sure a few Badger fans would take offense at the suggestion that their coach could be cherry-picked by the Wolverines, but it could happen. Like it or not, the Michigan gig in on a different level and double-B would be foolish not to keep his ears on for Martin’s call. We’ll see. Gary Pinkel certainly is a hot name right given his hand in resurrecting the Tigers to one of the teams in the BCS championship hunt so late in the season. His team faces Kansas this weekend which will tell us a lot. He’d have instant Midwest recruiting ties as his pedigree is MAC-based (Kent State/Toledo/Bowling Green).…

The first round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (full bracket here – background here). Here’s a printable version. Bobby Petrino (Atlanta Falcons v Ron Prince (Kansas State) As 5 and 6 seeded players, each is considered a longshot for the position. How they got on the list: Bobby Petrino elevated the Louisville football program to new heights last season and took his craft to the NFL, where his short tenor has been stunted by the off field activities of Michael Vick. He’s a longshot for the candidancy but he’s got ties to the Midwest via Lousiville, and they way that team collapsed this year you have to wonder if Petrino is worthy of the hype. Ron Prince is a name you probably haven’t heard of but his name has come up by a few pundits as someone that just might be a good candidate. One of a handful of African American head coaches, Prince got some major props last year for taking over for Bill Snyder and getting the Wildcats to a bowl. The highlight of the 2006 campaign was taking down mighty Texas. His pedigree ties him to Virginia, and a little school of which I’m not familiar named Appalachian State. His stock has dropped a bit in the wake of giving up 71 points to the Cornhuskers…