Oakland no pushover, Wolverines should be worried

On Tuesday, when the Oakland Golden Grizzlies defeated No. 7 Tennessee (in Knoxville, no less) the team got quite a bit of attention. Oakland was all over SportsCenter Wednesday, with the anchors making sure to let the national audience know that Oakland University was in Oakland County, Michigan, not Oakland, California. OU head coach Greg Kampe, who despite being the program's main man since Regan's first term in office is still relatively unknown by most college sports fans, was interviewed live on ESPN. The Detroit sports radio station, which avoids talk of mid-major sports like Rex Ryan avoids Jenny Craig, seemed to be fielding calls left and right about the Golden Grizzlies and their big upset over the Volunteers.
The attention must be nice for Kampe and his Golden Grizzlies.
But here's a little secret: Oakland is good. They have been good, and they are probably going to get better before the season ends.
Sure, the victory over Tennessee is probably the biggest win in the program's history. But a week before that, the Grizzlies played Michigan State right down to the wire, losing by just a point, 77-76. Oakland has been to the NCAA tournament twice in the last five years, and is looking to make a push again this season.
So why all the talk about Oakland in Ann Arbor?
Well, the Golden Grizzlies are coming to town Saturday to take on Michigan at Chrisler Arena (12 p.m.).
It's not the first time. In fact, Michigan often gives the Grizzlies a spot on their schedule. And it's almost always a blowout game in favor of the Wolverines.
But this year could be different.
Oakland is riding high after the big win over Tennessee, and the narrow loss to Michigan State. The Grizzlies have also played tight games against Big 10 powers Purdue and Illinois.
Oakland boasts center Keith Benson (18.8 points and 11.5 rebounds), who, according to at least one NBA mock draft, could become the school's first first-round draft pick.
On the other side is Michigan. A team that has the capability to be brilliant one moment, and plain awful the next.
So when it comes to Saturday's game, it really depends which personality of the Jekyll and Hyde Wolverines is going to show up.
If it's the team that beat up on Clemson and Utah, Michigan will be fine. But if it's the team that showed up for the games against Coastal Carolina and Concordia, the Golden Grizzlies might be looking at getting a little more ESPN coverage.