The next time there's a downtrodden, doom and gloom media day in sports, maybe the first time.

Media days are inherently full of optimism, excitement, enthusiasm.

The season's about to begin.

The players and coaches are revved up to get the actual games going.

Heck, let's be honest, there haven't been consistent press conferences and interview requests for a while.

So it has kind of that first day of school feel to it from this perspective, from the

broadcasting from the media perspective.

At least it does for me.

But let's face it, the optimism around media day for both basketball programs here in Ann Arbor

isn't here just because we're at this time of the calendar.

Both programs approach this season with the belief and probably the expectation that plenty

of wins are on the horizon, that championships could be attainable.

College basketball and its system of postseason play gives everyone a chance.

But the likelihood of those chances varies.

Few college campuses enjoy the collective hopes and expectations that U of M currently has for

its two basketball programs. As we all know, though, things change quickly, the conversations,

the analysis they change quickly. By late November, the interesting nuggets

from Media Day will be irrelevant. By mid-January, the conversations around non-conference

observations won't mean a whole lot except for bubble seating talk come tournament time. And once we

get those beautiful brackets in March, it's a reset to survive and advance.

For now, enjoy the deserved positivity around both programs.

For many, this time of year is as good as it gets.

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