stout numbers both directions.DEFENSIVE DEMEANORThe Hoosiers couldnt stop anybody, including Michigan, on defense last season. New def

For the younger generations of Chicago Cubs fans, reaching the postseason isnt quite the novelty it was for the generations before them. For all the years that have been tacked on to the teams epochal championship drought, the Cubs have more or less been steady crashers of the playoff party in recent years.Between the Cubs most recent World Series appearance in 1945 and their 1984 NL East title, they drew a big, fat goose egg when it came to playoff baseball. Thats why that 1984 team looms so large in the collective memory of North Siders and why players such as Rick Sutcliffe and Ryne Sandburg are now folk heroes.This season will mark the Cubs seventh playoff appearance since 1984. Its not the Yankees or Red Sox or Cardinals or Braves, but once every four or five years isnt bad. Still, all living generations of Cubs faithful are united by the title drought -- and they all hope this years postseason entrant will be different.Is it different? Of course, that remains to be seen. What we know now is that as a regular-season team, this Cubs bunch was good. As it turns out, with a couple turns of the statistical screw, they were very special indeed.As we wrote the other day, the Cubs have sported a run differential that,?translated to wins via the Pythagorean formula, marks them as a 108-win team. Their differential ranks in the top 25 all time in the modern era (since 1901). Thats 2,452 team seasons. However, the Cubs is only the fifth-best run differential (per 162 games) in franchise history. Four pre-1910 Cubs teams did better, including the only two Cubs teams to win the World Series and the 1906 team that established the big league record with 116 wins.If we are to compare the postseason worthiness of the Cubs teams that advanced past the regular season, we must do a couple things. What were trying to do is estimate how strong each team was compared to the league it was in. To a significant extent, run differential does this.The problem comes when trying to compare teams over different seasons and eras. Baseball was very different a century or so ago, especially in the decades before Jackie Robinson came along. Not only was the talent pool less than what it should have been, but also, in the pre-draft era, the talent major league teams allowed in was not distributed equitably. Those early-20th century Cubs teams might well have been the best of their day, but there was a reason they clustered so many overwhelming teams together.To account for this, we can look at the distribution of wins within each season and adjust that to be era-neutral. After we apply that adjustment to run differential, we should be able to better compare teams from different years. The three years with the widest distribution of run differential were 1909, 1906 and 1942, the year so many big leaguers entered into military service for World War II. The smallest distributions, which in theory are our years of greatest parity, were 1984, 1959 and 1986. This season ranks 89th of 116, so we are very much in an era of parity.Now we can rank the Cubs postseason teams. In case youre skimming, be aware that there is a little surprise at the end. Carolina Hurricanes Shirts . Datsyuk will miss Tuesdays game against New Jersey and could be sidelined longer, while Cleary will likely miss at least the next three games. Its been an injury-plagued season for Datsyuk, who has suited up for just 39 games. Hurricanes Jerseys 2020 .J. -- Josh Cribbs was in the Pro Bowl in February and out of a job six months later. https://www.cheaphurricanes.com/ . Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek defeated Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on the indoor hard-court at Belgrade Arena. The victory improved the Czech pairs impressive cup doubles record to 14-1. Wholesale Hurricanes Jerseys . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. Carolina Hurricanes Pro Shop .C. Lions has come to an end. Banks told TSN on Jan 2 that he had no interest in playing out the option year of his contract with the Lions in 2014, and he again made that clear in a conversation with Lions GM Wally Buono last week. ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan had momentum going in the wrong direction when Jim Harbaugh came back to the campus where he was a star quarterback.The Wolverines were 5-7 in 2014, the fourth and final season in which they won fewer games than the previous year under Brady Hoke. They fired Hoke and hired Harbaugh, moves that have been hailed for turning around the program.As No. 4 Michigan (9-1, 6-1 Big Ten) prepared to host Indiana (5-5, 3-4) in its last home game for seniors, including tight end Jake Butt, and perhaps junior Jabrill Peppers, Harbaugh heaped praise on the players who will play in the Big House for the last time Saturday.This class has meant so much to me personally, to Michigan football, to all of us, Harbaugh said. The direction of the program was going a certain way almost like a locomotive. Its a lot to get it stopped, to get the momentum stopped. Its like stopping a freight train. Credit them for not only getting it stopped, but even getting it turned on the tracks and headed the other direction.The Wolverines cut ties with Hoke, who had a 31-20 record, but the players he recruited helped Harbaugh win 10 games last year. This year, theyre contending for their first conference championship since 2004 and perhaps the schools first national championship since 1997.Even though Iowa spoiled Michigans undefeated season last week with a 14-13 win, the Wolverines are three wins away -- against the Hoosiers, at No. 2 Ohio State and in the Big Ten title game -- from reaching their goals.We reminded ourselves and each other that what we set out for at the beginning of the season is still right in front of us, Butt said. Were going to learn from this loss and become tougher and better because of it. We control our own destiny. As long as we keep handling business, were not worried about what anyone else is doing. Weve just got to handle our own business and the rest will take care of itself.Here are some things to watch when the Wolverines host Indiana:UNDER CENTERMichigan may start John OKorn for the first time because quarterback Wilton Speight hurt his left shoulder lastt week against the Hawkeyes.dddddddddddd As late as Thursday morning, Harbaugh was refuting reports that Speight would be out for the rest of the season. OKorn started 16 games at Houston before transferring.CLOSE CALLThe Hoosiers havent won in the series since 1987 and are winless at Michigan Stadium since 1967, but they were in a position to beat the Wolverines last season. Indiana had the lead in the final minute before giving up a touchdown with 2 seconds left and losing 48-41 in two overtimes.Im sure they might have it in the back of their mind we kind of stole that game from them last year on their senior day, Butt said.TURNOVER TROUBLEIndiana has fumbled nine times in the last two weeks, losing seven. The rash of turnovers dropped them from No. 3 in the nation after eight games to No. 101 this week. If the Hoosiers are going to have any chance of winning at Michigan, they have to hold onto the football.STRIKING A BALANCE: Michigan is averaging 236.3 yards rushing and 231.5 yards passing this season.A lot of people talk about balance, Indiana coach Kevin Wilson said. But those are pretty stout numbers both directions.DEFENSIVE DEMEANORThe Hoosiers couldnt stop anybody, including Michigan, on defense last season. New defensive coordinator Tom Allen has turned their defense around. Indiana is giving a much more reasonable 28.4 points per game and has only allowed three teams to top the 30-point mark. The Hoosiers have made the best improvement in yards allowed, giving up 392 yards this season, 117.5 fewer than they allowed last year.HOOSIER IN BLUEMichigan freshman Chris Evans, who is from Indianapolis, made the most of limited opportunities last week against the Hawkeyes. He had eight carries for 52 yards and none of his teammates with multiple carries averaged more than 2.8 yards per rushing attempt.---More AP college football at www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25---Follow Larry Lage on Twitter at www.twitter.com/larrylage ' ' '