5 Things for March 28th: Tigers Lock up Miguel Cabrera with Massive Contract

1. When the Tigers failed to sign Max Scherzer to a long-term deal last weekend, it appears that their focus immediately shifted to Miguel Cabrera.  Cbssports.com reported that Miggy agreed to a monster 10-year, $292 million dollar extension last night.

This is the most expensive deal in MLB history, and will make Cabrera a Tiger until he is 40.

2. Michigan State meets Virginia in what should be an outstanding Sweet 16 game tonight.  The Cavaliers play outstanding defense, and really take teams out of transition.  According to teamrankings.com, they are fifth in the country and defensive efficiency, and play at the sixth-slowest pace in the nation.

Virginia plays a 'pack-line defense', which means they sag off shooters and pack the paint.  Keith Appling will likely be given ample space to shoot, and he needs to be able to take and make those shots. If he can not, it is going to allow Virginia to use an extra body to clog up space for Adreian Payne and MSU's drivers.

Virginia is an average offensive team, and will have a tough time scoring on MSU.  This game will likely be a dogfight that finishes in the 50's, and should be a lot of fun.

3. Michigan plays Tennessee at 7:15.  The Volunteers are led by big man Jarnell Stokes, who averages a double-double and is one of the leading rebounders in the country.  They also have some long wings, including Jordan McRae, who is their leading scorer.  Tennessee is an intriguing team with some good big guys and athletic wings, but Michigan is much more skilled on the perimeter, and I would favor them in this game.  UT's gameplan should be to pound it inside and try and get U of M's big men in trouble.

4.  For the second straight game, the Red Wings were sluggish out of the gates and it came back to haunt them.  Just like Tuesday against Columbus, Detroit fell behind 2-0 in the first period to the Montreal Canadiens. Detroit tied the game up in a wild third period, but Montreal scored twice to put the game out of reach.  The Wings are still locked in a four-way tie for the final two playoff spots.

5.  The 25th anniversary of the Bad Boys is happening tonight at the Palace.  Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News has a nice feature with some information on it.  There will be a special ceremony at halftime of the Pistons-Heat game.