After his team blew a 20-point lead to the Chicago Bears in 2006, former Arizona Cardinals coach Dennis Green erupted during his postgame press conference. His tantrum was featured on every major sports media outlet and was later spoofed in a Coors Light commercial.

Among Green's famous words was this gem, referring to the Bears: "They are who we thought they were."

More than two years later, those words summarize the Michigan men's basketball team's season.

After a 9-2 non-conference schedule catapulted the Wolverines into both Top 25 polls by the end of December, Michigan quickly became a Cinderella story. At the time, few doubted the Wolverines would make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998.

Expectations rose so high that if Michigan (4-6 Big Ten, 14-8 overall) didn't make the tournament, it seemed that the season would be a bust. But those expectations were simply too high for this team.

"We'll have ups," Beilein said on Oct. 14. "More ups than last year, we hope. We'll have downs; that's a constant."

Michigan has an outside chance of dancing in March, but here are three reasons why the Wolverines faithful should stay positive through the rest of the season.

The man in charge: Michigan fans had it rough recently. In former Michigan coach Tommy Amaker's second year (2002-03), the team won six more games than the year before and won the National Invitation Tournament the next season. But in six seasons, Amaker never made it over the jump to the NCAA Tournament. So when Michigan toppled UCLA and Duke this season, some fans were a bit skeptical about getting too excited. After seeing the Wolverines lose five of their last six conference games this season, they were right.

But Beilein and Amaker aren't the same coach.

Before coming to Ann Arbor, Amaker coached four years at Seton Hall and had a 68-55 record. He was young, just 35, and seemed to have a bright future. But six years without dancing says otherwise. Beilein, on the other hand, has experience.

Michigan was just 10-22 last season. But in Beilein's first three seasons at West Virginia, the win total increased each year, so there's room for optimism.

When it comes to strategy, the comparison isn't even close. Amaker rarely called an inbounds play and often ran down the shot clock just to have a desperation 3-pointer clank off the rim. He developed the reputation as a poor in-game coach.

Beilein is highly respected among his college basketball colleagues. ESPN's Dick Vitale wrote in 2005, "Many college basketball insiders feel that Beilein is one of the masters on the sidelines."

Don't worry. Beilein's got it under control.

The players: If you haven't noticed yet, Michigan isn't that talented right now. The Wolverines feature two of the conference's premier scorers and rebounders in sophomore guard Manny Harris and junior forward DeShawn Sims.

After that, there's a dropoff in talent.

Sophomore point guard Kelvin Grady has shown great improvement this season, but there are arguably eight point guards in the Big Ten better than him.

And don't forget the fact that three freshmen have had to play significant minutes. Those three, guards Laval Lucas-Perry, Zack Novak and Stu Douglass, have had their moments and will all be important parts to the program. But for now they're young and inexperienced.

Aside from those six, Michigan doesn't have much to offer. But in a few years, Beilein should have a much more talented team on the floor.

With that said, Michigan still has 14 wins with nine games left in a better-than-advertised Big Ten that has four teams in the AP Top 25. Smile.

The future: Beilein can recruit. In just his second season at Michigan, he has commitments from a trio of three-star recruits and one four-star.

He's not known for bringing in big-time recruits and instead, typically molds certain players to fit his system. But after bringing two top-20 players at their respective positions, expect Michigan's level of talent to rise in the years to come.

The NCAA Tournament may not be in Michigan's future this year, but don't panic. There are plenty of good times to come.