Resume wise, I think Michigan really wants Purdue to beat Ohio State on Thursday and Iowa to make a little run. Good chance to bag a couple of Q1 wins if they can get into the top 30 of the NET (Iowa currently at 34, Purdue at 33).
Anybody need to win a game or two to sneak into NCAAT?
Purdue, Indiana and Rutgers would all probably sleep a lot sounded if they can bag a Q1 win in Indianapolis.
Rutgers?!?! I thought they would be safely in at this point. Interesting
I think they are in (I wrote by NCAA Tourney Bible preview for them 
– preorder it!) but they are probably on the 9/10ish line right now?
Purdue needs to make a splash to get in (i.e. multiple wins). Indiana and Rutgers are more about landing the aircraft smoothly.
Tough draw for MSU for being a 2 seed if they have to play OSU in a QF.
Little nervous about the potential of losing to Rutgers and going into the NCAA tournament with no confidence, but I trust our guys on a neutral court again.
I feel like we make it to Sunday and lose to MSU.
I don’t think I want to spend $20 on a preview I’m unlikely to read. 20 years ago I’d gladly plop $20 down. My interest level has waned on such a broad view. Basing this on subscription to Athletic that I underutilize. Happy with my UMHoops subscription though.
anybody got a printable bracket link? The one on the B1G website doesnt fit on a single page.
I sure hope Coach Howard and Martelli can get this team playing some team defense, otherwise they won’t stay long in either the Big Ten and NCAA tourney. It’s not a talent issue, it’s playing as a team.
Ya for sure, how many broken assignments are we seeing on switches? Started against Wisconsin and has continued over the last week. Im not sure if it was Wiggins or Morsell who literally had 3-4 seconds to take an uncontested 3. Just one example, along with some bad luck on some hot shooters. (Trice, Washington, Wesson.)
This is the one that’s on Reddit. Not sure how it looks not on mobile.
Is it possible to fine anyone who posts that it’s tough to beat the same team 3 times in a season (this one doesn’t count)? Maybe add a few travel bucks to the UMHoops coffers?
This graphic tells me that Wisconsin isn’t favored against us on a neutral court, and nor is Illinois/Iowa, which makes me happy
For neutral site matchups I believe KenPom just compares efficiency margin straight up, so the only B1G teams that would be favored against Michigan in that setting would be MSU, OSU, and Maryland.
Who are all on the other side of the bracket… I’m starting to get my hopes up. But beating Rutgers 3 times in one season won’t be easy.
Here’s the bracket, posted above:
This is one of those years where I literally have no clear expectations for this team. If they continue their erratic play on defense or continue to shoot 30% or less on open threes…we could lose to anyone. If the Big Ten has skewed our perception of our true ability because we played the toughest schedule in the country…maybe we can make a run in either tournament!
So much of the conference, including Michigan, is 3pt dependent. Maryland goes on a slide and can’t hit the ocean, then they get hot against Michigan. Livers/Brooks get a little hot for a while and we look great, then we finish on a bad cold streak. OSU and Wiscy have been really hot from outside and that aligns with their record.
I think that’s a function of no team having a true elite player that’s able to take over games themselves, with the exception of Winston. There are also no true lock-down defenses either. So it ends up being a game decided by 3s and perhaps how the refs call fouls. Unpredictable, exciting, and frustrating at the same time.
Ouch on the start time. Just praying the team toughens up on d and communicates and fast. Would love to see some confidence and momentum start building for someone outside of Franz. Livers (injury I know) and Johns waking up would be HUGE.