Dear NCAA, Michigan Deserves to be in the Tournament

Michigan’s Season

The Michigan basketball team just finished up their regular season with a mediocre record of 17-13 and is the eighth seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Michigan had high expectations coming into the season after winning the Big Ten and being a one-seed in the tournament last season. They were number six in the preseason AP polls, but a couple of bad losses, in the beginning, derailed their season a little bit. Despite their struggles this year they still sit on the right side of the bubble according to Joe Lunardi. 

Michigan’s Resume

Michigan is 5-9 against Quadrant one teams, beating San Diego State, Ohio State, Indiana, Iowa, and Purdue. Ohio State, Indiana, and Iowa were all on the road. They’re also 3-3 against Quadrant two teams beating Michigan State, Penn State, and UNLV. A few of their wins were blowouts, beating Michigan State by 17 and Purdue by 24. They still have opportunities to build on this resume with the Big Ten Tournament Michigan has Indiana up first on Thursday a win against the Hoosiers, which means they’ll play Illinois on Friday. 

Is Michigan in Already?

Analysts said that the Wolverine’s win over Ohio State on Sunday would’ve already punched their ticket into the big dance. That may be true but, the Wolverines are currently sitting on the 11 lines according to Joe Lunardi. A loss on Thursday to Indiana could potentially take them off the 11 lines and into the 12 lines where that could be a play-in game. Their five quadrant one wins will go a long way for the Wolverines and especially the two on the road. Teams that have the same amount of quadrant one wins consist of Arizona, Duke, USC, Texas, and Ohio State, those teams are considered locks into the tournament. Michigan also sits at 41 in the RPI rankings above teams like Ohio State, Creighton, and Texas. 

How does Michigan do in March?

This 2021-2022 basketball team is probably one of the most unpredictable teams we’ve ever seen. They have some bad losses to Minnesota and UCF and on the other hand, they’ve blown out Purdue and beaten the Buckeyes on the road without Hunter Dickinson. Michigan will have to be way more consistent to make a run in this year’s tournament but the problem is that you don’t know what type of Michigan will show up on a night-to-night basis. 

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