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Michigan Basketball Deserves NCAA Tournament Bid

By Tyler Fenwick

Mar 11, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Hoosiers guard Yogi Ferrell (11) scrambles for a loose ball against Michigan Wolverines guard Derrick Walton Jr. (10) during the Big Ten Conference tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Michigan wins 72-69. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 11, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Hoosiers guard Yogi Ferrell (11) scrambles for a loose ball against Michigan Wolverines guard Derrick Walton Jr. (10) during the Big Ten Conference tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Michigan wins 72-69. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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Michigan basketball hasn’t always looked like an NCAA Tournament team this season, but the Wolverines have done enough to earn a bid.

With tonight being the night Michigan basketball fans have been dreading for the better part of a month, I thought it might be appropriate to lay out some reasons why the Wolverines do in fact deserve an NCAA Tournament bid.

Related Story: Wolverines bounced by Purdue

Michigan went into the Big Ten Tournament on the outside looking in after finishing the regular season by losing six of their last nine. The general consensus was the Wolverines would need at least two wins in the conference tournament to get on the right side of the bubble.

The first game against Northwestern was probably closer than most expected, going into overtime after the Wildcats hit a shot to beat the buzzer, but the Wolverines used a late jumper from Zak Irvin to get over the hump.

After that Michigan picked up its biggest win of the season by knocking off No. 1 seed Indiana with a Kam Chatman buzzer-beater.

The Wolverines’ run came to an end against Purdue on Saturday afternoon, but they did enough in the Big Ten Tournament to show the committee that they’re worthy of a bid.

This is why Michigan is an NCAA Tournament team:

Michigan won 10 Big Ten games

The Big Ten isn’t the strongest conference in college basketball this season, but it’s certainly not a scrub. The fact that the Wolverines got 10 league victories (plus two more in the conference tournament) is impressive, especially considering they played just about the whole conference season without Caris LeVert and Spike Albrecht.

Michigan’s worse loss in the Big Ten was to Ohio State, which will likely end up being the first conference team outside the tournament field (if Michigan makes it in).

Key wins: vs. No. 3 Maryland, vs. No. 18 Purdue, vs. No. 10 Indiana (in the Big Ten Tournament)

Michigan doesn’t have a bad loss

I know I said earlier that not being bad isn’t necessarily good enough, but it might just be good enough to get Michigan into the tournament. Its loss to Ohio State was also its worse loss on the entire season, and Ohio State isn’t bad.

The Wolverines don’t have a loss outside the RPI top 100. A 4-11 record against the RPI top 100 doesn’t look great, but the Wolverines didn’t fold to a team it definitely shouldn’t have.

Michigan finished strong

The Wolverines finished 6-6 in their final 12 games, but I’m looking at the short term, which is sometimes enough by itself to push a team over the bubble and into the field.

Michigan’s wins over Northwestern and Indiana proved this team isn’t dead like we all thought, and it also proved the Wolverines are capable of playing in close games and coming out alive and well on the other side.

More wolverines: Spring position preview: running backs

As much as it bothers me how easily the committee seems to be swayed in the final days of conference tournaments, it may help Michigan in this case.

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