Michigan Basketball: Experts predicting Final Four run for Wolverines

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(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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After beating Michigan State for the second time this season, Michigan basketball is now becoming a trendy pick for the Final Four.

The Big Ten Tournament has been good to Michigan basketball the past two seasons. Last year, the Wolverines completed a magical run to a Big Ten title after the incident with their team plane.

But now, after Michigan basketball beat Michigan State Saturday at Madison Square Garden, the Wolverines have a chance to win four games in four days for the second straight year. Michigan plays Purdue for the Big Ten title at 4:30 EST.

Certainly, the Big Ten championship should be the Wolverines only focus right now. But win or lose, Michigan will head into the NCAA Tournament as one of the hottest teams in the field.

The win over Michigan State was the eighth straight for Michigan. And of those eight wins, five came against teams ranked in the top 75 of the RPI and four of those five wins were on the road or a neutral floor.

What makes the run even more impressive is not that the Wolverines are winning these games, but how they are winning them. In wins over Michigan State (neutral), Ohio State (home), Penn State (road), Maryland (road) and Nebraska (neutral), the average margin of victory has been 14.5 points.

Michigan Wolverines Basketball
Michigan Wolverines Basketball /

Michigan Wolverines Basketball

All five of those teams are ranked 74th or better in the RPI and all those except Nebraska are considered quadrant 1 or quality wins. Michigan basketball is 6-5 against in quadrant 1 games.

Those numbers are impressive, but so are some of the numbers Michigan basketball is putting up as a team. Maybe the most unexpected stat is the fact that the Wolverines are ninth in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 63.5 ppg.

According to the KenPom rankings, Michigan has the sixth-ranked adjusted defense and the 34th ranked offense, in all of college basketball. The rankings also list UM as the ninth-ranked team in the country.

That seems about right. And after Saturday’s win, Michigan started to get floated as a Final Four contender. This piece over at CBS breaks down just how well the Wolverines are playing right now. And why they will be a tough out in the NCAA Tournament.

Seth Davis, an analyst for CBS went even further. Following the win over Michigan State, he said in the post-game coverage that he believes Michigan is a Final Four team.

It might have seemed crazy a couple months ago, but not anymore. Michigan is hitting on all cylinders. Moe Wagner, Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and Duncan Robinson have all taken their games to the next level. Zavier Simpson and Charles are dominating on defense and freshman like Jordan Poole and Isaiah Livers are still coming up big.

Michigan also has one of the best coaches in the country. John Beilein is 13-7 at Michigan in the NCAA Tournament and will coach today in his third Big Ten Tournament title game. He’s another reasons UM is dangerous.

It’s obviously way too early to think about the Final Four. Heck, even the NCAA Tournament is getting ahead. Purdue and the Big Ten title is all that matters today.

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But as the tournament gets closer, Michigan will be a trending team. And it looks like the Wolverines have all the pieces for another deep run in March Madness.