Michigan Basketball: Updating bracketology after Michigan State sweep

After completing the season sweep of Michigan State in the Big Ten semifinals Saturday, here’s an update of Michigan basketball in bracketology.

In terms of impressive wins this season in college hoops, none may be more impressive than the two victories Michigan basketball posted over Michigan State.

The first win for Michigan basketball over the hated Spartans came in January, on the road, in East Lansing. The Wolverines beat the second-ranked Spartans by double figures. Saturday, in Madison Square Garden, at the Big Ten Tournament, UM did it again, beating Michigan State 75-64.

Like the first meeting, Michigan did it with defense. The Wolverines held the Spartans to under 40 percent shooting, while on the other end, Moe Wagner and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman scored key buckets. Here are the full highlights if you want to re-live the win.

Obviously, the win over Michigan State is sweet. The Wolverines have now won three straight over the Spartans and are into the Big Ten championship game for the second straight year. It’s also the third time in the past five years they will play for the tourney title.

But in terms of the big picture, what does it mean? How will it affect seeding in the NCAA Tournament?

Well, if you look at the bracket of Jerry Palm from CBS, not much. He bumped the Wolverines up to a five seed from a six, which is absolutely insane. Not only has Michigan basketball swept the Spartans, both wins were by double digits and both were away from home.

On top of that, Michigan has won eight straight games and is 27-7 overall. And in that stretch, they have five top-100 wins: Ohio State, Maryland, Penn State, Nebraska and Michigan State. Here’s the kicker, only one of those wins came at home.

No other team in the country is on a run like this and the fact that Palm didn’t even move Michigan onto the four line is madness. The latest projection by Joe Lunardi of ESPN also had the Wolverines listed as a five seed, but that was before the second win over Michigan State.

At this point, Michigan has a fairly stout resume, one that will only get better with a win over Purdue. But the idea that UM isn’t at least a four is ridiculous. And if the Wolverines do win a second straight Big Ten title, they should be at least a three, if not a two.

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Hopefully, the actual selection committee isn’t as dim as Palm, who seems to hold a grudge against the Big Ten. But at the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter. Michigan just needs to keep winning, that will eventually silence all the doubters.