Michigan Basketball: Breaking down the rest of the Final Four

Michigan basketball has three teams in the way of an NCAA Championship. Here’s what the Wolverines should expect from Loyola-Chicago, Villanova and Kansas.

It hasn’t always been pretty, but Michigan basketball is making its way back to the Final Four for the second time in John Beilein’s run as head coach.

An NCAA Championship is in sight. Only three teams are in the way of the Wolverines’ dreams. Looking at that field though, it’s clear it will not be close to easy.

First, Michigan basketball has to take down Loyola-Chicago, a No. 11 seed that has gone on a miracle run to the Final Four, taking down Miami, Tennessee, Nevada and Kansas State along the way. They should be a good matchup for this Michigan team, but this tournament has proven that the Ramblers are not to be brushed aside.

On the other side of the bracket, you have two college basketball powerhouses in Villanova and Kansas. Both of those teams boast top 5 offenses. Michigan has proven this season that its defense can hang with top offenses, but for those games the Wolverines will hope that they score more like they did against Texas A&M than they did in their other games.

Michigan basketball has a decent shot at winning its first championship since 1989. Bart Torvik’s metric gives them the second-best odds  at winning it all. That’s still significantly behind Villanova’s chances, but there’s a good chance nonetheless.

Here’s a brief preview of the teams Michigan will have to take down to win that championship.