Michigan Basketball: 3 predictions for the Wolverines against Penn State

Michigan basketball restarts Big Ten play Thursday night against Penn State and here are three predictions for the Wolverines.

It has been a magical first two months of the season for Michigan basketball but now, the real work begins as the Wolverines renew their chase of a Big Ten championship Thursday night.

After winning their first two Big Ten games against Purdue and Northwestern, Michigan basketball will look to improve to 3-0 against the Nittany Lions, who will come to the Crisler Center as Big Ten play gets underway for the second time.

At first glance, Penn State doesn’t look that tough, however, looks can be deceiving. Penn State may be just 7-6 overall, but the Nittany Lions have a home victory over Virginia Tech, as well as a close road loss to a solid Maryland team. On top of that, Kenpom has Penn State as the No. 46 team in the country with the 23rd best defense and 115th best offense.

In those same rankings, Michigan basketball is the No. 4 overall team. The Wolverines ranked 23rd in offense and fourth in defense. But what this means is that while most don’t think of Penn State as a strong basketball team, the Nittany Lions are solid and in the loaded Big Ten, every game is going to be a battle.

And as much as people want to talk about the Final Four or whatever, the first goal should be winning the first regular-season conference championship since 2014. A 3-0 start would be ideal to make that happen and here is a look at what to expect with three predictions.