Michigan Basketball: 3 predictions for Wolverines at Michigan State

Michigan basketball and Michigan State will meet for a share of the Big Ten title Saturday and here are three predictions for the Wolverines.

When Michigan basketball lost at home to Michigan State a couple of weeks back, the Wolverines faced an uphill climb to capture the Big Ten regular-season championship.

Yet, after bouncing back with consecutive wins, including a key road victory at Maryland, Michigan basketball is right where it wanted to be — heading to Michigan State with a chance to win a conference championship on the Spartans home floor.

Obviously, winning at the Breslin Center won’t be easy. It never is. But if Michigan is able to pull it off, it could be the most satisfying co-championship in UM history.

Certainly, the two rivals have met in some big-time matchups recently, such as meeting in the Big Ten semifinals last March at Madison Square Garden or playing for the Big Ten tournament title back in 2014.

However, when it comes to the regular season, this might be the most consequential meeting during the John Beilein era. Both teams have won multiple regular season titles in the past six years and beating each other has been key along the way, but never have the two schools met with this much on the line.

While the Wolverines have won back-to-back tournament championships in the Big Ten, in terms of regular-season titles, UM has gone without since 2014. And even though the title may not mean as much when the conference played a full round-robin schedule, it’s the only banner outside of a national title that’s missing over the past three years.

Michigan has been on a dream run the past three seasons and a win at Michigan State Saturday night would only add to it. Whether or not the Wolverines can deliver is another question and for my answer, here are three predictions.