Michigan Basketball: Wolverines surge in bracketology, AP poll
Michigan basketball moved up to being a No. 5 seed in the latest bracket projections from ESPN and CBS. U-M is also back in the top 25.
At one point this season, there was a question about whether or not Michigan basketball could win on the road.
Well, it recent weeks, that question has been answered by the Wolverines with a resounding yes after wins at Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue and Rutgers, as well as a neutral court win over Rutgers at Madison Square Garden.
While the Wolverines never dropped out of ESPN bracketology expert Joe Lunardi’s projection, they were in the last four out after dropping to 2-6 in the Big Ten and losing four consecutive games.
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Of course, that’s when Michigan basketball was without Isaiah Livers. Since his return, the Wolverines have beaten Purdue, Indiana, Michigan State and Rutgers twice. The team has also looked really good doing it.
Now, Michigan is 9-7 in the Big Ten, following a run of seven wins in eight games and Monday, U-M finally made its way back into the AP Top 25 as the No. 19 team.
That’s nice but what’s even better is seeing Michigan move up in the bracket projections of both ESPN and CBS. Jerry Palm of CBS released his bracket Sunday and had the Wolverines listed as a five seed.
Monday, Lunardi put Michigan on the same seed line, meaning, the two most prominent projections available now have the Wolverines seeded fifth with four games left and the Big Ten tournament.
Two of those games are at Maryland and Ohio State, which will provide U-M will two more chances to make an impression on the committee. Michigan is also ranked No. 22 in the NET rankings released by the NCAA.
If you look through the rankings, you will see that Michigan owns nine wins over the top-42 teams in the rankings with victories over Gonzaga, Rutgers (twice) and Purdue all coming away from home. That’s four quadrant-1 wins right there. Beating Creighton at home right now counts as a fifth and Michigan State is the sixth.
Examining the Wolverines closing stretch. light. Related Story
That’s why the Wolverines are seeded where they are right now. It’s been a tremendous thing to watch and if Michigan basketball keeps rolling, the seeding should only improve as the NCAA tournament approaches.