Michigan Basketball: Huge weekend ahead in race for double bye

Michigan basketball has surged at the end of the season, winning seven of eight games, which has made a top-four finish in the Big Ten possible. Here’s how.

When the Michigan basketball team was sitting at 2-6 in the Big Ten, few would have expected the Wolverines to make a run at finishing in the top four.

But after the Wolverines won seven of their last eight games, it’s a possibility, even if some things need to break the right way in order for it to actually happen.

First things first, Michigan basketball has to keep winning. That’s the most essential part of any scenario that gets the Wolverines in the top four. If they win out and finish 13-7, it’s hard to imagine them not making it.

And while that certainly seems like a tall task, it’s doable.

Michigan basketball plays Wisconsin at home Thursday, before traveling to Ohio State. The Wolverines then get Nebraska at home before closing the season out at Maryland.

Michigan Wolverines Basketball

That’s a tough stretch and in the Big Ten, every stretch of games is difficult, however, if the Wolverines play like they have in recent weeks, they are capable of winning out.

And if certain things happen this weekend, Michigan could essentially control its own destiny, as long as things shake out the right way.

Wisconsin has seven losses, so Michigan has to beat them to get a leg up in the standings and from there, if the Wolverines won out, they wouldn’t have to worry. Iowa and Penn State also play this week.

Penn State has six losses and is tied for second. But since Michigan lost to them, it would be better if the Nittany Lions won, giving Iowa its eighth loss and putting the Wolverines in front of the Hawkeyes.

That would leave Maryland, Penn State, Illinois and Michigan State to worry about.

Passing Penn State and Illinois is possible, yet the Wolverines would need each to lose twice since they both own the tiebreaker over U-M. That makes Michigan State more likely and the reason is that the Spartans play Maryland on Saturday.

The Terps won in East Lansing earlier this season and if they win at home against Michigan State, it will help Michigan basketball in two ways. For one, it would give the Spartans a seventh loss and if Michigan beats Wisconsin, U-M would be tied and since each team won one game, it would go to a tiebreaker.

Here’s where it gets tricky.

According to the Big Ten rules, the tiebreaker is broken this way:

"A. Two-team tie:1. Results of head-to-head competition during the regular-season.2. Each team’s record vs. the team occupying the highest position in the final regular-season standings (or in the case of a tie for the championship, the next highest position in the regular-season standings), continuing down through the standings until one team gains an advantage."

If Maryland beats Michigan State, it would hold a two-game lead for first place with three games to go and if Michigan beat Maryland at the end of the season, it would be 1-0, while Michigan State would be 0-2 against Maryland.

That would give the tiebreaker to the Wolverines, as well as a double-bye. It’s certainly complicated but if you were wondering what needs to happen to Michigan to finish in the top four, everything listed above would be a good place to start.