Michigan Basketball: 3 Predictions for Wolverines against Wisconsin

Michigan basketball will host Wisconsin tonight in a battle of two teams that are coming on strong. Here are three predictions.

Michigan basketball has been playing as well as any team in the Big Ten conference of late. But one team right there with the Wolverines has been the Wisconsin Badgers, who have won four of five games and will invade Crisler tonight.

In the Big Ten standings, in the race to get a better seed for the NCAA tournament, this game is huge. A win would give both teams a better chance of finishing in the top four. It would also give the winner the tiebreaker in a jam-packed race.

It’s conceivable that Michigan basketball could go into the Big Ten tournament as the No. 4 seed or possibly the 10 seed. That’s how crazy it is this season in the Big Ten, so this is a critical game for both teams.

The Badgers, who are No. 28 in the Kenpom rankings, compared to No. 9 for Michigan, are a classic Wisconsin team, one with size, that shoots a lot of 3-pointers and doesn’t turn the ball over.

Wisconsin wants to play at its slow deliberate pace and that will be one thing to watch. Michigan wants to get stops, run the floor and play the game as a faster tempo.

It’s going to be a fascinating matchup and this is Juwan Howard‘s first meeting against Wisconsin, so he will see how he matches up with Greg Gard and with that in mind, here are three predictions for tonight’s showdown.