Michigan Basketball: 3 Bold Predictions for Wolverines in 2020-21
Michigan will finish in top four of Big Ten standings
This certainly won’t be easy for Michigan basketball as the Wolverines are one of seven Big Ten teams ranked in the AP top 25, including four that are ranked in the top 15.
But Michigan also has plenty of reasons for optimism. Yes, the Wolverines graduated two very good seniors, but just about every college basketball team is missing pieces from last year and three of five best players are returning starters.
Wagner will be one of the best scorers in the conference. He’s also a solid rebounder and can be a good defender if used in the right away. Livers isn’t an elite defender but he’s solid on both ends and his 3-point shooting is deadly. And Eli Brooks is among the best perimeter defenders in the Big Ten.
Add Chaundee Brown to that mix and you have a pretty solid core group. The key is how the rest of the parts fit. If Mike Smith can defend well enough to play 25-30 minutes a night, the Wolverines will be in business. The same can be said for Hunter Dickinson.
The freshman has a chance to be a very good back-to-the-basket player and someone the offense could even go through, but he has to be able to defend and stay out of foul trouble. Plus, he still needs to prove he can score against Big Ten caliber bigs.
Defense is probably the biggest concern, which is obvious when you are replacing Simpson and Teske. Smith and Dickinson aren’t the same kind of defenders, but they can also do things on the offensive end that their predecessors couldn’t, at least not as effectively.
It will be fun to see how it all plays out and I also think Brandon Johns is going to have a really good year. He’s basically a starting caliber player who will get around 15-20 minutes for the Wolverines. I hope he gets more and is given run at center because Michigan doesn’t have any legitimate shot blockers outside of him. He’s also U-M’s best offensive rebounder.
There are a lot of pieces and the Wolverines, in the schedule department, got some favors. Of the six teams ranked ahead of U-M in the AP poll, Michigan plays only two of those teams twice — Michigan State and Wisconsin.
Iowa and Illinois will both come to Ann Arbor for the only matchup between both teams, which is the same for Rutgers. Michigan will travel to Ohio State in the only game between the two rivals, but all in all, it’s not a bad schedule.
In the end, I’m predicting the Wolverines to go 13-7 in the Big Ten, which would have gotten them a bye last year and put them within a game of tying for the league title.
With all the strong teams, we will have a similar battle again in 2020-21 and in the end, the Wolverines won’t win the conference, but they will have a strong showing.