Michigan Basketball: 3 Bold Predictions for Wolverines in 2020-21

Juwan gets his first win in March Madness

It would have been fun to see if Juwan and company could have kept the Sweet-16 streak alive last year and with the way the team was playing, who knows?

But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Howard will have to wait until this March to get his first taste of the NCAA tournament.

The Wolverines should be able to earn a pretty good seed, especially if they are able to win 12-13 conference games as I expect them to. Their non-conference schedule isn’t overly difficult, although Bowling Green could win the MAC and it at least features NC State in the Big Ten-ACC challenge.

The Wolfpack are ranked 55th in the preseason Kenpom rankings and that’s the best non-Big Ten win the Wolverines would be able to get. So playing well in the conference is huge, especially in terms of picking up marquee wins.

Winning on the road was a struggle last year and we will see how that translates to 2020-21. However, if my previous prediction winds up being true with Michigan basketball winning 12-13 games in the Big Ten, a seed somewhere in the 4-5 range should be in order.

And don’t forget, Livers has played in the NCAA tournament before, so has Brooks. There is experience and if it’s all clicking, there’s no reason to believe Howard can’t take his first NCAA win and make it two, getting the Wolverines back to the Sweet 16.