Michigan Basketball: 5 Reasons Wolverines can make Final Four

Michigan basketball might be without Isaiah Livers but here are five reasons the Wolverines can still make the Final Four. 

The Michigan basketball team will take the court Saturday in the NCAA Tournament and it will be the Wolverines first trip since 2019 after last year’s tournament was called off.

Michigan basketball will be a top seed and will face Texas Southern or Mt. Saint Mary’s. That should be an easy win for the Wolverines, but nothing comes easy in the NCAA Tournament and there’s a reason why it’s called March Madness.

Obviously, it’s hard to have the same optimism about the Wolverines hopes of reaching the Final Four now that Isaiah Livers is likely out for the tournament.

However, Michigan still has some key ingredients of a Final Four team, and here are five reasons why the Wolverines can still make a run.

Coaching

While Juwan Howard isn’t proven as a tournament coach and this might be one of the questions compared to John Beilein, Howard has done a great job this season and outside of a few mishaps, has had very few missteps.

Every coach makes mistakes, even Beilein did. The key is being able to scout a team you haven’t played much and get a gameplan you can win with a short turnaround.

The hardest part isn’t that first game, it will be the Monday game (if Michigan makes it) where Howard will earn his salt as a head coach.

Yet, Phil Martelli is a very experienced tournament coach and that will help, but more than anything, Howard has put Michigan basketball into advantageous positions all year.

The Wolverines run great sets and outside of some strange substitution patterns, Howard has been exceptional this year and we should expect nothing different.