Where Michigan Basketball currently stands in bracketology projections
After winning two of three games last week, including one over No. 3 Purdue, Michigan basketball improved its position in the latest bracketology projections.
Even though the Michigan basketball team failed to beat Ohio State and go 3-0 for the week, the Wolverines did score a quadrant-2 win at Penn State and followed it up with a quadrant-1 win at home against Purdue.
The Wolverines are currently ranked in the top 40 of the NET rankings, which means they are still in a solid position as far as the NCAA tournament is concerned.
That’s reflected in the latest bracket projections from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and also Jerry Palm of CBS Sports.
Neither expert has Michigan basketball in their bracket right now. However, the Wolverines are among the first four teams out in each projection. In fact, Michigan is currently the No. 2 team out, so that means the Wolverines are right on the edge of a berth.
What Michigan basketball must do to reach the tournament
With seven games left in the Big Ten, Michigan is 13-10 overall and 7-6 in the league. It seems reasonable that if Michigan were to win four of the last seven games, finishing with an 11-9 record in the conference, as well as a 17-13 mark that it will make the tournament.
The 13 losses aren’t great but plenty of teams have made it in recent years with 12 or 13 losses and Michigan has a chance to add some impressive wins to its resume down the stretch as games loom against Iowa (2), Wisconsin, Michigan State, Illinois, Rutgers, and Ohio State.
The away games are at Iowa and Wisconsin this week, as well as a trip to Ohio State. That means four of the last five games are at home.
So Michigan essentially needs to win the rest of its home games, since it does have road wins at Indiana, Penn State, and Nebraska, or win three at home and one on the road.
Neither task is easy, but if Michigan can play the way it did against Purdue, the Wolverines should be able to get it done. At the same time, if U-M plays the way it did last Saturday, it feels like a much tougher task.
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The good news is that Michigan is close enough to a berth that it controls its own destiny and as long as it wins more games than it loses from here on out, it should get an NCAA tournament bid.