NCAA Tournament Rooting guide: Michigan basketball edition

Here’s your Michigan basketball rooting guide for the weekend as the Wolverines hope to get an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament.

I know I just wrote an article earlier today about sitting back and relaxing in regards to Selection Sunday, because I predicted that Michigan basketball would be in the field of 68 no matter what happens, but technically, I was partly wrong because there are some crazy scenarios that can occur that could push the Wolverines out.

Now, I am still going to go out on a limb here and say that Michigan basketball will still make the tournament, but it will be a lot closer than I thought (which, looking back at it now, I don’t exactly regret, but forgot to factor in a few other possible curveballs, but I still won’t change my stance completely), as a few things have happened that could push Michigan from safely into the field with the “Last Four Byes” down to the “Last Four In.”

The main thing to keep in mind is that a 17-14 record before the NCAA Tournament selection process was revised with NET rankings, Quad 1, 2, and 3 wins, and SOS (strength of schedule) most assuredly would have resulted in Michigan NOT making the NCAA Tournament. 14 losses are just about THE cutoff in terms of making the tournament, no matter how many Quad 1 wins a team may have during the season.

Now, here’s a rooting guide for the rest of the conference tournaments:

Michigan basketball rooting guide

Ok, so first of all, there are already a few good things that occurred that should help Michigan’s chances further. Florida, Xavier, and Wake Forest all lost in their conference tournaments, and those teams all had similar resumes with similar W-L records.

You can even add Virginia to the list. Syracuse as well. I was very nervous that one of those teams would steal a spot in the tournament by winning their conference tournament. Mainly Syracuse, because, if you’ve noticed, that seems to be an annual thing for them. Being mediocre to bad in the regular season, and barely squeaking in and going on a run in the NCAA Tournament.

There are two main concerns right now in regards to threats to Michigan’s tournament positioning: Indiana and Texas A&M.

Indiana (unexpectedly) just beat Illinois earlier today for another significant Quad 1 win (after they came back and beat U-M yesterday). They are 20-12 right now and play Iowa tomorrow. If they win that, even if they don’t win the tournament crown, they will probably be in. Root for Iowa hard. Just have to hope that the committee doesn’t look at Indiana taking Michigan’s spot among the 68 teams.

What could hurt Indiana’s case just a little bit is technically they are in their home state, so even though they are playing on a “neutral floor,” it is still in their home state of Indiana.

Texas A&M just beat Auburn in a shocker of an upset. They have a bad conference record at 20-11 overall, which is why they are on the bubble. The Aggies play Arkansas (who beat LSU) tomorrow, so that should hopefully end Texas A&M in their conference tournament. Heavily root for Arkansas tomorrow.

Virginia Tech is also another one. They play North Carolina later tonight at 9:30 P.M. so hopefully, they will lose. I know we Michigan fans hate the Tar Heels, but root for the Tar Heels to beat Virginia Tech. They have recently reappeared in tournament projections in the last few days as a Last Four In team.

Colorado is a wildcard. They play Arizona later tonight, and if they win their conference tournament, obviously a bubble would burst for a team, but the good thing is, based on projections, that could be more for the teams on the bubble and not the teams safely in the field.

Root against SMU and Memphis for the tournament. If either one gets in, it could push a team in the “Last Four Byes” out.

So, there you go. Those are the main concerns that stick out right away because Michigan, unfortunately, lost to Indiana.

Again, until I more projections from Joe Lunardi and other bracket experts leaving Michigan out, I still like them in, but basically, root against Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, and Colorado and Memphis/SMU, if you took nothing else away from this.

Despite telling everyone to be calm, I’ve definitely grown a little bit more nervous for Michigan basketball, but I am still chill. Let’s all just not focus on it and let the dominoes fall where they should.