Michigan Basketball: 3 takeaways from another marquee loss to UNC

3. Michigan’s tournament chances are on life support

The Wolverines will wrap up non-conference play next week without any notable wins. Pitt is their only passable win so far, while the six other ones are basically non-existent when it comes to their resume. They’ll get a shot to reconcile that as they set their sights on the ramped-up Big Ten conference come January.

Luckily for them, they have a realistic chance at being around .500 in the league this year. Of course, they’ll have to win some that they are not expected to, but it’s doable to think so. They may be able to start off 3-0 if they can knock off Maryland and Penn State at home, both of whom have beaten Illinois this month.

Michigan basketball will need to win their fair share of home contests while stealing two or three on the road like they did last season to earn them that 11 seed and advance to the sweet 16.

They started off on the right foot by winning in Minnesota, now they will have to recreate that magic to atone for their lack of out-of-conference victories.