3. Michigan’s arduous road ahead
With one more road trip on Sunday, Michigan basketball will wrap up its regular season at either 17-14 or 18-13.
In 2022, 17-14 was enough to earn them an 11 seed in the big dance even after losing a bubble battle to Indiana on Thursday of the Big Ten tournament. They also had 11 wins in the Big Ten as they do now. This year’s story is different though.
Michigan doesn’t have the quality wins in the non-conference slate and lacks a win over a ranked team. They’ve made some noise in the Big Ten, but it’s not enough according to the bracketologists. They’ll presumably have to win at Indiana on Sunday and then realistically win at least two more in Chicago next weekend to feel safe about making the field.
If Rutgers beats Northwestern this weekend, Michigan’s lowest seed in the Big Ten Tournament is No. 6. If Northwestern wins, lowest is 8. Double bye is still in play with a win over IU.
— Anthony Broome (@anthonytbroome) March 3, 2023
As far as the Big Ten tourney is concerned, Michigan can still earn a double-bye with help. The probability of that happening is not good.
The most likely scenario will be that they get a single-bye and play on Thursday. Winning at Bloomington is achievable though, as they did so a year ago to get their resume going and on Tuesday, Iowa went into Assembly Hall and improved to just 4-7 away from home.