At 25-1, Michigan is the No. 1 team in the country, and though the Wolverines have a few major tests left with No. 3 Duke, No. 10 Illinois, and No. 15 Michigan State left on the schedule, the Wolverines have the inside track to the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
If Dusty May’s team holds serve down the stretch and locks up that spot, he knows where they’ll likely be playing in March on their path to Indianapolis for the Final Four. On Thursday, Matt Norlander of CBS Sports reported that Michigan has requested the Philadelphia to Chicago path through the first two weekends of the tournament.
A small bit of news: Michigan has told the NCAA that if it is the No. 1 overall seed, the Wolverines have called dibs on going to Philadelphia—>Chicago for the first two weekends.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) February 20, 2026
Buffalo is technically closer, but U-M wants Philly if it's No. 1 overall.
Michigan requests Philadelphia to Chicago path through March Madness
Just because Michigan has requested the Philadelphia to Chicago path doesn’t mean it’s a guarantee. First, with Houston and Duke breathing down their necks, the Wolverines may not necessarily secure the top overall seed and preferential treatment with their region of choice.
Second, the committee may not necessarily oblige Michigan’s request, but as the No. 1 seed, it’s likely that they will.
As for the other locations for the first and second rounds, Michigan’s Philadelphia request makes some sense, though, as Norlander pointed out, Buffalo, New York, is technically closer. The other locations for the first weekend are Greenville, South Carolina, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Portland, Oregon, Tampa, Florida, San Diego, California, and St. Louis, Missouri.
None of the other first weekend hub sites makes much sense for Michigan, and the choice for the second weekend regional was an even easier one to make. Michigan’s Chicago request would give the Wolverines a considerable home court advantage over just about any other team in its region and would be preferable travel-wise over Houston, Texas, for the South Regional, San Jose, California, for the West, and Washington, D.C., for the East.
With five games left in the regular season, and the game of the year on Saturday against Duke, Michigan has plenty of work left to do, but all signs point to the Wolverines being the top seed in the tournament and going through the Midwest Region.
Last year, in Dusty May’s first season at the helm, Michigan was a No. 5 seed in the South Regional and fell to No. 1 Auburn in the Regional Semifinal in Atlanta. This year’s path would be last year’s, which saw the Wolverines play UC San Diego and Texas A&M in Denver in the first weekend.