We have known for years that the NCAA selection committee often doesn't consider what happens in the Big Ten championship game, but maybe the worst example yet was what happened to Michigan basketball on Sunday.
The Leaders and Best are heading West#GoBlue | 📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/YAGUb3nAwY
— Michigan Men's Basketball (@umichbball) March 16, 2025
After three straight wins over ranked teams, including an 18-point win over Purdue, Michigan basketball was still given a five seed by the NCAA tournament selection committee.
Michigan basketball was robbed of playing the first-round closer to home. The Wolverines will face UC San Diego, a team that's dynamic and 30-4 overall, on Thursday. The Tritons will be a tough matchup. They shoot the ball well and have good defensive metrics but we'll see how they handle a pair of 7-footers.
Regardless, Michigan was hosed. Wisconsin, the team Michigan just beat for the second time, was seeded as a three. The two teams have the same number of losses. Michigan notched two wins (road and neutral) over Wisconsin. Those quad-1 wins will give Michigan 12 total. Wisconsin has eight.
Neither team has a quad-3 loss. Michigan had a better road record. Wisconsin has more quad-2 wins, but it feels like the results, at least during the Big Ten tournament didn't matter enough,.
Michigan should have gotten a four. If the committee had given them a fair shake instead of pre-determining the Wolverines' seed before their final game. What's also interesting is that Yale and Texas A&M will be the winner if Michigan advances, so Danny Wolf could face his former school.
A rematch with Michigan State is also possible in the Elite 8. The Spartans are the two seed on the other side of the bracket.
We'll have more on this matchup and the South Region as a whole, which also includes top seeded Auburn, but the Wolverines deserved better treatment from the NCAA selection committee.