The Michigan basketball season won't officially start for a few more weeks, but the Wolverines will be on the floor at the Crisler Center on Friday night for an exhibition game.
Michigan will take on the Cincinnati Bearcats in the first meeting between the two teams since the 1992 Final Four, a game the Wolverines won before losing to Duke in the national title game.
This is the first of two exhibition games. Michigan basketball will play St. John's next Saturday in a matchup of top-10 preseason teams, before the actual season opener against Oakland on Nov. 3.
Tonight's game will be broadcast on BTN+. The Bearcats were 19-13 a season ago and were selected to play in the College Basketball Crown. The Michigan Wolverines are fresh off a Sweet 16 appearance.
Dusty May has built a loaded roster, centered around Yaxel Lendeborg, a potential first-round pick, who chose to play at Michigan instead of the NBA. He was the top-ranked player in the portal. Michigan also landed Morez Johnson from Illinois and Aday Mara from UCLA. Elliot Cadeau, the starting point guard, transferred from North Carolina.
May will have to mold all of these pieces to go along with returners such as Nimari Burnett, Roddy Gayl, Will Tschetter, and LJ Cason, along with five-star freshman Trey McKenney.
Tip-off is set for 8 PM EST on BTN+.
Michigan pushes back on private equity deal for Big Ten
Over the weekend, board members for Michigan and USC met about the Big Ten's proposed private equity deal, which would essentially sell off 10 percent of the conference for an infusion of cash.
Michigan regent Jordan Acker is speaking at the UM board meeting: “Enough is enough. …. Make no mistake, in five years, we would regret this (capital) deal.” https://t.co/L23N1XlxEs
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) October 16, 2025
Both schools are now pushing back against it. In a board meeting, Michigan regent Jordan Acker said the deal is one the Big Ten "would regret" in five years, according to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports. However, the Big Ten members said conversations are still "ongoing", despite the objections of Michigan and USC.
Michigan Wolverines still unbeaten in hockey
The fourth-ranked Michigan hockey team fell behind against Robert Morris on Thursday night but rallied for a 4-2 win to improve to 5-0-0 on the season.
Adam Valentini, the youngest player in college hockey, scored his first two goals for the Wolverines. One of those tied the game. The other proved to be the game-winner for U-M. T.J. Hughes also found the back of the net for the 49th time as a Wolverine in the victory. Ben Robertson scored, too.
Jack Ivankovic improved his record between the pipes to 5-0 after being credited with 14 saves.
Michigan football coverage
In case you have missed it, here's a look at five questions facing the Wolverines against Washington, three keys to victory, and three reasons Michigan football fans can expect a win on Saturday.