Now that the college football playoffs is over (congrats to the Indiana Hoosiers!), the rest of the country can join me in what I’ve known for almost two months: It’s basketball season. So far, I’ve avoided writing anything about the Wolverines, and for good reason. But as a Michigan man, I simply could not wait any longer. The saga with Sherrone Moore was shocking. Then, they got stomped by Texas in the Cheez-It bowl 41-27 (the score was closer than the game was). Finally, we got our guy in Kyle Whittingham. But by then, the Michigan faithful were already on to Dusty May and his squad.
As of this posting, Michigan basketball is currently ranked #3 in the country in the AP poll. And there’s a decent argument they should be #1 despite a home loss to an unranked Wisconsin Badgers team.
Michigan’s season got off to a slow start with back to back close calls against Wake Forest and TCU. The team really hit their stride in the second ever players era festival. With dominant wins over SDSU, #21 Auburn, and finally #12 Gonzaga, Michigan won their three games by a combined 110 points and handed Gonzaga’s Mark Few his worst ever loss as a coach. At their height, KenPom rankings had them as the 2nd best college hoops team in history behind only the 1999 Duke team.
This team brought that historic stretch of early dominance into BIG10 play where they proceeded to beat #24 USC by 30 points making them the first team in AP poll history to win 3 straight games against ranked opponents by 30+ points. Their only hiccup came against a gritty Badgers team that shot 50% from the field and 45% from beyond the arc - which is the only way to hang with a team that is averaging 93.1 points per game. That loss didn’t deter this squad as they proceeded to win on the road against two west coast teams in Washington and Oregon. The cross-country road trip is nothing to scoff at as #14 UNC recently found out with back to back losses at Stanford and Cal.
Now, after Dusty May’s first year at the helm where he turned around an 8-24 program en route to a B1G tournament championship and a Sweet Sixteen appearance where they lost to the #1 overall seed and eventual final four team Auburn - A loss which was avenged this year in stellar fashion - year two is proving to be his best work yet. They have cut turnovers per game down from 14 to 12 and are scoring at will. This team is the real deal and no one should be surprised when they’re cutting down the nets in Indianapolis come April 6th.
Side note: As an equal opportunity blog, I’m obligated to plug Michigan Hockey which has been ranked #1 for 8 straight weeks now! They’ve been steamrolling through conference play and are poised to join their basketball counterparts atop the sports landscape. No school has ever won a division 1 basketball and hockey national championship in the same year. Michigan, the premier sports program in the country, looks all the ready to be the first. Go Blue!
Jared Millman, PE