Here are three thoughts on how the Michigan Wolverines can avoid a similar fate to other Big Ten Tournament champions, a potential path to the Final Four and keys to keeping the win streak alive:
Fresh off a Big Ten Tournament title, the Michigan Wolverines will try to go on a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines are set to take on UC San Diego in the first round of the tournament on Thursday at 10 p.m. on TBS.
Here are three thoughts on Michigan as we enter March Madness.
Can the Wolverines avoid a Big Ten Tournament hangover?
The Wolverines are hoping to avoid a hangover from the Big Ten title run and find success in the NCAA Tournament. Throughout the last 10 years, the Big Ten Tournament champions haven’t always been able to keep the momentum going.
Several teams parlayed a conference tournament title into a run in the NCAA Tournament including Wisconsin (2015), Michigan (2018) and Michigan State (2019) reaching the Final Four, along with Illinois getting to the Elite Eight last season.
With that said, plenty of other Big Ten Tournament winners have been major March Madness disappointments as well. For example, Michigan State (2016), Iowa (2022) and Purdue (2023) suffered historic first round upsets in recent years.
Wolverines vs Tritons to begin the NCAA Tournament pic.twitter.com/qEfXyyxICm
— Michigan Men’s Basketball (@umichbball) March 16, 2025
The potential path to reaching the Final Four is daunting
The Wolverines certainly didn’t catch a break as they earned a 5-seed when most prognosticators had them as a 4-seed. That makes a path to the Final Four even more daunting with Auburn, Michigan State and Texas A&M potentially waiting.
If Michigan advances with a win over UC San Diego on Thursday, Texas A&M will likely be up next in the second round. The Aggies take the 7th highest rated defense in the country according to KenPom into a first round matchup with Yale.
Even though a run to the Final Four is relatively improbable, it never hurts to look ahead as the Wolverines would likely be tasked with facing SEC champion Auburn in the Sweet Sixteen and either Iowa State or Michigan State in the Elite Eight.
Everything is clicking at the right moment. Let’s keep the momentum going strong! pic.twitter.com/kexAIXhAu0
— Michigan Men’s Basketball (@umichbball) March 17, 2025
Michigan must continue to dominate the paint, rebound at high rate
In order to sustain the recent success, Dusty May’s team must continue to dominate in the paint and on the glass. Michigan had a sizable margin in points in the paint (102-76) and rebounds (127-100) in three Big Ten Tournament games.
The Wolverines finally broke out of their shooting slump as well, shooting a higher percentage than their opponent in each matchup, as the offense looked much more balanced than it did during the losing streak to end of the regular season.
If Michigan can replicate its Big Ten Tournament performance , they could string together a few more wins this month. That’s certainly easier said than done but the Wolverines have proved that they’re capable of competing at the highest level.