Michigan has won 15 Big Ten regular season championships and four Big Ten Tournaments. How does this season stack up with those seasons, and what can we expect heading into the Sweet Sixteen?
Big Ten basketball has been crowning champions since 1906. Michigan has claimed at least a share of the conference title in 15 of those seasons, good for the seventh most. On top of that, Michigan has won the Big Ten Tournament in men’s basketball four times since its inception in 1998.
So what can we learn about this season’s iteration of Michigan basketball? Does winning a championship correlate to NCAA Tournament success? Let’s take a look in reverse chronological order to see how each team performed after their respective championship.
2025: Tournament Champions as the 3-seed
The 2025 Wolverines were given a 5-seed in the NCAA Tournament and are currently in the Sweet Sixteen after victories over UC San Diego and Texas A&M.
2021: Regular Season Champions
Michigan won the regular season crown in Juwan Howard’s second season as head coach. Howard won Big Ten Coach of the Year while Hunter Dickinson won Freshman of the Year.
The Wolverines got to the conference tournament semifinals before being upset by 5-seed Ohio State. In the NCAA Tournament, Michigan was a 1-seed and defeated 16-seed Texas Southern, 8-seed LSU and 4-seed Florida State before falling to 11-seed UCLA in the Elite Eight.
2018: Tournament Champions as the 5-seed
The Moritz Wagner-led Wolverines pulled off a few upsets on the way to a Big Ten Tournament title (including knocking out 1-seed Michigan State). In the NCAA Tournament, they were given a 3-seed and got all the way to the National Championship before losing to the 1-seeded Villanova.
2017: Tournament Champions as the 8-seed
The 2016-17 team became the lowest seed to ever win the Big Ten Tournament. It was especially noteworthy given the team plane had crashed after an aborted takeoff on the way to the tournament.
In the NCAA Tournament, Michigan was given a 7-seed. The Wolverines defeated 10-seed Oklahoma State and a Donovan Mitchell-led 2-seed Louisville squad. Sadly, Michigan fell to 3-seed Oregon in the Sweet Sixteen.
2014: Regular Season Champions
Michigan won the regular season championship by a full three games. As the 1-seed in the Big Ten Tournament, the Wolverines defeated Illinois and Ohio State before painfully falling to Michigan State in the Championship.
In the NCAA Tournament, Michigan was slotted as a 2-seed and beat 15-seed Wofford, 7-seed Texas and 11-seed Tennessee on the way to the Elite Eight. In the Midwest Regional final, Michigan fell to an 8-seed Kentucky team that went to the National Championship.
2012: Regular Season Champions
The 2011-2012 regular season title was shared between Michigan State, Michigan and Ohio State. Due to various seeding tiebreakers, Michigan was given the 2-seed in the conference tournament. After a win over Minnesota in the quarterfinals, the Wolverines were blown out by 3-seed Ohio State in the semifinals.
Sadly, this team was upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as a 4-seed, losing to 13-seed Ohio.
1998: Tournament Champions as the 4-seed
The Wolverines brought home the hardware in the inaugural year of the Big Ten Tournament, as they defeated 5-seed Iowa, 8-seed Minnesota (who had previously upset 1-seed Michigan State), and 3-seed Purdue. Robert Traylor and Jerod Ward were named to the All-Tournament Team.
As a 3-seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Wolverines defeated 14-seed Davidson before falling to 6-seed UCLA in the second round.
1986: Regular Season Champions
Roy Tarpley led the Wolverines to a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament. Michigan knocked off 15-seed Akron before being upset by 7-seed Iowa State in the second round. The Wolverines finished No. 5 in the AP Poll despite the early exit from the tournament.
1985: Regular Season Champions
The 1985 team was also led by Tarpley. They won the Big Ten crown by a whopping four full games. They were granted a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament, where they escaped 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson before being upset by 8-seed Villanova.
1977: Regular Season Champions
Phil Hubbard led a Michigan team that led the conference in scoring. In 1977, the NCAA Tournament consisted of just 32 teams. Michigan defeated Holy Cross and Detroit before falling to UNC Charlotte (now known as just Charlotte) in the equivalent of the Elite Eight.
1974: Regular Season Champions
Michigan shared the regular season crown with Indiana in 1974. Twenty-five schools participated in the NCAA Tournament, which included some byes. Michigan was one of the teams to receive a bye in the first round and beat Notre Dame before falling to Marquette in the Regional Final (Elite Eight equivalent).
Pre-1970 Regular Season Championships and Results
- 1966: Elite Eight equivalent
- 1965: Upset by UCLA in the national championship game
- 1964: Third place nationally (lost to Duke in the Final Four, defeated Kansas State in third place game)
- 1948: Lost in the first round of an 8-team NCAA Tournament
- 1929: No post-season existed
- 1927: No post-season existed
- 1926: No post-season existed
- 1921: No post-season existed
While it’s no surprise a team that wins its conference championship should have talented players and be successful, this list proves there are no guarantees in March. Of the eight times Michigan has won a conference crown of either variety since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64+ teams, the Wolverines have lost in the first round once, lost in the Round of 32 three times, lost in the Sweet Sixteen once, lost in the Elite Eight twice and lost in the National Championship once.
By my math, that means half the time Michigan has won a championship in the Big Ten, it hasn’t even made it out of the first weekend of March Madness. All that said, don’t take Michigan’s current run to the Sweet Sixteen for granted. You just never know when you will be back.