It’s hard to believe, but March Madness is just a couple short months away. Today, we rounded up where several college basketball bracketology experts see the Michigan Wolverines (and the rest of the Big Ten) roughly halfway through the season:
Believe it or not, we are less than nine weeks away from Selection Sunday. Dusty May has the Michigan Wolverines on fire of late, sitting at 13-3 overall and undefeated in the Big Ten. Michigan has smashed nearly every preseason projection in a positive way.
Today we wanted to see how the experts see that translating to March. Bracketology used to just be a one- or two-month projection system, but it’s now done nearly year round.
Here’s where each of the three sites have Michigan and the rest of the Big Ten as of Jan. 10:
ESPN: Joe Lunardi
- 3-seed: Illinois, Oregon
- 4-seed: Michigan, Michigan State
- 5-seed: Purdue
- 6-seed: UCLA, Wisconsin
- 8-seed: Nebraska
- 9-seed: Maryland
- 10-seed: Ohio State
- 11-seed: Indiana (Last Four In)
- Next Four Out: Penn State, Iowa
Lunardi has 11 Big Ten teams in the field, with Penn State and Iowa on the outside looking in. He has Auburn as the top overall seed and, coincidentally, the Indiana Hoosiers as the last team in.
From Michigan’s perspective, he has the Wolverines taking on 13-seed South Alabama in the first round in the South Region, followed by a second-round matchup with 5-seeded UConn and old friend Tarris Reid.
CBS Sports: Jerry Palm
- 2-seed: Illinois
- 3-seed: Oregon
- 4-seed: Michigan State
- 5-seed: Michigan, Wisconsin, Purdue
- 7-seed: Nebraska
- 8-seed: UCLA
- 9-seed: Indiana
- 10-seed: Ohio State, Maryland
- First Four Out: Iowa
Palm has the same 11 teams from the Big Ten making the tournament as Lunardi. Palm has Iowa closer to the field than Lunardi does, but makes no mention of Penn State. He has Michigan as a 5-seed in the South Region taking on the No. 12-seed Samford. A potential second-round matchup with another old friend in Hunter Dickinson and the Kansas Jayhawks would loom.
Around the Big Ten, Palm is higher on Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana than Lunardi is, but he’s lower on Michigan, UCLA and Maryland.
Fox Sports: Mike DeCourcy
2-seed: Oregon
3-seed: Illinois
4-seed: Michigan State
5-seed: Purdue, Wisconsin
7-seed: Michigan, UCLA
8-seed: Maryland, Nebraska
10-seed: Indiana
11-seed: Ohio State
First Four Out: Penn State
Somewhat surprisingly, DeCourcy matches Lunardi and Palm with exact same 11 Big Ten teams in the field. Conversely from Palm, though, he has Penn State close to the field but makes no mention of Iowa.
DeCourcy is significantly lower on Michigan than either Lunardi or Palm, as he has the Wolverines as a 7-seed in the East Region. This would be a tough path, as it would mean a first-round matchup with 10-seed St. Bonaventure and a potential second-round game with 2-seed Alabama.
DeCourcy is higher on Oregon than his counterparts and also likes Maryland more than most. His biggest disparity from the other two bracketologists is none other than the Michigan Wolverines.
The overall consensus midway through the season is that 11 Big Ten teams appear to be in the field as of now, with one or two more knocking on the door. Michigan ranges anywhere from a 4-seed to a 7-seed, but appears more likely to be on the higher end of that spectrum.
As Michigan fans, you have to be thrilled with the direction of the program.