Michigan Earns No. 1 Seed, Set To Play Winner Of UMBC/Howard
The Wolverines earned a No. 1 in the NCAA Tournament for just the fourth time ever. Here’s who they will face and how they fare against their region…
For just the fourth time in program history, the Michigan men’s basketball team has earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Wolverines finished the season with a 31-3 overall record — 19-1 in Big Ten play — and earned a Big Ten regular season title. They made the Big Ten Tournament Championship Game on Sunday afternoon, but they came up just short against Purdue.
As the top seed in the Midwest region, Michigan will face the winner of the First Four game between No. 16 seeds UMBC and Howard on either Thursday or Friday. The date and time is still TBD.
If the Wolverines win their first matchup, they will play the winner of No. 8 seed Georgia and No. 9 seed Saint Louis. Both rounds will take place in Buffalo, New York, with the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight taking place in Chicago.
How Does Michigan Matchup With Its Region?
All time, No. 1 seeds are 158-2 against No. 16 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. The first team that ever pulled off that massive upset is UMBC.
A No. 16 seed in 2018, UMBC stunned No. 1 seed Virginia in a 20-point walloping, winning 74-54.
In a full circle moment, the Retrievers’ then-head coach Ryan Odom is now the head coach at Virginia. While there’s no real holdovers from that 2018 squad, the program itself has proved capable of hanging with really good teams.
UMBC is on a 12-game winning streak, and it won both the regular season and tournament titles in the America East. It finished the season 24-8 overall, but it boasted the second-worst strength of schedule in the country according to KenPom.
While the retrievers have been impressive against the teams they’ve played against, they’ve yet to prove themselves against top competition.
This will mark Howard’s fifth all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament, but it is still yet to record a win.
Like UMBC, Howard won both the regular season and tournament title in the MEAC. The Bison have struggled to take care of the ball at times this season, and that could certainly cause problems for them in a single-elimination format.
Regardless of which team wins the First Four matchup, Michigan should be in a very favorable position to make it to the second round.
Iowa State and Virginia grabbed the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the Midwest region, respectively, and Alabama nabbed the No. 4 seed. No other Big Ten teams were placed in the Wolverines’ region.
If the Wolverines advance, both Georgia and Saint Louis are very capable squads. Georgia finished eighth in the SEC and has problems against top competition, but it plays at an extremely fast pace and shoots a lot of 3-pointers — that combination makes for a dangerous team if it’s hitting its shots.
Saint Louis, on the other hand, was one of the best mid-major teams in the country. It put together an impressive 28-5 overall record, but it hasn’t had many opportunities to take on a team of Michigan’s caliber.
Saint Louis hits 3-pointers at a ridiculous 40.5% clip, which is second in the country. Like Georgia, if they’re hitting their shots, they have the capability of pulling off an upset.
As a No. 1 seed, the Wolverines have a favorable path to making a deep run. But in the NCAA Tournament, there are no easy games.
