In Reply to: It wouldn't surprise me if Michigan wins the Big Ten posted by mh on December 11, 2024 at 17:55:19
that will get better as the season goes on. They have 4 starters that tranferred in and are probably still getting used to playing together and, of course, they have a new coach that everyone on the team (except Goldin) are still getting used to playing for.
But the Arkansas game seems to be a perfect example of who they are right now; a team that can build a 15-point lead in the first 11 minutes of the game, then given it all back and fall behind by 18 almost as quickly, and then come almost but not quite all the way back to make it a one point game before losing by 2.
The other Power-5 team they lost to was fairly mediocre Wake Forest. In that game Michigan had a 13-point lead in the first half, and gave up two 10-0 runs to the Deamon Deacons to lose by 2 (kind of just like Arkansas).
Michigan has 10 remaining B1G games on their schedule against teams that are statistically better than Arkansas right now (and almost every team in the B1G is better than Wake). Four of those are road games (UCLA, Purdue, Ohio State, and Michigan State) and look like losses, although they did sneak out of Wisconsin with a 3-point win last week.
More concerning is they let an Iowa team they should have handled with some ease hang around and tie the game in the last minute before eeking out a 2-point win at home. That makes home games against Penn State, Oregon, Purdue, Illinois, Maryland, and Michigan State particularly problematic for the Wolverines.
If they can't defend their home court, they're not winning the B1G. I wouldn't put my money on them.
OTOH, they're going to be a problem for teams in the NCAA tournament. I think they can easily make the Sweet-16, and with either a little luck or more discpline, or both, get to the Elite-8.