Wolverines Report: Getting Inside
This isn't Cinderella showing up at the ball, but there is some degree of comparison in the two stories. When the Wolverines were sitting at 1-6 in the Big Ten on Jan. 22, the suggestion that they belonged in the NCAA Tournament field would have been a fairy tale of its own.
The Wolverines, fielding the Big Ten's youngest team and the 19th-youngest in the nation, were picked in the preseason to finish at or near the basement of the conference, and they seemed to be playing down to those expectations.
But Michigan underwent a quickie metamorphosis in late January, and suddenly this immature and erratic team became dangerously energized and competitive. The Wolverines reeled off eight wins in their final 11 games of the season, twice beating a Michigan State team that had been in the top five nationally to start the season, and the preseason pick to win the Big Ten.
That streak put the Wolverines on the bubble and in the discussion, and however precarious their position might have been, they locked up an NCAA bid with a comeback win over Illinois in the Big Ten tournament and a strong showing against No. 1 Ohio State.
"I think we just did a good job of blocking out all the preseason rankings and all the negative talk that people were saying," junior forward Zack Novak said. "We were a young team with a lot of unproven players, so there really was no reason for people to think much of us. There were times this year where we easily could have quit, but we never did."
Never quitting earned the Wolverines an at-large bid as a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and a date with No. 9 Tennessee at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte as part of the West Region. The winner gets the chance to face the winner of No. 1 seed Duke and No. 16 seed Hampton.
Michigan coach John Beilein, a veteran of NCAA trips at four different schools, said his team finishing fourth in the Big Ten was all the evidence he needed that the Wolverines belonged in the NCAA field.
"I don't care about the seedings and all those things," Beilein said. "The only thing that I would say is, we finished fourth in a great conference. Forget the tiebreakers and all that stuff. I have never seen the Big Ten be this strong in my four years here, and we finished fourth."
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