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Fresh off its dominant victory over Minnesota, Michigan basketball has a tough week ahead.
Not only do the Wolverines have a road rematch against the Gophers, but the maize and blue have to face off against a more than solid Wisconsin Badgers team, one that ESPN has ranked No. 9 in the country.
10. Michigan Wolverines (10-0)
Previous ranking: 16
This week: vs. Wisconsin (Tuesday), at Minnesota (Saturday)Hunter Dickinson has been on the radar of basketball junkies for nearly a half-decade. Dickinson was a touted prospect early in his high school career, and remained near the top of the rankings for most of his recruitment. But despite being consistently productive, there were questions about how his game would translate to today’s basketball. After all, he’s 7-foot-1 and plays almost exclusively inside the arc; there aren’t too many of those players around. But maybe that’s why he’s been so dominant so far. Opponents just don’t have answers for his size, skill set and ability to facilitate offense as a passer. Statistically, there’s a case to be made he’s the best freshman in the country this season.
While that’s an honor in and of itself, it’s not the only one ESPN heaped upon the maize and blue.
In Jeff Borzello’s weekly breakdown, he also gave head coach Juwan Howard a coach of the week distinction across the sport.
Coach of the Week: Juwan Howard, Michigan Wolverines
It’s probably too early for Coach of the Year talk since many teams have played fewer than 10 games, but Juwan Howard should merit serious consideration — and should rank alongside Shaka Smart among the favorites. Michigan was inconsistent last season in its first year without John Beilein, but was on track for a 5- or 6-seed on Selection Sunday. And then UM lost senior stalwarts Zavier Simpson and Jon Teske. So there were questions entering the season on how Howard would do mixing freshmen, graduate transfers, plus some pieces still remaining from the Beilein era. Turns out, he’s doing pretty well. Michigan sits at 10-0 after beating Minnesota by 25 last week, and only one of its 10 wins came by single digits. Freshman Hunter Dickinson has been terrific, but Franz Wagner is also on a tear lately, and Howard has four experienced seniors among his top six players. The Big Ten is ridiculous at the top, but the Wolverines have a legit shot at taking home the conference crown.
Though ESPN thinks that Michigan basketball is No. 10 in the country, the official NCAA NET rankings — used to determine tournament seeding — has the Wolverines at No. 4 overall, while advanced analytics site KenPom has the maize and blue as the nation’s No. 7 team.