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In a mere matter of days, Michigan basketball will take to the hardwood in Indianapolis as the No. 1 seed in the East Region in the NCAA Tournament.
The Wolverines are hobbling into the tourney, having lost Isaiah Livers to a stress injury in his foot. While the maize and blue aren’t ruling Livers out entirely, his return is questionable, at best, if not doubtful — unless Michigan makes it to the final weekend of the college basketball season.
Even with Livers, Michigan has been out of sorts on the court compared to earlier in the season. It seemed to have peaked coming out of the three-week pause, emphatically taking down Wisconsin and Ohio State, both on the road. It won most of its games after that, but the wins against Iowa, Indiana and MSU happened despite the Wolverines not playing their best games. Thus, the losses to Illinois, MSU and Ohio State came to fruition.
Which Michigan team will show up in the tournament? If it plays unselfish basketball and stifling defense, anything can happen. But considering the team is not at full strength, and wasn’t playing exemplary basketball even when it was late in the season, it’s anybody’s guess how far the No. 1 seed will make it.
That said, we’re still quite positive that, with the week off, Juwan Howard & Co. will figure some things out. Here’s what we predict for Michigan, including who we think it’ll face throughout the NCAA Tournament.
Brackets. Are. BACK.
It’s that time again – when dunks, brackets and buzzer-beaters inspire widespread incidents of March Madness. Get the jump on your friends by filling out your selections now!
In between all the games, mobile users can play USA TODAY Sports’ Couchketball virtual hoops challenge – the interactive basketball game where your skills determine the outcome.
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