What an exciting time for Michigan’s university basketball! Both the Spartans and the Wolverines are holding top positions and looking to the upcoming NCCA tournament. On March 4th, Michigan beat Michigan State 69-50 and grabbed the regular-season title. The rematch in East Lansing, only three days later, is the regular-season finale for both teams before the Big Ten tournament. Now is the best moment for fans to head for bet-michigan.com and make the most of this hot inter-state challenge.
The season’s start was far from brilliant for Michigan, who began the season rated 25th in the nation. The Wolverines also dropped out of the rankings for two weeks. After that, they turned their course dramatically and are now chasing national championship aspirations. The regular-season championship in the Big Ten is undoubtedly giving them a powerful confidence boost. Many consider B1T the nation’s best conference this season. Michigan coach Juwan Howard could not hide his satisfaction: “All the hard work was well worth it. That’s just one. We have another goal we’re trying to accomplish and achieve as a team,” Howard said after the victory against the Spartans. “I agree with Coach Monty Williams, who coaches the Phoenix Suns. He said, ‘Everything you want is on the other side of hard.’ And that’s exactly what we’re trying to accomplish, something special.”
Earlier the same week, Michigan had played lousy against Illinois and got a bad beating. But when they bounced back against Michigan State, it was confetti floating in the air everywhere over the court inside Crisler Center and the winners dancing on the floor. The Wolverines had all reason to celebrate. They now own 10 double-digit wins over Big Ten competition, thanks to the 19-point victory. They are 19-2 overall, 14-2 in the league, and 13-2 in the first two quadrants with wins over Iowa, Ohio State, Purdue, and Winsconsin.
The sweetest aspect to it is that Michigan now has likely secured a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They are the nation’s best league champions, so there is no question they could have more than four losses on Selection Sunday. Yet they plan to play for real on the returning game against the Spartans. “The season is not over,” is the opinion shared by both coaches.
“I’m very disappointed in the way we played,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said after the defeat. “I thought our guard play was very poor early. They played very good, we did not play very good, and we’ve got some work to do.” The match will not change anything for the Wolverines in terms of their place in the NCAA tournament. Nevertheless, coach Howard is deadly serious about fighting it all the way: “Sunday does matter. I know on Sunday Michigan State will be prepared to compete, so we have to be ready to go out there and compete from start to finish. It’s not over; the season is not over.”
