Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde released an interesting article this morning that ranked all 68 teams numerically in this year's NCAA Tournament, with the Michigan Wolverines' basketball program checking in at No. 6.
Forde noted his list didn't take any metrics into account while sorting through the teams, but instead based his rankings on "the teams playing best when it matters most, which is right now."
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In fact, Michigan wasn't even rated as the best club in its own region, with Forde placing No. 2-seeded Alabama at No. 4 on his list. His top 10 consisted of No. 1 Gonzaga, No. 2 Illinois, No. 3 Baylor, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Arkansas, No. 8 Florida State, No. 9 Ohio State and No. 10 Iowa.
"The injury to senior [forward] Isaiah Livers is really sad, and it creates a major concern if he cannot return to action this week," Forde wrote. "The 6' 7" Livers is the Wolverines’ No. 2 scorer, a reliable rebounder and a very capable defender, part of the frontcourt length that makes Michigan difficult to score on.
"[Junior forward] Brandon Johns contributed solid minutes in Livers’s absence, but there is a drop-off. Still, Michigan is hardly without talent, starting with mountainous [freshman] center Hunter Dickinson.
"Versatile [sophomore] forward [guard] Franz Wagner is a tough matchup. Guards [fifth-year senior] Mike Smith and [senior] Eli Brooks have consistently burned opponents who underestimate them.
"The Wolverines are looking at a challenging second-round game against either LSU or St. Bonaventure; can they rekindle the mojo of late February?"
Once the entirety of the bracket was revealed Sunday night, several prognosticators on ESPN tabbed Michigan's East region as the toughest of the four. There is no exact science or right or wrong answer when diagnosing the difficulty of each bracket area, but judging by Forde's rankings, U-M's is the second toughest.
The average team rank in the East (again, according to Forde's list) is 33.6, with the Midwest's average mark of 32.3 being the only one that is higher. The weakest, or 'easiest' region, is top-seeded Gonzaga's West quadrant, with the average club rank residing at 37.7.
