On Sunday, Michigan will learn its seed and opponent in the NCAA Tournament. Projections are all over, but the consensus is that the Wolverines will end up either a No. 3 or No. 4 seed.
U-M junior forward Moritz “Moe” Wagner has checked out these projections a little bit, but as usual, he likes to leave the rankings and numbers to everyone else.
“I think projections are very random,” Wagner said. “I don’t know how much Joe Lunardi knows about the location of where each team ends up, but obviously we have a certain feel for being a three or four seed. … The higher the better, but you know me, I don’t really care about rankings.”
He says he thinks it’s interesting how the Big Ten is being viewed nationally, indicating that he doesn’t agree with the notion that the league is down.
“RPI, SOS, SBOs, I don’t understand any of it so I’m not going to deal with it,” Wagner said. “I just know this team has been really successful his year and we’ll try to continue to do that.”
SBOs of course aren’t real, but that just proves his point. He wants to focus on what he can do on the court.
Michigan coach John Beilein said practice got a little bit “chippy” on Thursday — something he was fine with seeing. Wagner said practicing tough is a good way to stay motivated after winning a championship, especially since the team has a full extra week off. Beilein has gone back to the basics with these practices, similar to what he runs at the beginning of the season.
“It’s a little weird, I remember the last two years, the whole postseason is like one big memory, you’re on the road so much. This year it’s a little extended, but I wouldn’t say it’s worse or better,” Wagner said. “It’s just part of it. It’s fun to come back to October practices and be competitive in practice which we hadn’t done in a long time.”
In his time off this week, Wagner said he caught up on homework and enjoyed being a champion — something that doesn’t come up all the time in life.
“We’re confident and we just play every game like it’s our last,” Wagner said.
He was happy to be able to see his Mom during the Big Ten Tournament in New York. She came out from Germany to watch him play, something she can’t do often. She likely won’t be making a trip to the NCAA Tournament, unless Michigan ends up playing in Detroit — so if you know someone, he kindly asks that you put in a good word.
The crowd at Madison Square Garden was a huge factor in Michigan’s strong weekend. Both Beilein and Wagner said it was awesome to see so many Wolverine fans out and about.
“Michigan is one of a handful of schools in America that you can go to some random country and maybe see [someone in] a Michigan hoodie in the jungle or on the beach, it’s such a big brand and that’s really cool,” Wagner said. “I didn’t know that before I got here, I knew it was a big brand but not like that. It feels good to have so many alums and fans all over the world.”
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @BSB_Wolverine, @JB_ Wolverine, @AustinFox42, @AndrewVcourt, @Balas_Wolverine and @EvanPetzold.
• Like us on Facebook
