It’s still relatively early in the college basketball season to call anyone a favorite to capture a title.

It’s not premature to say Michigan looks every bit a contender.

We’re not just talking Big Ten at this point, either. The Wolverines continue to knock ‘em down as they’re set up — that’s three straight over ranked opponents now, and they became the first team in college basketball history to beat a trio of ranked squads by 19 or more points — and there are only a few teams in the country that look this complete.

U-M’s latest win came at the expense of a Wisconsin team that rarely, if ever gets flustered, especially with a five-senior starting lineup. The Wolverines led by as many as 40 in the second half before finishing with a 77-54 victory, one that opened eyes across the country.

If people weren’t bullish on them before this one, they likely are now … or they’re in denial.

“It says a lot about there their maturity, understanding that every possession counts; that it matters,” head coach Juwan Howard said. “There are also going to be highs, there also going to be some lows. They never get to the point where it’s too high, where you can sit back and feel that it’s going to be easy ball games.

“Wisconsin’s a team that’s capable of going on runs and basketball is based on runs, and fortunately for us tonight, our defense was doing a phenomenal job of being disruptive.”

They were smothering again, forcing the Badgers into bad shots and into a bunch of “one-fers” and “two-fers,” as head coach Greg Gard called them. Guard Brad Davison, for example, went 1-for-8, 0-for-3 from long range, and an almost unfathomable minus-34 in 25 minutes (meaning U-M outscored the Badgers by 34 points when he was on the floor).

Wisconsin went to him early trying to post him against senior guard Mike Smith, but Smith held his ground and forced a bad miss. The Badgers never went back to it.

Guard D’Mitrik Trice had to work like crazy for his 20 points and he finished with only two assists, part of an eight-assist team total on a night in which the Badgers shot only 31 percent.

Michigan led by 17 at the break, 40-23, despite getting only two points from freshman center Hunter Dickinson. He continued to battle early in the second half and started scoring in the paint, part of a 22-0 run that put the game away.

“Just give credit to the guys for just staying locked in; not getting too emotionally high on thinking that the game is only played with 20 minutes,” Howard said. “I heard guys in the locker room reminding each other that we still have 20 more minutes to play. They look at the score as being 0-0, and it’s good to hear it’s coming from the players, holding each other accountable instead of the coaches having to say it.

“There are times I go into halftime and I only have to say some of the things that I was prepared to say because guys already have addressed it amongst each other.”

That’s indicative of great culture and buy-in, something Howard doesn’t take for granted. He’s been part of so many teams and programs that have had it that he knows what it looks like, and it’s what he preaches.

Those worried he might completely change things up and do it “his way” rather than continuing to build on John Beilein’s commitment to it needn’t have been concerned.

The only disappointment? That the Michigan students and fans don’t get to share in the pleasure of watching it. Several dozen family members and a bench that’s done its part to lead the cheers, along with a few handfuls of reporters, seem to be witnessing something special, and who knows how much better they could be, even, should the Crisler crowd and Maize Rage be there to spur them on.

“I’ll sum it up like this — they had fun,” Howard said. “And they’re supposed to have fun, because … why not? We put in a lot of hard work in practice, and you come out in the game and you do it to what is basically our offensive identity and defensive identity. Have fun out there on the floor. They’re student-athletes – very young in age, they’re not professionals …

“I remember a time when I was playing college ball ,and that was one of the key things that Coach [Steve] Fisher always said to us: ‘Compete out there, play hard but have fun. Enjoy it.’ And that’s what I want my guys to do.”

Easier to do when they’re put in position to succeed, something he and his staff have done as well an anyone in the Big Ten through six games.

“… Everyone is a major contributor to the success that we’re having, but we know that it’s still early,” Howard said. “We’re not here try to break any records. Our goal is to be the last team — last team standing on Monday night in April.”

That, he knows, would be the most fun of all.

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