Even though Michigan doesn't have a single senior or fifth-year senior on its roster this year, the Wolverines will honor redshirt junior guard Charles Matthews in tonight's home finale nonetheless.
The contest is heavily assumed to be Matthews' final game in An Arbor, as the veteran is expected to declare for the NBA draft once the season concludes.
With that being said, the Maize and Blue have played some of their best basketball in recent Senior Nights under head coach John Beilein, posting a 4-1 record in the last five years.
Michigan will attempt to stretch that mark to 5-1 tonight when the struggling Nebraska Cornhuskers (2-9 in their last 11 games) come to town.
Tonight's contest against Nebraska will be a step down in competition compared to the last three Senior Nights, in which the Wolverines hosted ranked foes each time.
Last year's 74-62 victory over No. 8 Ohio State was obviously impressive, but what U-M did to No. 14 Purdue in 2017 was even more noteworthy.
The Boilermakers were the outright Big Ten champions that year, and yet the Maize and Blue annihilated them, leading 45-30 at halftime and 66-44 with eight minutes left before the Black and Gold made the final score appear closer than the game actually was.
Michigan's 2016 Senior Night ended in disappointment with a loss to No. 16 Iowa, in a contest the Wolverines were playing for their NCAA Tournament lives in (they later punched their ticket by knocking out conference champion Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament).
The 2015 victory over Rutgers on the chart above was one of the few bright spots in what was a disappointing 16-16 campaign, while the 84-80 triumph over Indiana in 2014 wrapped up a league slate that saw the Wolverines go 15-3 and take home the outright conference crown.
The scene that ensued at Crisler after the win over the Hoosiers was special when the team held an on-court celebration with their fans, despite the fact they had clinched the outright Big Ten title four days earlier.
U-M had a chance to take down No. 2 Indiana at the buzzer in the 2013 home finale, but fell by one point when Jordan Morgan's attempted putback rimmed off in what was an incredibly well-played game by both teams.
A triumph that afternoon would have given Michigan a share of the Big Ten championship for a second straight year.
The case could be made that the 2012 Senior Night loss to Purdue was the most disappointing game on the list above — not only did U-M enter as heavy favorites against a Boilermaker squad that finished just 10-8 in league play, but the setback also ruined the Wolverines' perfect home record that year.
It did not, however, cost U-M the conference championship, as they grabbed a share of it eight days later when Ohio State took down Michigan State.
Victories over MSU and No. 16 Purdue in 2011 and 2009, respectively, helped punch U-M's ticket to the NCAA Tournament each of those years, with the former victory capping off a 2011 sweep of the Spartans.
Michigan obviously doesn't have to worry about making the NCAA Tournament this year — regardless of what happens tonight against Nebraska — but the Maize and Blue (more than likely) need to take down the Cornhuskers if they hope to remain in the hunt for the league crown.
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