On Feb. 4, 2017, the Michigan Wolverines' basketball team put on a dull and lifeless performance at Crisler Center against a subpar 13-10 Ohio State club, and as a result, suffered a horrendous 70-66 home loss that dropped U-M to 14-9 overall and 4-6 in conference play, serving as what many thought was the dagger in the team's NCAA Tournament hopes.

The loss summed up the 2016-17 Wolverines perfectly up to that point, with inconsistency and underachievement plaguing the crew throughout the first three months of the season.

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The criticism amongst the Michigan fanbase got so toxic following the Ohio State loss, that some fans were legitimately ready to move on from then-head coach John Beilein and start a new regime.

This was due to the program having posted just a 53-38 record over the past two and a half years (since the start of the 2014-15 season), and enduring what was basically a year and a half straight of underachievement from the veterans and leaders of the team (guards Derrick Walton and Zak Irvin, most notably).

U-M also appeared to be on the verge of missing the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years following the loss to the Buckeyes.

Something clicked following the setback, however, and the aforementioned team leaders who hadn't exactly done much leading on the court up to that point took it upon themselves to ensure their senior season didn't end in the NIT.

Walton, in particular, stepped up and put an end to Michigan's [crappy] play, underachieving and inconsistency, with other key veterans such as Irvin, then-junior guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and then-redshirt junior guard Duncan Robinson also elevating their play and adopting Walton's bulldog mentality.

What then transpired was nothing short of incredible, with the team executing a complete 180 that featured the results on display in the blink of an eye, beginning with the ensuing game against Michigan State on Tuesday, Feb. 7.

The Maize and Blue beat MSU to a pulp that night, 86-57, destroying the Spartans in a fashion that almost never happens in the rivalry under head coach Tom Izzo (U-M had not beaten MSU by more than 11 points in any of its previous 10 victories against the Spartans, dating back to 1998), who had consistently found a way to ensure that his players played with a chip on their shoulders any time they faced off with Michigan.

The margin of victory was U-M's biggest in the series since 1996 (also a 29-point beatdown in Ann Arbor), and was the true first glimpse at what had turned into a no-nonsense Wolverine club who was finally dedicated to winning.

The Maize and Blue ended the year by posting a 12-3 record that included the well-documented plane crash along the way, a Big Ten Tournament title, and a Sweet Sixteen appearance that culminated with a one-point loss to No. 3-seeded Oregon.

That now brings us to this season, where this year's crop of Michigan Men face an eerily similar situation that the 2016-17 crew encountered following their loss to Ohio State.

This season's crew has also been plagued by inconsistency, but after a recent two-game winning streak over Nebraska and Rutgers, appeared to be perhaps turning a corner.

A dull and lifeless home performance against Ohio State then ensued last Tuesday (also Feb. 4, ironically), serving as a major roadblock on U-M's path to not only consistency, but also to the NCAA Tournament.

Sure enough, the subsequent result was a victory over Michigan State on Saturday (though not quite to the same degree as the 86-57 beatdown in 2017), in which the Wolverines came out with significantly more energy and passion, while leading — outside of a 1-0 deficit — for the entirety of the game.

The question now becomes whether or not U-M has truly turned a corner and put its inconsistency behind it, just as the 2016-17 crew did following its Feb. 4 loss to Ohio State.

Many of this season's struggles have been due to junior forward Isaiah Livers' injury (missed nine of the team's 10 games from Dec. 29 through Feb. 4), though that still doesn't excuse the lack of on-court leadership and/or production (at times) from the Maize and Blue's lone two seniors on the roster — point guard Zavier Simpson and center Jon Teske.

Simpson, in particular, served as an outstanding 'no-nonsense, do whatever it takes to win' leader each of the past two seasons, while guiding Michigan to a combined 63-15 record and a spot in the 2018 National Championship.

If Simpson, Teske and the rest of the team's veterans (Livers, junior guard Eli Brooks and redshirt junior center Austin Davis) all take it upon themselves to ensure U-M's inconsistency is behind it, there's no reason this year's Wolverines can't take home a Big Ten Tournament title and find itself in the Sweet Sixteen (or further), just as Walton and company did once they finally dedicated themselves to winning in 2017.

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