Trip Down Memory Lane: U-M's NCAA Tournament Appearances Through The Years

If the NCAA Tournament would have occurred this season, it would have been the 30th all-time appearance for the Michigan Wolverines' basketball program in the annual postseason event.

Even though U-M (or any other school, for that matter) won't be adding another chapter to its postseason history this year, it's still fun to look back and reminisce at everything the Wolverines have accomplished on basketball's biggest stage, dating all the way back to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1948.

*Special thanks to Kevin Fox, and Grant and Renae Droste for helping inspire this article

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The Maize and Blue have enjoyed immense success in the NCAA Tournament throughout the years, compiling an all-time record of 61-28 (68.5 winning percentage), while taking home the 1989 National Championship and making six other trips to the title game (1965, 1976, 1992, 1993, 2013 and 2018).

Michigan's first two trips to the Big Dance (1948 and 1964), however, ended in incredibly odd fashion (at least by today's standards), with both years concluding with victories … but no championships.

The reason for this is because after Michigan was knocked out each time (by Holy Cross in 1948 and by Duke in 1964), it went on to play a consolation game and came away with victories each time.

The Maize and Blue took down Columbia, 66-49, in 1948 in what was known as the Regional Third Place game, and then Kansas State, 100-90, in 1964 in the National Third Place game.

The 1965 Wolverine squad became the first to play for a National Title, but fell to John Wooden's UCLA dynasty that won the championship 10 out of 12 years from 1964 through 1975.

Michigan would make its second appearance in the National Title 11 years later in 1976, but lost to Bob Knight's Indiana club who finished 32-0 (college basketball's last undefeated team).

The Maize and Blue's magical run almost never occurred though, with Rickey Green hitting a game-winning baseline jumper with only six seconds left to give the Wolverines a nail-biting 74-73 win over Wichita State in the first round.

The NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams and took on its modern form in 1985, a year that saw U-M go 16-2 in conference play and win the league by four games under head coach Bill Frieder (1980-89), while entering the postseason with a 25-3 record and a 1-seed attached to its name.