What They're Saying: Bubble Watch — Michigan's NCAA Tournament Chances
After being firmly entrenched as a bubble team with an 11-8 overall record on Jan. 25, the Michigan Wolverines' basketball program has since five of its last six games to work its way off the NCAA Tournament bubble.
The Maize and Blue's postseason discussion has gone from whether or not the club will even make it, to how high of a seed they can get.
We've rounded up several of the latest projections around the country to see what outlets are saying about Michigan's seed outlook, along with its strengthening NCAA Tournament chances.
Brennan tabbed Michigan as one of six Big Ten teams who "should be in" the NCAA Tournament, alongside Illinois, Michigan State, Ohio State, Rutgers and Wisconsin (he had Iowa, Maryland and Penn State as "locks.")
"The Wolverines are a bit like Ohio State: They started strong, struggled in January and have since experienced a near-total and still ongoing renaissance," Brennan wrote.
"The only team that has beaten Michigan since Jan. 28 is Ohio State. Otherwise, after bludgeoning Indiana in Ann Arbor on Sunday, the Wolverines have won five of six, including a home win against Michigan State.
"On Jan. 25, a home loss to Illinois had an 11-8 Michigan looking like a double-digit seed and potential bubble tragic.
"By now the Wolverines are closer to a lock."
Palm projects an intriguing first round matchup for Michigan, pegging the Wolverines as a 6-seed and taking on 11-seeded Virginia in Albany in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Though he didn't provide a writeup specifically on the Maize and Blue, he did have good things to say about them following Sunday's 89-65 beatdown of Indiana.
"The Wolverines had been on the bubble," Palm wrote. "But they have come off of it for now."
His colleague, Chip Patterson, had more on this weekend's win…
• Chip Patterson, CBS Sports: Wolverines Dominate Hoosiers in Battle of NCAA Tournament Bubble Teams
"Michigan picked up a key Big Ten win to help bolster its NCAA Tournament resume on Sunday, defending home court in a 89-65 victory against Indiana," Patterson wrote.
"Perhaps even more encouraging was the performance of the Wolverines offense, which is starting to regain the form that had many pointing to [head coach] Juwan Howard's squad as a dark horse in the Big Ten.
"The game continued a recent theme for Michigan, highlighting how much better the offense -- and frankly, the entire team -- performs with a healthy [junior forward] Isaiah Livers in the lineup.
"The Wolverines are now 12-4 with Livers on the court and 4-5 when he's out; they also improve in categories such as points per game and field goal percentage numbers when he's healthy.
"Saturday's win was a reminder of what a full-strength Michigan team can accomplish in 2020.
"After all, this is the group that beat Gonzaga on a neutral floor earlier this season."
Gleeson has U-M's chances of making the field tabbed as "probable," along with Illinois and Wisconsin, while selecting Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State as "locks."
"For now, projected No. 10 seed Rutgers, No. 9 Wisconsin and No. 8 seed Michigan find themselves in the clear but they're hardly safe for the final three weeks of the season," he explained.
"One positive for a plethora of bubble teams all being in one league: There's opportunity to bolster a tourney résumé and not badly stain it at the same time.
"The negative: There's only so much room and the borderline teams tend to cannibalize each other.
"Only the strong survive."
Root is slightly higher on the Wolverines than McKeon, projecting U-M as a 6-seed and taking on 11-seeded East Tennessee State in the NCAA Tournament's East region.
He also has San Diego State, Duke and Seton Hall as the top three seeds in the region (in that order).
McKeon, meanwhile, has the Maize and Blue as a 7-seed and taking on 10-seeded Arizona State in his West region, with Gonzaga, Dayton and Louisville (in order) as the region's top three teams.
"Michigan with Isaiah Livers is an obvious tournament team, and one that will be a true seeding conundrum for the committee so as to avoid 'punishing' a higher seed," Root explained after pegging U-M as a Big Ten team who "should be comfortable, but not relaxing."
"Michigan without Isaiah Livers, though, is 4-5 overall and a major question mark. Word is that Livers looked hobbled toward the end of the Indiana blowout, leaving many Michigan fans wondering why he was even on the court.
"Juwan Howard’s Monday update put his key junior forward’s status as 'day-to-day.'"
• Dave Ommen, NBC Sports: Bracketology: How Many Teams Will Make it From the Big Ten?
Ommen currently has Michigan projected as a 6-seed and taking on 11-seeded East Tennessee State in Albany in the West region of his latest bracket projections.
Gonzaga is the 1-seed in Michigan's region, Florida State the 2-seed and Seton Hall the 3-seed, which is who U-M were to play in the second round if both clubs won their opening game.
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