For the second time under coach John Beilein, the Michigan Wolverines are headed to the Final Four.
We at The Wolverine have brought you extensive coverage of the epic run (see end of article for a list of links), but other national and local media outlets have taken notice as well. Here's what writers from around the nation are saying about the Wolverines.
Chris Balas, The Wolverine: Thoughts From The West Regional: Revisiting Winston vs. Simpson, More
"'I’m no spring chicken.'
"Those were John Beilein’s words last night when asked how badly he wanted to win a national title this year.
"No, Beilein isn’t retiring soon — he quickly confirmed that, and again, he will very likely be approached about an extension after the season — but he understands that getting to the Final Four is a chore in itself, and winning a National Title means beating the best of the best.
"This time around, though, it’s an 11 seed standing in the way of a title game, and while Loyola (Chicago) is good and has earned its spot, this is one the Wolverines should win.
"Beilein, as most know, is a very religious man. When the cameras were off and he started walking back to the locker room to pack for the bus ride to the hotel (and the dance off with Jordan Poole, reminiscent of Stifler vs. Bear in American Wedding), we reminded him that Loyola (Chicago) had Sister Jean on its side … the 90-year-old nun who has become the school’s inspiration during this tournament, present at every game.
"'We’ll combat that with a bunch of priests,' Beilein said with a grin."
"There was only one strand left to snip when Moritz Wagner looked toward his head coach.
"More than five months ago, John Beilein started a journey that was as fascinating as it was nerve-racking. He has had teams loaded with NBA talent. Teams filled with senior leaders. Teams that fought through injuries and teams that played over their heads. Great teams, good teams, mediocre teams.
"And then there's this team.
"Beilein stood near the 3-point line watching his 2017-18 Michigan club, donned head to toe in Final Four gear, cut down the nets at the Staples Center with only a smile. Wagner looked over to him and asked if he wanted that last piece of the net. He told him to go get it.
"'Are you sure?' Wagner asked.
"He was.
"'I don't know what to feel right now,' Beilein said. 'This has been some run.'"
"When Loyola-Chicago and Michigan meet in the Final Four, both teams will be quite familiar with the opponent, for reasons that go beyond modern scouting. These two are mirror images of one another in terms of style. Both feature efficient offenses and outstanding defenses. Loyola-Chicago is ranked 60th and 18th, respectively, in Kenpom.com’s adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency, while Michigan is 31st and fourth. Both teams play at a deliberate pace, with Loyola ranking 315th in adjusted tempo, and Michigan checking in at 326th. Both teams can feel unstoppable when they get it going from behind the arc. They may do it on different scales, but Loyola-Chicago is the Michigan of the mid-major world. Or, if you prefer it the other way, Michigan is the Loyola-Chicago of the power conferences.
"Thanks to their prowess from behind the arc, the Ramblers rank fifth in effective field goal percentage, which gives greater weight to threes to account for the additional point. For the sake of comparison, Villanova ranks second in the country in effective field goal percentage, while Kansas is sixth. Michigan, which ranks 47th, is last among the Final Four teams.
"On top of that, Loyola is 11th in the country in three-point percentage and ninth in two-point percentage. The Ramblers may not get a ton of possessions per game, but more often than not, they make those possessions count. The Ramblers aren’t just a great Cinderella story—they earned their way to this point.
"Michigan’s defense, however, will be their toughest test of the season. Just look at what the Wolverines have done in the tournament. They’ve allowed no more than 72 points in a game, and that came in a 27-point blowout against Texas A&M. They last time they allowed more than 72 points was in an overtime win against Minnesota on February 3, and the last time they did so in regulation was in a loss at Purdue in January. We’ll get some offensive fireworks in the Final Four, but those will come in the nightcap. Loyola-Michigan projects as a war of attrition, and few teams have been better than the Wolverines at wearing down opponents this season."
"Michigan, just now, is back again. On Saturday in Los Angeles, the No. 3-seeded Wolverines chewed glass through a 4-for-22 3-point shooting performance, managing to wrestle a 58-54 win over No. 9-seeded Florida State to claim its spot in San Antonio next weekend, where America’s darling, No. 11-seeded Loyola-Chicago, awaits.
"The win capped a trip to LA that perfectly encapsulates this 2018 Michigan team. After a breathless offensive symphony against Texas A&M in the Sweet 16, the Wolverines strong armed Florida State into a 31.4 percent shooting performance (16-51), by far the Seminoles’ worst of the season. Michigan can win with its offense, but it can always count on its defense — its defense, and the reassurance that it might be the nation’s grittiest, most resourceful team.
"The win was a dog-eared novel of who and what this team is.
"There was Charles Matthews, scoring a game-high 17 points, delivering a personal testimony to the power of perseverance. He hit a hanging, drifting jumper in the middle of the lane with 3:49 left to extend Michigan’s lead to 49-44.
"There was Zavier Simpson, maybe the most defiant player in college basketball, torturing another opposing guard. He hit a running scoop shot with 3:09 left, making it 51-44.
"There was Duncan Robinson, shaking off three earlier missed 3-pointers and having the guts to launch a fourth. He caught a kick-out from Simpson, toed the arc in front of the Michigan bench and let one fly. The air left the building, then came rushing back. It was 54-44 with 2:22 to go."
Bob Wojonowski, Detroit News: Wojo: UM riding the feel-good wave, but uh-oh, so is Loyola
"It’s the rollicking ride of their lives, a feel-good tale of a team that began the season overlooked and melded into something special. It’s a story of perseverance, selflessness and pit-bull defense, of a Michigan basketball team that scrapped its way to the Final Four.
"It’s a fascinating story, yet it won’t be the most-lauded tale of fight and fortune Saturday in San Antonio. That will be Loyola-Chicago, one of the most-improbable Final Four teams in NCAA Tournament history, an 11 seed that twice pulled out games in the closing seconds. While bluebloods Villanova and Kansas meet in one semifinal, the Wolverines will face an opponent toting its own remarkable tale of fate and spirit, with an extra dose of spirituality.
"Loyola-Chicago isn’t winning by divine intervention, no matter how it looks with its breakout media star, 98-year-old team chaplain Sister Jean Dolores-Schmidt. But this will be a divine collision, and sorry to tell the Wolverines, they’ll be forced into the role of the bad guys (figuratively, of course.) Not that it’ll bother them, with their enormous fan and alumni base that packed the stands in Los Angeles, but the average unbiased fan almost assuredly will be rooting for the embraceable bunch from Chicago.
"It actually might be the toughest obstacle the Wolverines have faced so far, considering how the bracket has crumbled. Michigan has received plenty of breaks reaching the Final Four — John Beilein’s second in five years — with every top team in its path falling. The highest-seeded opponent was No. 6 Houston, and it took a miraculous 3-pointer by Jordan Poole to win at the buzzer. The Wolverines didn’t shoot well Saturday night — four-for-22 on 3-pointers — but used their smothering defense to beat No. 9 Florida State 58-54."
John Niyo, Detroit News: Niyo: Beilein, Michigan take high road to Final Four
"Before his team took the stage, and before John Beilein climbed the ladder for a symbolic snip of nylon – with Michigan bound for the Final Four once more – the Wolverines’ coach first turned and shared a hug with his bosses.
"There was Warde Manuel, his athletic director, and Mark Schlissel, the university president. All of them wore big grins, and Schlissel, who wasn’t around the last time Michigan’s basketball team made it this far in 2013, already was wearing some fresh Final Four memorabilia – “Turns out that presidents get hats!” – amid a sea of maize-and-blue confetti.
"This was a moment of celebration, but also one of thanks. And not just because Michigan had found a way to grind out a school-record 32nd victory on a night when the shots simply wouldn’t fall, escaping with a 58-54 win over ninth-seeded Florida State in the West Regional final.
"No, there was also the backdrop for all this March Madness, with college basketball facing a moment of reckoning as an FBI investigation casts a shadow over the game and its treasured postseason tournament.
"In that sense, Saturday night offered a reprieve, of sorts, while the on-court drama unfolded in Atlanta and Los Angeles. First came Sister Jean and the Ramblers of Loyola-Chicago, everyone’s Cinderella story, punching their ticket to the ball. And then it was Beilein – dubbed the “cleanest coach” in the game by a poll of his peers last fall – coaxing another date to the dance, securing his second Final Four berth in six years, something only a handful of others can say.
"'And I always say to people, I sleep well at night with John Beilein and the coaches that I have at Michigan,' Manuel said. 'We work at it, we talk about it, we make sure that we’re doing the right things at all times. And so it makes me proud, given what the conversation has been about this year around basketball. But it’s something that John has done throughout his career.'"
Beth Harris, Seattle Times/Associated Press: Michigan heads to Final Four in role of upset stopper
"The third-seeded Wolverines withstood their own poor shooting to beat Florida State 58-54 and win the West Region title on Saturday night for their 13th straight victory. They haven’t lost since Feb. 6 against Northwestern.
"Loyola (32-5) made a stunning run through the South, beating Kansas State 78-62 in the regional final to equal the lowest-seeded team ever to reach the Final Four.
"The Ramblers have Sister Jean, too. Their 98-year-old team chaplain, Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, has been a social media and TV sensation during the tournament.
"Not that West Regional Most Valuable Player Charles Matthews had a clue.
"'I don’t know who Sister Jean is, no disrespect,' he said.
"Not so for Wagner, the 6-foot-11 forward plucked out of Germany by coach John Beilein.
"'I know that she didn’t have Loyola-Chicago in the Elite Eight,' Wagner said. 'I know that.'"
"Over and over again Saturday night, a Michigan player would square up for an open three-point look, and the Wolverines faithful would rise to their feet with an early cheer. And over and over again, as the ball clanked off the rim, the fans would slink back into their seats with a sigh. In its Sweet 16 matchup against Texas A&M, Michigan had seemed almost incapable of missing. But against Florida State in the Elite Eight, the Wolverines weren't as fortunate. And yet, when the final buzzer sounded, the Wolverines were winners of the West Regional, with tickets booked for San Antonio.
"Through two games at the Staples Center, Michigan showed not just why it belongs in the Final Four, but also why it is such a threat to cut down another set of nets: These Wolverines can win in so many different ways.
"Against Texas A&M on Thursday night, Michigan scored 52 first-half points en route to a 27-point thrashing of the Aggies. The Wolverines shot 61.9 percent from the floor and an astonishing 58.3 percent from the three, and the 99-72 win was the most potent offensive performance of any team in this NCAA men's tournament outside of No. 1 seed Xavier's 102-83 win against No. 16 seed Texas Southern in the opening round. Five players—including senior guard Duncan Robinson off the bench—scored in double figures. The story Saturday night was quite a bit different.
"Against the Seminoles, the Wolverines went the final five minutes and 46 seconds of the opening period without a made field goal, and they managed just 27 first-half points. But they held Florida State to 26 and went to the locker room with a similar level of confidence as they'd had against the Aggies."
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