The Michigan Wolverines men’s basketball team had three weeks off due to COVID-19 but the No. 3 team in the nation picked up where they left off on Sunday, winning at No. 21 Wisconsin 67-59. Isaiah Livers scored 20 points while Hunter Dickerson put up a double-double in Michigan’s first game since January 22.
The Wolverines are 14-1 overall and lead the Big Ten with a 9-1 record. They missed games against Penn State, Indiana, Northwestern, Michigan State, and No. 6 Illinois with no rescheduled dates announced. The win gives the Wolverines a sweep of Wisconsin, the first time any Big Ten team swept the Badgers since 2017-18.
Michigan will play their first home game since January 18 when they host No. 18 Rutgers on Thursday before traveling to No. 4 Ohio State on Sunday. Juwan Howard’s squad has a two-game lead over Illinois (10-3) in the loss column, while the Buckeyes (11-4) are three losses behind.
Houston’s Games Postponed
The No. 8 Houston Cougars missed out on a chance to close in on an AAC title with two games postponed this week. Memphis, who is in third place in the AAC, paused activities on Wednesday, which wiped out games against Cincinnati on Thursday and Houston on Sunday. The conference then postponed Houston’s game against East Carolina, who has also paused all basketball activities.
The Cougars are 11-2 in conference play, just ahead of 8-2 Wichita State, while Memphis is at 8-3. Houston has won 10 of their last 11 with an 82-73 loss at East Carolina on February 3 as the lone blemish in that stretch. Their next scheduled game is at Wichita State on February 18, with a home game against Cincinnati set for February 21.
Gonzaga Leads Way for Top Overall Seed
The NCAA selection committee released the top 16 teams in their first mock bracket on Saturday and No. 1 Gonzaga (20-0) earned the top overall seed. Baylor (17-0), Michigan (14-1), and Ohio State (17-4) were the other teams listed on the 1-seed line, in that order.
The 2-seeds as of Saturday are Illinois (14-5), Villanova (13-3), Alabama (17-5), and Houston (17-2) with Virginia (15-3), West Virginia (14-6), Tennessee (14-5) and Oklahoma (13-5) placed on the 3-seed line. The committee announced the 4-seeds as Iowa (15-6), Texas Tech (14-6), Texas (13-5), and Missouri (13-5).
With just three weeks left before conference tournaments start, the Big 12 is represented by five teams in the top 16, while the Big Ten has four squads. The SEC has three teams while the ACC, Big East, American, and West Coast each getting one team announced on Saturday.
NCAA senior vice president of basketball, Dan Gavitt, also announced on the televised release that the tournament is planning to host limited capacity for fans. Not all tournament details have been announced, but the entire competition will take place in the state of Indiana. Selection Sunday is set for March 14, with the First Four games on March 18 and the Round of 64 games beginning on March 19.
Gonzaga Remains Title Favorites
With the mock bracket announcement, the Gonzaga Bulldogs are also the favorites to cut down the nets in April at +280 on FanDuel. Baylor is right behind them at +310, and both teams have a solid chance to enter the tournament undefeated. The gap opens up after the top two, with Michigan at +900 and Villanova at +1000.
Illinois and Iowa are both +1600 with Alabama at +1700, Houston and Ohio State at +1900, and Texas at +2000. Virginia and Tennessee are +2200, with Texas Tech, West Virginia, and Wisconsin at +2300.
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