No. 21 UConn | No. 23 Georgetown | Full List
No. 22: MICHIGAN WOLVERINES
Last Season: 16-16, 8-10 Big Ten
Five games into last season, point guard Derrick Walton Jr. suffered a sprained toe that, while not severe enough to force him out of the lineup, completely changed his effectiveness before he bowed out on the season with 10 games to go.
Shooting guard Caris LeVert also had a season-ending foot injury that sidelined him for the final 14 games of the year.
It's little wonder why the Wolverines didn't receive a postseason invitation. But that actually could bode well for the Wolverines this season.
Consistency was an issue for small forward Zak Irvin, but he developed into a reliable scorer and rebounder toward the end of last season in the absence of Walton and LeVert.
Michigan isn't very deep, and its frontcourt is young. Yet Walton, Irvin and LeVert should vault the Wolverines back into the NCAA tournament and again make them a threat in the Big Ten -- so long as they can avoid injuries. -- C.L. Brown
Best Case: Last year's best-case scenario for Michigan was derailed because of injury. Even though Michigan had the 11th-lowest turnover percentage in the nation, the Wolverines did it without Caris LeVert. With LeVert back in the lineup, Michigan will have its go-to guy back. Expect Aubrey Dawkins, Kameron Chatman and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman to improve from last year. Williams College transfer Duncan Robinson is one of the best shooters in the nation at any level, and coach John Beilein will find him open shots and Robinson will make them. Michigan will be an NCAA tournament team and should win at least one game.
Worst Case: Health was big for the Wolverines, as LeVert missed 14 games and Walton missed 13 games. Michigan must avoid injury, and the Wolverines have to get better interior play from Ricky Doyle and Mark Donnal, who were overwhelmed freshmen at times last year. If they don't, the NCAA tournament could be a struggle.
"They need [Derrick] Walton and [Caris] LeVert to be healthy and play at a high level, but this team is hard to figure because they lost to Eastern Michigan and NJIT last year with them. They have plenty of experienced guys -- and they need to play like veterans. I'm just not sure what to expect from them."
No. 21 UConn | No. 23 Georgetown | Full List
