Michigan Basketball in top tier, according to ESPN

Link

No

1 seed, baby!

Yes

"but the Wolverines might be closer to that top tier than we think."

I'm not seeing how you got your title from that.

two words... basketball school

It is hard to see Michigan ending the season with 8 losses especially after the way they have played. Road games always present a special type of challenge, even for good Michigan squad's. Northwestern should be a typical Big Ten Road test, but Michigan is better than they were when we watched them lose in OT in Evanston two years ago.

Still two late games vs. MSU loom large, Wisconsin will be a slugfest and there are a lot of teams capable of beating Michigan if the Wolverines have an off day. But if they are on, it is hard to see 8 losses. Very excited to see what happens tomorrow night and hoping we can take care of business against South Carolina to maintain momentum heading into January. The early 2019 schedule is very favorable (first road contest is at Illinois) and we could start to build a lead in the conference but also gain a leg up on other teams like Auburn, Tennessee and Nevada who could be a threat when seeding time comes. 

Remember, MSU, Tennessee and other midwestern squads may be our biggest thread in March. But as we saw last year, maybe the worse seed doesn't matter.

Can you guys BELIEVE we have to play Florida again in a bowl game? We play Florida more than we change our underwear or eat people food!!! 

You're getting too excited because you forgot that, although we're allowed to have kinda nice things, we're not allowed to have really nice things.  

How in the hell does ESPN’s matchup predictor give Northwestern a 53% chance to win tomorrow’s game?? I know it’s in Evanston but really? How flawed is that thing...we have lost three in a row there but seriously Michigan has blown EVERYONE out at home and on the road. 

I am interested to see how Beilein motivates the team over the next month

I don't question this team's motivation in the slightest

They've been an absolutely overwhelming unit so far this season...

Looking at Torvik's numbers, if we beat NW tomorrow we have a slightly greater than 50% chance of being undefeated, 17-0, going into our game at Wisconsin on January 19th. 17-0 would also beat the 2012-2013 team which started 16-0.

I am worried about the game tomorrow. Worried is relative I guess, but I feel like we may see a tight game that we win by our closest margin yet (potentially single digits but still close to 10). NW is improved this year, 39 in Torvik and 46 on KenPom. They have a top 30 defense to both sites (best defense we''l face yet on both) and we've struggled against NW in recent years (haven't won in Evanston since 2012-2013, haven't beaten them by more than 11 since 2013-2014).

They have a former assistant of ours on staff and it's only our 2nd road game and a conference game. They also have a solid team with no real stars but a few good all around players, most of them JRs or SRs with experience. Played a close one @Indiana Saturday, beat Utah and GT but lost big to Fresno St. I think we'll win, but I don't think it'll be another 17+ point blowout. Torvik says we win 66-61.

After that though we should be good till Wisconsin. We've struggled against South Carolina in football and basketball recently but they're not good this year and it's at home. The rest of the non-con are all body bag games. Then to start B1G play again we have a bunch of winnable home games (PSU, NW again, Indiana as the tough one) and one road game at Illinois (who's bad but has some good talent). Torvik has us as an 80+% favorite in all those games except Illinois (77%). There's a real chance we go 17-0 if we win tomorrow night.

Edit: Torvik also has us favored in every game the rest of the way, the closest being a 51% favorite @MSU to end the season. Predicts us at 27-4 overall.

I don't think Michigan has more than 3 losses all year - based strictly on the way they've played so far, and barring injury.  I think the only reason they aren't already included in the 'top tier' is preconceived bias before the season started.  Given who was lost off last years team, and the fact that Beilein teams usually start slow, they started the season with no respect - which is pretty normal.

I can see things going well through January, with a continued surprise response from the media.  Right up until the MSU game.  When Michigan beats the crap out of MSU again, the media will take notice like it's something new.  I don't get it, but the media treats Izzo and Beilein completely differently.  Izzo is awarded all the respect and recognition that Dean Smith was used to, while Beilein is still treated like some Johnny come lately feel good story.

He's not.  As a coach, Beilein is a stone cold killer.  And his team plays that way.

NW will be tough at there place. 

Kenpom ranks of our next 9 opponents 

@NW-46

SC-85

WMU-234

Air Force-242

Binghamton-305

PSU-39

IU-26

@Illini-93

NW-46

Apart from this weekend, there are no difficult road tests. And perhaps most importantly, the only decent offensive team on this list is Indiana. The rest are ranked 77 or worse on Kenpom for AdjO. Since defense travels and is more consistent typically, I like the team's chances in every game. I also set the O/U on number of these teams to crack 60 points at 1.5.

What's wrong with Kool-Aid? It's good for you right? Pass me a 40. 

this year has a real chance of being the best year in the history of Michigan basketball.  I would probably say, the best year was the sophomore year of the fab five.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Michigan_Wolverines_men%27s_basketball_seasons

Conference play is always rough, especially on the road. The Big Ten is very strong this year as well: MSU, Wisconsin, Iowa, OSU, Maryland, and Nebraska all ranked along with improved Indiana and Minnesota teams. Let's just have fun watching the games and not get ahead of ourselves

I will offer a bit of cold water; I think it is possible that we are a bit flattered by our resume so far. Purdue and Villanova both lost four of their top players from last season. They've also both struggled some this year, so those wins might not end up looking as good at the end of the season. UNC seems like a good win, but it was at home.

I am as pumped with how the team is playing as anyone, but we are still in small sample size territory at this point, and college hoops is unpredictable. I think we have a great shot to win the Big Ten, but that will not be an easy feat.

I cannot get enough got dang Michigan basketball news right now.

However you slice it, Michigan is firmly back as an elite college basketball team - like the old days.  This year's team is only cementing that position IMO.  Let's see how things play out.  But, I just love watching every minute of this team.  

Beat Nothwestern!

Forget ESPN,

We're top tier regardless of what they say.

Let’s see how this team plays away in the Big Ten.   Defense does travel.  

Could this, could this team be #8 in going undefeated and winning it all? First time since 1976 IU
We are playing lights out, have a stelar freshman class that will only improve as the season moves along.

https://www.thoughtco.com/basketballs-undefeated-teams-326279 

its not about "trying out" guys on bench...  its about giving the backups the needed experience... guys like Austin Davis who to me is a huge question... if Teske gets hurt we will be in deep shit...

Johns will earn the time, and he is next up...