Busting Brackets
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March Madness: Ranking the teams remaining in the West Region

By Tristan Freeman

CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 18: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels and his team react to their 86-65 loss to the Texas A
CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 18: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels and his team react to their 86-65 loss to the Texas A /
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WICHITA, KS – MARCH 17: Jordan Poole
WICHITA, KS – MARCH 17: Jordan Poole /

3. Michigan Wolverines (3 seed)

Strength: Elite defense

It’s been a complete 180-degree turnaround just the last year for this team. There were more offensive weapons that allowed Michigan to be a great scoring team, but the defense was lacking. This time around, there’s only three guys were average double figures, but the scoring defense is now top-10 worthy.

In conference play, the Wolverines has only given up more than 73 points once (92 in a loss to Purdue). Other than that it’s been largely in the 60’s, a testament to Michigan Head Coach Jon Beilein ability to change the team’s philosophy to fit the current group of guys.

Weakness: Scoring compared to the others

Michigan is the complete opposite of the other teams (Gonzaga, Texas A&M, and Florida State) in that they’re offensive-based teams, compared to the Wolverines leading on the other end. They average around 10 points less than some of the others, and it’s a big question whether they’ll be able to slow them down.

All three of the other teams are very athletic, can shoot the ball and are deep. It’s very doable, but Michigan might have to switch it up one more time.

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