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Big Ten Basketball: 2018-19 key storylines for Michigan at Wisconsin

By Drew Dinnhaupt

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 02: Happ (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 02: Happ (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN – JANUARY 03: Head coach John Beilein of the Michigan Wolverines reacts from the bench while playing the Penn State Nittany Lions at Crisler Arena on January 03, 2019 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan won the game 68-55. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN – JANUARY 03: Head coach John Beilein of the Michigan Wolverines reacts from the bench while playing the Penn State Nittany Lions at Crisler Arena on January 03, 2019 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan won the game 68-55. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

1. Is Michigan the No. 1 team in the country?

Since No. 1 Duke suffered a home loss to unranked Syracuse, the No. 1 spot in college basketball is up for grabs. But just because Michigan is the No. 2 team in the country doesn’t it belongs to the Wolverines. 36 AP voters who had Duke slotted at No. 1 will decide what school deserves the top spot; current No. 3 Tennessee and current No. 4 Virginia both have convincing arguments to be placed above Michigan.

With a win in Madison, it would probably be challenging to find a school with a better first-place case than Michigan will have at the end of the week. However, Virginia travels to Durham to face Duke on Saturday as well, and, in the event of a win, the Cavaliers will have as strong of a case for the top spot as Michigan will.

But we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. ESPN’s BPI Matchup Predictor gives the Badgers a 56 percent chance to win on Saturday. Can you doubt the Wolverines, though?

Michigan has knocked off its toughest competition thus far with ease. The Wolverines destroyed then-No. 8 Villanova by 27 on the road in their third game of the season. Despite playing two ranked opponents back-to-back two weeks later, Michigan handily beat No. 11 North Carolina by 17 and No. 19 Purdue by 19. Two weeks ago, Michigan earned its fourth top-25 victory in a double-digit win over No. 21 Indiana.

Oh, and as of Saturday, the Wolverines would have suffered one loss in the past 347 days, which came at the hands of Villanova in the National Championship game.

However, winning on the road in college basketball, regardless of the opponent, is difficult. In its two conference road games thus far, the Wolverines edged Northwestern by two and beat Illinois, who had a 4-11 record at the time, by 10.

In any result, Saturday will prove who the next No. 1 team in the country is.

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