NCAA Basketball: Early tournament games in 2020-21 to get excited about

Michigan vs Villanova at the 2K Empire Classic

Here is the intrigue for this match-up; Michigan Basketball underachieved during the 2019-20 season but overachieved in terms of recruiting. Villanova Basketball overachieved by getting a piece of the Big East Regular Season Championship but underachieved recruiting for 2020-21.

Juwan Howard put together a top-five recruitment class, whereas Jay Wright did not manage to get even a hard commitment from any high schooler. At one point during the season, Michigan was ranked No.4 by the Associated Press, yet finished tenth in the Big Ten. The 2020-21 season will see the Wolverines without the services of starters Zavier Simpson, and John Teske as well as Austin Davis. The ‘Maize Rage’ will most likely see the top five recruitment class join three returning starters, as Isaiah Livers is just a top-100 projected player in the upcoming Draft and will benefit from returning for this senior season.

Joining Livers will be four-star Zeb Jackson who has signed his letter of intent, and five-star six-ten commit Isaiah Todd, four-star commits Hunter Dickinson who stands 7’2 and Terrance Williams a three-star small forward rounds out the players who have committed to Michigan.

The only roster questions Jay Wright has to contemplate is the fate of two underclassmen. With no notable seniors leaving and no recruits coming in the question is will Jeremiah Robinson-Earl or Saddiq Bey declare for the NBA Draft?” Bey has a lot more incentive as a top 25 prospect as opposed to Robinson-Earl who is not projected in the top 60.

This type of inter-conference match-up early in the season is the type of game that analysts refer to throughout the season when determining how good a team is, and we need to only wait until late November to get it.