Big Ten Basketball: Buy or sell Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan State?
Michigan Wolverines: Buy – Short term investment
The Michigan Wolverines began as the No.6 team in the preseason AP Poll, since then, they have had a steady decline that has led to them not being seen in the AP Poll since the calendar flipped to December. Coming off a season that saw Michigan Basketball capture the Big Ten regular-season championship while being led by the Big Ten Coach of the Year, the fact that the Wolverines are in the middle of the Big Ten standings makes it the perfect time to buy in on them.
The stock of the Wolverines is due to rally leading into the Big Ten Tournament. Their regular-season schedule consists of two games versus unranked Iowa – who sit behind them in the standings- and against unranked Rutgers at home. The narrative versus Rutgers will be the same as the one when Michigan plays their two games versus Ohio State, how do those two teams hope to contain Hunter Dickinson.
Rutgers did manage to overcome the 10 for 16 shooting and 25 points Dickinson had when Rutgers won at home 75-67 thanks in part to the 27 by Geo Baker and 20 by Ron Harper Jr. Rutgers’ 6’11” center Clifford Omoruyi is having a productive season as he averages over 11 points and eight rebounds, but he struggled offensively with four points when saddled with the defensive responsibility of containing Dickinson.
The Wolverines have had difficulty guarding the backcourt on the perimeter, a weakness that will not be exploited by Jamari Wheeler and Malaki Branham in their two match-ups versus Ohio State.
The possibility of Michigan traveling for a game versus an overrated Wisconsin team and getting a victory in order to boost their stock will hinge on their success from beyond the arc. The Badgers will likely employ the same strategy they implemented on Kofi Cockburn.
The three-headed interior monster of Steven Crowl, Tyler Wahl, and Chris Vogt doubled Cockburn the moment he touched the ball in the post. The aggressive double team on Hunter will force Caleb Houston and Eli Brooks to improve upon the Wolverine’s 35 percent success rate for the season from three-point territory.
Capturing two of those three winnable games will complement the two home games the Wolverines have versus tough competition in Illinois and Michigan State. With Michigan State winning the first game at the Breslin Events Center 83-67, a home game seems like the perfect revenge situation as stats usually go out the window when these rivals do battle. Defeating Michigan State and Illinois will be difficult, but one victory would boost their stock.
The next month or so will see the Wolverines improv in the NET, and the Big Ten standings as they enter the Big Ten Tournament where they will get at least two wins. A repeat of being the last remaining team from the Big Ten come March will not be the dividends the Wolverines will yield this season, but wait until after the Round of 32 to sell.