Michigan vs. Colorado State: 2022 NCAA Tournament game preview, TV schedule

The South Region opens up with a contest between the Michigan Wolverines and the Colorado State Rams on Thursday afternoon.

TV Schedule: Thurs. March 17, 12:15pm ET, CBS

Arena: Gainbridge Fieldhouse – Indianapolis, Indiana

In any given year it would be possible to find a committee of liked minded individuals who would consider a team that has alternated wins and losses over their final ten games – with one of those losses being in the first round of the conference tournament at the hands of a First Four team – would not be worthy of an invitation to the National Tournament.

This is not to mention their seventh-place conference finish and a schedule that included losses to Minnesota and Central Florida. It just so happens the 2022 NCAA Selection Committee is not the group of like-minded individuals and thus we have the South Region featuring a match-up between the No. 11 Michigan Wolverines and No. 6 Colorado Rams.

The Wolverines finished 11-9 in the Big Ten and possess a resume that features victories over Purdue and Big Ten Tournament Champion Iowa, yet the Wolverines’ season must be deemed a disappointment as they were predicted to finish first in the conference by the media in the preseason.

The Wolverines’ offense is scoring three fewer points than last season while their defense is surrounding five additional points than in 2020-21, but it is the lack of forcing turnovers that have limited the Wolverines. The Rams average slightly above ten turnovers per game which have helped them defeat the highest six ranked teams they have faced, whether they be mid-majors such as St Mary’s and San Diego State, or Power Conference teams such as Mississippi State and Creighton.

With two seniors and three juniors starting, the Rams have the experience to handle the game but may not have the size to handle Hunter Dickinson and Moussa Diabate, in the same fashion Ryan Kalkbrenner went five for six in field goals for Creighton when Colorado State defeated them 95-81. The only way for Colorado State to counter the Wolverines’ size is by utilizing the fastbreak.

Head Coach Niko Medved had dynamic scorer David Roddy score 36 points against Creighton while the Rams totaled 16 fast breakpoints. In a three-point victory over Mississippi State, the Ram allowed Garrison Brooks to score 15 points, while they countered with 17 fast breakpoints.

The Wolverines have been falling since the preseason and have been consistently inconsistent at best and underachieving at worst. It is always difficult when a team’s primary scoring option is a post player who is unable to create their own shot, which is the case for Michigan and Dickinson.

The Wolverines will have to keep their turnovers below the eleven-per-game they average and the Rams will have to connect on the 36 percent of the three-pointers that they make per game. Even though Michigan’s results versus UNLV and San Diego State are much better, this is March.

Prediction: Colorado State 73, Michigan 67