3. Michigan (14-1)
Heading into this week, Michigan was in a truly unique position. It wasn’t just that the Wolverines were playing great basketball, this team had barely been challenged over the last five or six weeks. Ever since their demonstrative showing in Las Vegas, Michigan had been on another planet, blitzing through even great opposition. However, something changed this week and the Wolverines surprisingly are mortal after all.
Tuesday turned unexpectedly into a close call, as the Wolverines survived 74-72 at Penn State. L. J. Cason led their scoring with 14 points as Michigan did just enough to knock off the Nittany Lions. The weekend became their undoing, as the perfect season ended in a 91-88 home loss to Wisconsin. Both teams played incredible offense in the second half, with Elliot Cadeau putting up 19 points and another 18 from Morez Johnson Jr.
After powering past team after team for nearly two months, Michigan looked very vulnerable and it invites a few questions to Ann Arbor. This is a very potent team that has already proven to be one of the best in the nation, but is this just a lull or a sign of things to come? The Wolverines are still an impressive 4-1 in the Big Ten and now head west, going to Washington and Oregon in the next seven days hoping to bounce back.