Score By Periods
Team Statistics
1st
1st
2nd
2nd
OTs
OTs
Michigan
Michigan
Scoring
FG%
1485
47%
38%
78%
601
274
188
114
54
140,028
85,515
51
82
250
223
614
66%
41%
46%
1317
3FG%
FT%
Rebounds
Assists
Turnovers
Steals
Blocks
Attendance
Opponents
Opponents
751
608
725
697
9
12
Evaluating Michigan’s NCAA Tournament résumé
As of right now, the Michigan
men’s basketball team is on the
outside looking in to the NCAA
Tournament.
According to bracketmatrix.
com — a database that compiles
bracket projections from across
the Internet — the Wolverines
were among the first four teams
left out of the tournament before
Tuesday night’s games.
But in the coming weeks,
Michigan will have plenty of
opportunities to face quality
opponents and prove that it
belongs in the field of 68.
With
that
in
mind,
the
Daily breaks down what the
Wolverines
have
done
and
what they will have to do in
order to improve their NCAA
Tournament résumé by the time
Selection Sunday rolls around:
What
does
the
NCAA
Tournament
Selection
Committee look at?
The
10-member
NCAA
selection committee uses its
judgment (“eye test”) along
with several key metrics to
evaluate a team’s performance.
According
to
NCAA.com,
some of those metrics include:
Ratings
Percentage
Index
(RPI); strength of schedule;
performance
against
top-50
teams; home and road records;
various
computer
metrics
such as Ken Pomeroy and Jeff
Sagarin; head-to-head results;
and results versus common
opponents.
Michigan’s Key Numbers
(as of Jan. 24)
Overall Record: 13-7
Conference Record: 3-4
RPI: 69
Ken Pomeroy Ranking: 43
Jeff Sagarin Rating: 38
Strength
of
Schedule
(according to Ken Pomeroy): 54
Record vs. RPI Top 25: 0-4
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 2-6
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 5-6
Record vs. NCAA tournament
teams
(using
bracketmatrix.
com): 3-5
Home/Neutral Record: 13-2
Road Record: 0-5
Michigan’s current résumé
The first factor that jumps
out from Michigan’s résumé is
its lack of wins against NCAA
Tournament-caliber teams. The
Wolverines have yet to record a
win over RPI top-25 teams, and
those struggles extend to their
2-6 mark versus RPI top-50
opposition. Michigan needs to
show the selection committee it
can be competitive with teams
expected to make the field of 68
and, so far, the Wolverines’ only
convincing evidence are their two
wins against Southern Methodist
and Marquette in New York.
Here’s the good news for
Michigan:
The
Wolverines
have yet to suffer a bad loss.
Michigan’s worst loss was at
Iowa — No. 113 in the RPI —
with the rest of the Wolverines’
defeats coming to teams within
the RPI’s top-50. Rutgers is
the only remaining team on
Michigan’s schedule with an
RPI over 100. As long as the
Wolverines
don’t
drop
that
game, they’ll steer clear of any
ugly blemishes on their résumé.
Michigan also scores well in
the computer rankings that the
selection committee will begin
to factor in this year. Those high
marks primarily hang on the
Wolverines’ strength of schedule
and wins over the Mustangs and
Golden Eagles in New York.
Michigan will have chances to
boost its ratings in the coming
weeks, and the computers seem
to have a favorable view of the
Wolverines, which will come in
handy in March.
How can Michigan’s résumé
improve?
To put it simply: By winning
the
big
games
left
on
its
schedule.
The Wolverines will have
plenty of chances to pick up
some impressive wins in the
next
few
weeks.
Michigan
plays Indiana and Michigan
State twice each in its next five
games. Both the Spartans and
the Hoosiers have gotten off to
sluggish starts in the Big Ten,
but are still projected to make
the
tournament
field.
Over
this stretch, the Wolverines
can potentially reshape their
record against top-50 teams —
an important criteria for the
selection committee.
Michigan
also
needs
to
improve its road record. The
Wolverines are currently 0-5 in
true road games, and they will
have plenty of chances coming
up to post some away wins on
the board. Michigan’s next three
road games are against Michigan
State, Indiana and Northwestern.
Because the Wolverines dropped
winnable away contests at Iowa
and at Illinois, they’ll need
to win a couple of these more
challenging road games to make
up for those early losses.
There are some metrics that
Michigan can’t control that can
end up helping it come Selection
Sunday.
The
Wolverines’
strength of schedule can continue
to improve if Michigan’s non-
conference opponents maintain
their winning ways. Southern
Methodist,
South
Carolina
and UCLA all currently rank
in the top-3 of their respective
conference standings. Marquette
pulled off an upset victory over
Creighton over the weekend, and
Virginia Tech defeated Duke a
few weeks ago.
One team to keep an eye
on
out
of
the
Wolverines’
non-conference opposition is
Marquette. Just like Michigan,
the Golden Eagles are a bubble
team, currently projected to
barely make the field of 68. If
both teams continue down that
path, and only one spot remains
in the tournament field, how
much will the committee value
the Wolverines’ November win
over Marquette? In the best case
scenario, Michigan hopes its
play on the court will improve to
a point where it won’t have this
question hanging over its head
on Selection Sunday.
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Michigan coach John Beilein will need the Wolverines to win the big games left on their schedule in order to give themselves a better shot on Selection Sunday.
The Wolverines still have work to do to earn a spot in the field of 68
BRANDON CARNEY
Daily Sports Writer
8A — Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com