Game 1: Bowling Green at Michigan Preview

College basketball is finally back.

Michigan hosts Bowling Green this afternoon at the Crisler Center (4:00 p.m., ESPN2), 258 days after the 2019-20 season came to an abrupt halt. It has been an abnormal offseason and promises to be a season unlike anything we’ve ever seen, but it is finally here. No one is sure what college basketball will look like in 2020-21, but today we start to find out.

Bowling Green is picked to win the Mid-American Conference and is projected to be Michigan’s best opening day opponent in over a decade. In a typical season, the Wolverines would have already played an exhibition game and a secret scrimmage that didn’t count. Instead, they’ll be hosting the Falcons in an empty gym without any live preparation against an outside opponent.

Make no mistake about it: Bowling Green is good enough to win at Michigan on a good stay. The Falcons have arguably the best guard in the game in Justin Turner and knocked off Cincinnati and Western Kentucky in the Virgin Islands around this time last year.