Michigan’s 2022-23 season opener is finally here as the Wolverines welcome Purdue Fort Wayne (6:30 p.m., BTN) to the Crisler Center this evening. The Mastodons are the defending Horizon League champs and a more dangerous than expected opening night foe.
Fort Wayne is experienced and returns most of its league-winning roster from a season ago, including four super seniors, with an average roster age of 21 years old and 35 combined seasons of college experience. The Mastodons finished last season ranked 237th in KenPom, but check in at 155th in this year’s preseason ratings and are ranked 17th in the preseason College Insider Mid-Major Top 25.
Head coach Jon Coffman runs a unique motion offense that prioritizes pace and shooting as effectively as any team in the country. Despite never finishing in the top 100 overall during Coffman’s tenure, the Mastodons have finished in the top 50 nationally in effective field goal percentage six times in eight years.
Polls, projections and prognostications only matter for another few hours. By 8:30 p.m. tonight, we’ll have 40 minutes of live basketball to analyze and we’ll have a hint of just who this Michigan team is and just how good they might be.
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