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Michigan ran off three wins in three days to take home the Big Ten Tournament Championship and heads into the postseason with momentum. The Wolverines also face the best 12 seed in the field, UC San Diego.

It’s a tough draw for a team that hoped for more but a return to the postseason for the first time since 2022 for the Wolverines.

Here are some highlights from around the national media about Michigan’s NCAA Tournament draw and chances.

The Selection Committee swears the Big Ten Tournament Championship was considered:

Matt Norlander posed that to Bubba Cunningham, the selection committee’s chairman, on CBS Sports HQ.

“No, that’s always the last tournament that completes,” Cunningham said. “We had contingency brackets based on Wisconsin winning or based on Michigan winning, and they did get scrubbed up assuming they had won in the contingency bracket that we had reviewed.

“That game was important,” Cunningham added. “And it was considered by the entire committee.”

CJ Moore, who profiled Eric Olen, picks Michigan to the Sweet 16, despite wanting to pick UCSD entering the tournament:

Michigan-UC San Diego might be one of the most interesting matchups of the Round of 64. Michigan’s dread all season has been turnovers, and the Tritons rank second in Division I in defensive turnover rate. The only issue for UC San Diego is its small frontcourt. Michigan is huge up front with 7-footers Danny Wolf and Vladislav Goldin. The Tritons will double the post, but Michigan is used to dealing with that, and Wolf is dangerous diving to the basket. Dusty May also has solid options for dealing with UC San Diego star Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones between Wolf and Rubin Jones. Before the bracket was released, I was pretty sure I would go with the Tritons, but the Wolverines might just have too much up front. Expect this betting line to be a small one — Michigan is ranked 25th at KenPom, UC San Diego 36th — so if you’re looking for an upset pick that makes sense in this region, this is a good spot.

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