It has been a dream start to Year 2 of the Dusty May regime for Michigan Basketball. His Wolverines are 8-0 overall and kicked off Big Ten play with a resounding 101-60 victory over Rutgers. It was the fourth — yes, fourth — instance that Michigan has won by 40 or more points this season.
There was also the 30-point beatdown of Auburn. And the 40-point win over Gonzaga. Sure, those early nail-biters against Wake Forest and TCU were a tad worrisome, but the Wolverines looked unstoppable in Las Vegas and kept the train rolling against the Scarlet Knights over the weekend.
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Curiously, ESPN’s Basketball Power Index has Michigan rated fourth overall in the country. While that is probably only a touch low, the curious part is how the BPI has Gonzaga, whom the Wolverines defeated 101-61, at No. 2 overall.
Michigan’s BPI score of 22.4 trails only Iowa State (22.9), Gonzaga (23.8) and Duke (25.2). It has May’s squad at a projected win-loss record of 26.4-4.6 and a 70.2 percent chance of winning the Big Ten.
Meanwhile, the more trusted and respected KenPom rankings have the Wolverines as the clear-cut No. 1 team with a net rating of 36.22, nearly two whole points higher than Iowa State (34.44).
Final Four-caliber teams typically have around a top-10 defense and a top-10 offense, according to KenPom. Michigan is 11th in offense and first in defense. Both are highly encouraging signs for things to come this winter and spring.
