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.
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.
