The Year of the Wolverine

The Michigan Wolverines aren’t the first school to have been granted status as the number one team in the nation this season though they’re certainly the most warranted and might well be the last.

While Indiana, Duke and Louisville have climbed to the top of the college basketball perception charts, each soon squandered their seed, losing games which they would have all been expected to win.

And so now it’s Michigan’s turn to take up the torch, an honour they haven’t received in more than 20 years.

Kansas is the only team on the list who could have legitimate gripes about Michigan’s ranking though at the same time they’d understand perfectly that their conference hasn’t yet tested their mettle, while they’ve yet to be pitted against a single top 10 team.

Michigan on the other hand has for the most part cruised through the most challenging conference in college basketball, with their only loss a 3 point affair on the road in Columbus against number 11 Ohio State. In addition their back court star tandem of Trey Bourke and Tim Hardaway Jr shot a combined and deplorable 9 of 28 that night which isn’t likely to replicated in a hurry.

Indeed it is Michigan’s backcourt led by Burke and Hardaway which has propelled Michigan to this standard, leading the nation in offensive efficiency, with the strength of Burke’s numbers comparable only to Michigan’s most famous star, Magic Johnson.

Michigan have shot out of the gates this season and now boast a 19-1 record, with 15 of those victories achieved by double digit margins and with their 5 point defeat of Pittsburgh in November, their smallest.

There’s no doubt the Wolverines will play a major role in post-season play, both within the Big 10 tournament and later on in the National Tournament. 

And it’s where that National Tournament is concerned where there’s some exceptionally good numbers floating around, particularly in Australian markets which don’t exactly place the biggest emphasis on US college sports and whom can sometimes be caught napping when it comes to adjusting their prices.

The Wolverines represent a perfect case.

I can accept that the number 1 seed needn’t necessarily result in market favouritism, however I think Centrebet have got it about right by having Michigan at $5.50 which is a price shared only by Indiana. For reasons that I can only put down to ignorance, Sportsbet (and if you’re quick enough) will give you a price of $13.50, more than 4 points better than Kentucky for instance, who may well fail to qualify for the tournament.

No, the Wolverines haven’t won a National Title since 1989 and yes the number one seed hasn’t been handled particularly well this season, however $13.50 is quite simply a silly price which should be snapped up as quickly as possible.