It turns out, to move forward, Michigan needed to look to the past. In only his second year coaching the squad, Juwan Howard returned the Wolverines to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, marking the first time the program achieved the ranking since Howard's playing days with the university in 1993.
Hopefully, this March plays out a bit more successfully for Howard and Wolverine fans than the last one did for the Fab Five.
The last time Michigan was a No. 1 seed (1992-93) Juwan Howard was playing for the Wolverines as a member of the Fab Five. pic.twitter.com/chhY2Vf0WP
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 14, 2021
Since taking over the program in early 2019, Howard has compiled a record of 39-16, including a 20-4 mark this season that elevated the Wolverines to the number four spot in the year's final AP rankings. While Michigan began the season unranked, Howard's club came scorching out of the gates to begin the year, starting 11-0 and winning the program's first Big Ten regular-season championship since 2014.
In earning the top spot in the tournament's Eastern Region, Michigan will await the winner of Texas Southern and Mount St. Mary's for their opponent in the round of 64. In addition to the winnable first round matchup, the Wolverines could also benefit from facing arguably the easiest path towards the tournament semifinals compared to the other top seeds.
However, potential opponents aside, the biggest obstacle facing the team could come internally. With senior Isaiah Livers out indefinitely due to a stress injury in his right hand, Michigan is facing the possibility of running the gauntlet that is March Madness without one of their most significant contributors.
As Juwan Howard knows from experience, March rarely goes according to plan in the tournament. An ability to cope with its challenges is what determines its winners.
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