If Michigan can beat Auburn in NCAA Tournament, anything is possible

ATLANTA — The locker rooms said it all. Auburn, as the best seed in the South Regional (the best seed in the whole NCAA Tournament, in fact) earned the Atlanta Hawks’ digs. Each player had a roomy cubby and staffers and reporters had ample space to operate.

Michigan, a 5 seed, didn’t get State Farm Arena’s NBA visitors locker room (that went to 2 seed Michigan State). No, the Wolverines were crammed into an auxiliary space that, when opened to the media on Thursday afternoon, raised the room’s temperature 15 degrees, led to plenty of awkward maneuvering, and probably constituted a fire hazard.

The Wolverines were put in a tough spot. If they can get out of it, anything’s possible.

Michigan will face Auburn on Friday in the Sweet 16. Tipoff will take place at approximately 9:39 p.m. ET but will depend on the conclusion of Michigan State-Ole Miss. Both games will air on CBS. The winners will face off on Sunday for a spot in the Final Four.

Whether Michigan’s season ends tonight, later this weekend, or with another banner ordered for Crisler Center depends on whether the Wolverines can maintain their March Madness magic.

Neutral observers decried Michigan’s placement in the bracket as soon as the field was announced. A 5 seed for the Big Ten Tournament champs? Playing on a Thursday in Denver? Really? Most of those criticisms don’t matter now.

On paper, Michigan was dealt a bad hand in facing 12 seed UC San Diego, which entered the Dance with 30 wins and a strength (forcing turnovers) that paired nicely with Michigan’s major weakness. Michigan’s coaches emphasized protecting the ball; the Wolverines obliged and won.

Texas A&M, with its nation’s-best offensive rebounding rate, was another supposed bad matchup. Again, coaches made it clear the Wolverines would have to rebound to win; they did.

Auburn doesn’t have one super power, aside from maybe protecting the ball. The Tigers are just really, really good. They’re 30-5 against a seriously difficult schedule, having won the SEC — the sport’s best conference — in addition to wins over No. 1 seed Houston, 3 seed Iowa State, and 4 seed Purdue, all away from home.

Auburn’s losses have come against three teams still playing — 1 seeds Duke and Florida, 2 seeds Alabama and Tennessee — and Texas A&M.

Unlike Michigan’s first two NCAA Tournament games, there’s not one area of emphasis for Michigan’s coaches leading up to this matchup.

“No, it’s like all of those combined,” Michigan guard Nimari Burnett conceded. He said it’s about having a plan for Auburn’s player of the year candidate, center Johni Broome, and the shooters that surround him; ending defensive possessions with rebounds; taking care of the ball.

“We plan to do all that,” Burnett said.

Why doubt him? In addition to beating UC San Diego and Texas A&M last week in Denver, Michigan owns wins over eventual Sweet 16 teams Purdue (twice) and Maryland, and two wins over a Wisconsin team that came up a basket short of this round. There were dominant performances over NCAA Tournament teams UCLA and Xavier, plus a win over Oregon.

Michigan is an 8.5-point underdog against Auburn but is on quite the heater this postseason. “We just look like a much more connected group,” Michigan coach Dusty May said when comparing his team’s play now to the last couple weeks of the regular season.

“People wrote our season off after our last regular-season games and here we are now,” Michigan forward Danny Wolf said. “Yeah, we’re underdogs in the game, it’s a 5 versus 1, but we see it as just a regular game. We’re not looking at ourselves as an underdog.”

As well as Michigan has looked lately, the numbers aren’t eye-popping. Over these five straight wins, only one performance ranks in Michigan’s top nine this season in offensive efficiency (Purdue, Michigan’s fourth-best showing). Only one game ranks in the top 12 defensively (Wisconsin, sixth). Michigan has shot better than its season-long 3-point average in just one of those games and hasn’t made double-digit 3s since the calendar turned to February.

Maybe Friday night is when the dam finally breaks. The roster is capable of, say, a 15 for 34 performance from deep. More likely, Michigan shoots closer to its average and finds other ways to stay in the game. Auburn is the best team Michigan has faced all season, but the Wolverines aren’t counting on a superhuman effort to advance.

“Playing close to our potential will help us get the win,” Burnett said. “Playing a good brand of basketball, taking care of the ball; defensively, being disruptive, being very, very active in the gaps and on ball.”

Michigan is trying to blend the loose, nothing-to-lose spirit of an underdog with the talent and confidence of a power-conference program.

“We’re not content just being one of 16,” May said. “We feel like we can compete with anyone in the country, so why would we come here and just be complacent and content that we’re here? Let’s keep our head down, focused on the work, and see where it takes us.”

It’s taken the Wolverines this far. If it leads to a win over the No. 1 overall seed, it can take them anywhere.

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