The Michigan Wolverines have already shown us what their ceiling looks like - and it’s sky-high. Back in November, they were playing some of the best basketball in the country, steamrolling through the Players Era Tournament in Las Vegas with a combined 110-point margin of victory.
That included dominant wins over two ranked teams, most notably a 40-point dismantling of a Gonzaga squad that now sits at No. 6 nationally. It was a statement stretch that reminded the rest of college basketball: this Michigan team can be a serious problem when it’s locked in.
And yet, that version of the Wolverines hasn’t been seen in full since Vegas.
Since then, Michigan’s been grinding through the Big Ten schedule - winning, yes, but not always convincingly. Turnovers, rebounding lapses, and missed free throws have crept in during a stretch where the margins have tightened.
Their lone loss came at home to Wisconsin, a game where Michigan gave up 91 points - the most they’ve allowed all season - and looked a step slow defensively. But despite the imperfections, the Wolverines have still won 20 of their first 21 games.
That’s not just surviving - that’s thriving, even if it’s not always pretty.
Head coach Dusty May isn’t sugarcoating it either.
“This team has such a high ceiling,” May said after Michigan’s 81-73 win over No. 7 Michigan State. “We’re not anywhere near being where we need to be if we’re gonna win a regular season championship, which is the ultimate marathon.”
And that’s the scary part for the rest of the Big Ten - Michigan isn’t playing its best basketball, and it’s still beating top-10 teams.
Take the win over Michigan State: it was the Wolverines’ first victory at the Breslin Center since 2018, and they did it with poise and physicality. They built a 16-point halftime lead and held off a second-half push.
Earlier in the week, they took down No. 5 Nebraska despite coughing up 19 turnovers and shooting just 23% from beyond the arc.
That Nebraska team was dealing with illness, sure, but Michigan didn’t exactly play a clean game either. Still, they found a way.
That’s been the theme lately: finding a way. It hasn’t always been clean or dominant, but it’s been effective.
The Wolverines are averaging 14.6 turnovers over their last five games, and they’ve shown some inconsistency in the frontcourt - like in the narrow win over Penn State. Defensively, they struggled to contain a red-hot Wisconsin team.
But in the two biggest games of the season so far, they’ve done enough to win.
That’s what matters in March. Not how you win, but that you do.
“We proved that we can still win in different ways,” May said. “We haven’t been in two games like we were in this week where there’s so little movement.
You’re challenged for every inch of the court. You’re challenged for every step.”
That’s the kind of environment Big Ten basketball is built on - physical, high-pressure, possession-by-possession battles. And it’s the kind of environment Michigan didn’t always respond well to last year. Down the stretch in 2025, the Wolverines dropped key games - including two to Michigan State and back-to-back home losses to Illinois and Maryland - that cost them a shot at the regular season title.
This year, they’re trying to flip that script. And so far, they’re doing just that.
It helps that this is a different team, top to bottom. The roster has been reshaped, and the mentality has clearly shifted. The message from May and his staff has been consistent: don’t let the past define this team.
“I thought [Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti] made a great point, he just said, ‘This team’s never played here,’” May said. “Last year we were 0-2 against these guys, but this team that we have in our locker room, they were 0-0.”
That mindset matters. It’s the difference between carrying the weight of history and writing your own chapter. And this Michigan team is doing the latter.
They’ve already proven they can blow teams out - their first 13 wins came by an average of 30.2 points. But everyone in Ann Arbor knew that kind of dominance wouldn’t be sustainable once Big Ten play began. What matters now is how they handle the grind - the tight games, the physical matchups, the pressure-packed moments.
That’s where this year’s team is starting to separate itself from last year’s.
The win in East Lansing was a turning point. Michigan came out aggressive, built a big lead early, and never let the moment get too big.
That kind of composure wasn’t always there a season ago. And while they still have things to clean up - turnovers, rebounding, shot selection - the Wolverines are showing they can win without being perfect.
That’s the kind of trait that translates in March.
So yes, Michigan hasn’t played its best basketball since November. But they’ve beaten two top-10 teams in the last week.
They’ve shown they can win ugly. They’ve shown they can win on the road.
And if they can pair that gritty mentality with the high-end potential they flashed in Vegas, this team isn’t just dangerous - it’s championship-caliber.
There’s still work to do. But if the Wolverines continue to grow into the team May believes they can be, they won’t just be a tough out in March - they’ll be a team no one wants to see across the bracket.