March Madness is over, and while Louisville was crowned the well deserved champions, something else magical happened along the way.
March was filled with it's typical Madness. Harvard, Wichita State, and Florida Gulf State University all busted brackets and broke hearts (which is always expected and a large part of the allure of the NCAA tournament.) Wolverines around the world rejoiced as the battle tested Maize and Blue made it to the Big Dance. It wasn't since the Fab Five in 1993 (which is 20 years ago mind you) that the Wolverines have made it to the championship game.
The road was not an easy one. The lineup of Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr., Mitch McGary, Nik Staukaus and Glenn Robinson III helped to carry Michigan to Atlanta.
After winning their first 18 games and garnering a number one ranking along the way, the Wolverines dropped their last 6 games of the regular season. Once the tournament began I, myself, began to doubt if they could pull off the games when it mattered. It was clear that the battles weren't for naught because game after game in the tournament, the Wolverines overcame.
There probably wasn't much doubt that Michigan would win against San Diego State which they did convincingly with a score of 71-56. Then came the Cinderella story of last year's tournament when the Wolverines faced the Rams of VCU. Once again, they pulled another convincing victory winning 78-53. The true test came during the Sweet Sixteen when Michigan was faced with defeating Kansas. They met the challenge in a thrilling OT victory of 87-85. As the Elite Eight was formed and Michigan was pitted against Florida, doubt started to creep in amongst Michigan fans. Florida was dominating and proved they deserved to be in the championship game. None the less, the Wolverines had something else in mind, stunning the Gators 79-59. Then came the thrilling Final Four game against Syracuse that many analysts counted them out of. Alas, Michigan found it within themselves to pull out a 61-56 win against the Syacuse's suffocating defense.
March was filled with it's typical Madness. Harvard, Wichita State, and Florida Gulf State University all busted brackets and broke hearts (which is always expected and a large part of the allure of the NCAA tournament.) Wolverines around the world rejoiced as the battle tested Maize and Blue made it to the Big Dance. It wasn't since the Fab Five in 1993 (which is 20 years ago mind you) that the Wolverines have made it to the championship game.
The road was not an easy one. The lineup of Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr., Mitch McGary, Nik Staukaus and Glenn Robinson III helped to carry Michigan to Atlanta.
After winning their first 18 games and garnering a number one ranking along the way, the Wolverines dropped their last 6 games of the regular season. Once the tournament began I, myself, began to doubt if they could pull off the games when it mattered. It was clear that the battles weren't for naught because game after game in the tournament, the Wolverines overcame.
There probably wasn't much doubt that Michigan would win against San Diego State which they did convincingly with a score of 71-56. Then came the Cinderella story of last year's tournament when the Wolverines faced the Rams of VCU. Once again, they pulled another convincing victory winning 78-53. The true test came during the Sweet Sixteen when Michigan was faced with defeating Kansas. They met the challenge in a thrilling OT victory of 87-85. As the Elite Eight was formed and Michigan was pitted against Florida, doubt started to creep in amongst Michigan fans. Florida was dominating and proved they deserved to be in the championship game. None the less, the Wolverines had something else in mind, stunning the Gators 79-59. Then came the thrilling Final Four game against Syracuse that many analysts counted them out of. Alas, Michigan found it within themselves to pull out a 61-56 win against the Syacuse's suffocating defense.
And with that the Wolverines were on their way:
While Michigan put up a valiant fight, they were eventually defeated by the Cardinals. Losing the game hurt, but the Wolverines made it when they were counted out long before the championship game. They accomplished the impossible and for that they are still Champions.
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