Yes, I am predicting 21 wins

I have taken a little heat for the 17 games in my “win” category and for my 21 wins prediction. (Let everybody know what you think by voting in the poll at the end of this post) So let’s take another look at those games:

 

Michigan Tech

Northeastern

Norfolk State

Savannah State

Eastern Michigan

Oakland (at the Palace)

Florida Gulf Coast

North Carolina Central

Illinois

at Indiana

Iowa

at Penn State

Northwestern

Penn State

at Northwestern

Minnesota

at Minnesota

 

One comment I heard a couple of times was how hard it is to win on the road in the Big Ten. The road games I have Michigan winning are
at Indiana: I know Michigan never wins in Bloomington, but this is going to be a season like no other in Bloomington.

at Penn State: Michigan lost here last year but I think they can win this one

at Northwestern: Michigan won here last year.

at Minnesota: This might be the biggest reach of the road games.

Ok, even if you split those 4 road games that is 15 wins with 14 more games to play.

I submit that they will not lose all 14 of those games.

 

Here are some reasons why I think Michigan can accomplish the 21 wins I predicted.

 

1. Coach John Beilein has a history of marked improvement in his second season at a school. He is a very good coach and you can’t disregard that fact.
2. Manny Harris is a candidate for Big Ten player of the year. He could have a very big season. Coach Beilein has commented on how much he loves the chemistry of this team.
3. Laval Lucas-Perry will be eligible to play on December 20^th against Oakland. All reports on him have been very good.
4. The Big Ten is down a little this year. Indiana is in a bigger rebuilding situation then Michigan was last year and with less talent. Illinois and Iowa are also a bit down.

 

So there you have it. I am standing by my prediction of 21 wins. I think they win all 17 of those games listed above and at least 4 of the remaining 14 games. I really don’t see how those projections are that outrageous. Remember this is a new era of Michigan Basketball.

 

 

 

Schedule Projections

About a month ago I broke down the basketball schedule and came up with the following:

These 17 games are wins, go ahead and log it

Michigan Tech

Northeastern

Norfolk State

Savannah State

Eastern Michigan

Oakland (at the Palace)

Florida Gulf Coast

North Carolina Central

Illinois

at Indiana

Iowa

at Penn State

Northwestern

Penn State

at Northwestern

Minnesota

at Minnesota

 

None of those are outrageous picks. So that leaves us with these remaining 14 games:

 

UCLA (Madison Square Garden)

Duke/Southern Illinois (Madison Square Garden)

at Maryland

Duke

Wisconsin

at Illinois

Ohio State

at Ohio State

at Purdue

at Connecticut

Michigan State

at Iowa

Purdue

at Wisconsin

 

Let’s go conservative and say they go 4-10 in those 14 games. That puts them at 21-10 heading into the Big Ten Tournament. Now they might lose one or two of the “wins” and they might win some of the undecided games. Either way you get the idea. Any thoughts?