Best & Worst Case Scenarios for Michigan Wolverines on Selection Sunday

After a 29-2 regular-season record, winning the Big Ten regular season by four games, and getting to the Big Ten Tournament finals — the Wolverines are firmly locked into a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament. Michigan is seeking to win its second Big Ten Tournament when it faces Purdue later on Sunday, but regardless of the outcome, the Wolverines will quickly move their attention to the NCAA Tournament.

Following the buzzer of the Big Ten Tournament, the Selection Sunday Show will take place roughly a half hour later.

As mentioned, Michigan will get a No. 1 seed, not the No. 1 overall seed with Duke winning the ACC Tournament. What would the best/worst outcome be for the Wolverines? Let's dive in.

Worst Case Outcome

Upsets always happen in the NCAA Tournament — that's why it's called March Madness. But the Wolverines are going to be big favorites to get out of their side of the bracket. For this, we are going to look at the possible No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 seeds the Wolverines could land using ESPN and CBS bracketology.

The worst-possible No. 2 seed the Wolverines would want to get is Michigan State. Yes, Michigan has beaten the Spartans twice, and both times handily, but it wouldn't be easy to beat a good team three times. Tom Izzo would do anything in his power to beat Michigan in the NCAA Tournament and it would be best served for the Wolverines to play MSU in the Final Four if both teams made it that far.

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo reacts to a play. — Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

A few No. 3 and No. 4 seeded teams Michigan would like to avoid in its region would be Purdue and Kansas.

A draw with Purdue could mark the third time playing the Boilermakers and if Michigan beats Purdue on Sunday — the same saying applies with MSU. Kansas is a tricky team. Bill Self has seen his Jayhawks get some massive wins, along with some massive disappointments this season. Freshman phenom Darryn Peterson can score with anyone and it would be best to avoid them if possible. Kansas is a No. 4 seed projection and Michigan could meet them in the Sweet 16.

Best Case Outcome

Who would Michigan match up the best with? As far as the No. 2 seed goes, depending on who you look at, the Iowa State Cyclones are a projection there and it feels like the Wolverines would match up nicely with them.

Iowa State was blown out to end the regular season against Texas Tech — who is without JT Toppin — and Arizona. Obviously, the Cyclones are a good team if they are receiving No. 2 praise, but Michigan would rather face them instead of Michigan State, UConn, or Houston. The Cyclones have a couple of bigs that could challenge Michigan, but the Wolverines have proved they can wear down the opposing bigs by the second half.

Iowa State Cyclones forward Milan Momcilovic — William Purnell-Imagn Images

A few other teams that would be nice draws for Michigan would be Gonzaga and Vanderbilt. The Wolverines already beat the Zags by nearly 40 points and Michigan would be too athletic for Gonzaga for an entire 40-minute game.

As far as Vanderbilt, it has made its way to the SEC Tournament finals and is looking more likely to be a No. 3/ No. 4 seed. Vandy is very guard-dependent, which has hurt Michigan in the past, but the Wolverines' size would be a lot for Vanderbilt to handle. Aday Mara and Morez Johnson could put on a show against the undersized Commodores.