Assembling Michigan’s nonconference schedule for Dusty May’s first season was a tricky task. Should the Wolverines buy a bunch of home games (and therefore, most likely, a bunch of wins)? Should they schedule to simply make the NCAA Tournament? To challenge themselves as much as possible?
“I think we were kind of building the plane as we were flying it last spring,” Michigan assistant coach Kyle Church said. “Thankfully it turned out very well.” The roster May built proved capable of handling a relatively difficult schedule. The end result was a Big Ten Tournament title and Sweet 16 appearance.
This time around, the coaches were much more confident lining up challenging games. Church, who oversees scheduling, spoke about the process on the school-produced “Defend the Block” podcast published on Tuesday.
“We solidified our roster pretty early in the spring and we thought it was a very, very good roster, very competitive roster, and we wanted to challenge ourselves and play one of the top nonconference schedules in the country,” Church said.
Michigan recently announced its nonconference matchups. The dates for the 20 Big Ten games are expected on Thursday.
The Wolverines will travel to Las Vegas during Thanksgiving week for the Players Era Festival, an NIL-fueled event that guarantees each team three games. Michigan will face San Diego State and Auburn to start.
“More than likely we’re going to get it at least two, probably three Quad 1 games out there in a NCAA Tournament-like environment,” Church said.
In the regular season last year, Michigan played an impressive 16 Quad 1 games while only playing two Quad 4 games. That should matter when it comes to NCAA Tournament selection and seeding. Michigan is scheduling with those things in mind.
As for home-and-home series, Michigan will conclude one with TCU (on the road) and start another with Villanova (at home).
“Having the chance to play a high-quality opponent on campus is a big priority for us,” Church said. “That’s something we’re going to try to do every single year.”
Late in Big Ten play, Michigan will head to Washington, D.C., to play Duke. Apparently May reached out to Illinois coach Brad Underwood about Illinois’ game against Duke in New York around that time last season. Underwood reported several benefits despite getting blown out, so Michigan will try to capture some national buzz with that matchup.
“I think that will really mimic what we’re going to see in the Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament,” Church said.
If ESPN’s latest (albeit way-too-early) bracket projection is correct, Church is on to something: Joe Lunardi has Duke and Michigan as the top two seeds in the Washington, D.C. regional.
Michigan has four buy/guaranteed games: Oakland, Middle Tennessee, La Salle and McNeese will all get paid to come to Crisler Center. Church is happy with that relatively low number. “That’s a testament to what Coach May wants to do and how much he believes in our roster, that we’re really going out challenging ourselves and making sure that every night we’re playing against a high, high level opponent.”
Church believes the foundation is there for a successful season. “I’ve told almost everybody I’ve talked to (that) we have a really, really talented team. A significantly talented, deep, athletic, tall, physical team.
“Before they become a good team —we’re not there yet; I think we could get there; I think we could become a great team — but we have the talent prerequisite you need.”