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John Leroi Out of Bounds |
COLUMBUS - Let me be the first to congratulate the Michigan basketball team. Yesterday, the Wolverines made one of the best decisions they have made all season - to accept the NIT's invitation.
Many members of the media expected Michigan would be arrogant enough to turn down the invitation. We all thought the Wolverines believed it was their god-given right to be in the NCAA tournament.
But, for the first time since December, Michigan impressed me with its desire to compete, something I thought it had lost weeks ago.
It was a difficult decision for Steve Fisher and the rest of the team to make. It may appear to some that the Wolverines have nothing to gain and everything to lose.
With all apologies to Syracuse, Michigan is far and away the best team in the NIT. Win the whole thing and it will be expected. Lose in any round and the Wolverines look like a bigger flop than they already do.
So why go? How about pride? How about proving to everyone - including themselves - that Michigan is not a team of egotistical, overrated players who think that baggy yellow shorts are as much a part of college basketball as John Wooden?
How about sucking it up and saying, "We blew it late in the Big Ten season, but we're not going to cry about it."
If the Wolverines belong in the NCAA tournament like the players believe they do, then the best way to prove it is to win the NIT, not to wallow in self pity and say the NIT is beneath them.
Fisher said earlier in the week that he would only accept an NIT bid if he felt the postseason experience would "jumpstart" the team next year.
Yesterday he said he wouldn't take the Wolverines to the NIT if "their hearts weren't in it."
After last week's disaster at Illinois, no Wolverine could find a pulse, let alone his heart. But the same wasn't true yesterday.
Everyone expected the Wolverines to beat the Buckeyes.
But with their NCAA tournament hopes already destroyed thanks to Wisconsin's upset of the second-ranked Golden Gophers the night before, and the Wolverines down by five points to the Buckeyes with just 30 seconds left, the Wolverines could have easily packed it in and gone home.
But for whatever reason, the Wolverines didn't.
For the first time in a long time, they played the way they did during the final 10 minutes of their win over Duke on Dec. 8.
The win over Ohio State wasn't nearly as colossal, but it proved that this team was not a bunch of quitters.
And that, coupled with their decision to play in the NIT, proves that the Wolverines aren't quite as arrogant as we thought.
"If we had laid an egg today and hadn't fought hard, we might not be talking (about playing in the NIT)," Fisher said yesterday.
The Wolverines will have an opportunity to gain some much-needed post-season experience, something they haven't had much of the last two seasons.
Miami (Fla.) isn't just a football school anymore.
Though not nearly as talented as Michigan is, the Hurricanes will be a quality opponent.
If the Wolverines actually play their remaining games with the passion they say they will, the Michigan basketball program can only benefit.
After winning the NIT in 1984, the Wolverines reeled off back-to-back Big Ten titles - their last two conference championships.
History may not repeat itself, but frankly, Michigan has no where to go but up.
Think the Wolverines have a lot to lose in the NIT? I think you're right.
Think they don't belong there? You're wrong.
- John Leroi can be reached over e-mail at jrleroi@umich.edu