The similarities are striking, certainly.
The Michigan men's basketball team started the season on a roll, raising expectations and looking like a solid bet to make some noise in the NCAA tournament.
As did the Wolverines' next opponent, Miami (Fla.).
Michigan stumbled somewhat in conference play, and lost five of its last seven games on its way to a .500 Big Ten record.
The Hurricanes slid to a similar ending, dropping six of their final seven and finishing 9-9 in the Big East.
Along the way, the Wolverines (9-9 Big Ten, 19-11 overall) knocked off some big-name teams, such as Duke and Arizona - both NCAA tournament teams.
For its part, Miami (16-12, 9-9) beat traditional powers Villanova and Georgetown, who are also both in the 64-team Big Dance.
Tonight, the Hurricanes will step out of the mirror to visit Crisler Arena in the first round of the NIT.
Another thing the two squads have in common is that neither has a player on its roster who has won any kind of tournament game.
Michigan junior guard Travis Conlan, who is 0-for-2 in the NCAA tournament in his career, is hoping for a little more success this March.
"I want to get a couple postseason victories," Conlan said.
"We haven't won a game in the postseason, anybody in that lockerroom."
Miami has only limited postseason experience on its roster, having played in the 1995 NIT, losing at Penn State.
Three of the Hurricanes' current big guns played on that squad, and have since been further seasoned by conference play in the competitive Big East.
Senior guard Clifton Clark is second on the team in scoring, sporting a 13 point-per-game average in just under 30 minutes of action per game.
Running the offensive show for Miami is junior point guard Kevin Norris, who averages a team-leading five assists per contest to go along with his 7.5 points per game.
On the frontline is another senior, forward Alex Fraser. Fraser tosses in almost eight points each time out, and grabs almost six boards.
Leading the Hurricanes in the paint - the domain of which Michigan big men Maurice Taylor, Robert Traylor and Maceo Baston consider themselves masters - is sophomore forward Tim James.
James' 14.3 points per game leads Miami, as do his 6.9 rebounds. Toss in a little more than two blocks per game, and you have a force to be reckoned with.
Both Conlan and Taylor said they had caught glimpses of the Hurricanes over the course of the season, but were going to have to rely on the coaching staff for more thorough preparations.
I don't really know much about Miami," Conlan said. "I've seen them play a couple times ... but I never thought we'd be playing them so I never really watched them that closely. They struggled like us towards the end (of the season)."
Taylor was more specific, noting a potentially worrisome aspect of the Wolverines' opponent.
"They're an athletic team, they have a lot of guys who can run and jump," the junior forward said. "They play real hard on the defensive end."
"Sometimes they get erratic, but teams that get erratic are really the teams to be afraid of."
Although the NIT has little of the glamour of the NCAA's version - tonight's contest won't even be televised - the players said they nevertheless won't be lacking the necessary motivation when they hit the Crisler hardwood.
"We feel the same type of pressure because it is a tournament," Taylor said.
"We're playing basketball just like the guys in the field of 64 are playing basketball. We put the same pressure on ourselves to win this tournament. We're not in this tournament just to play, just so our season won't end - we want to win this tournament."
MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily
Maurice Taylor and Maceo Baston will try not to let the Michigan basketball team get tangled up against Miami tonight in their first-round NIT game at Crisler Arena. The Wolverines missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1991.