Michigan 2020-2021 Basketball Schedule Announced

Submitted by Bambi on November 18th, 2020 at 5:15 PM

Link to schedule on UMHoops

Some notes:

  • The non-con is confirmed to be 5 home games against Bowling Green, Oakland, Ball State, UCF and NC State.
  • We have single plays against Illinois, Iowa and Rutgers at home along with Nebraska, OSU and Purdue on the road.
  • B1G play opens at home against PSU on December 13th with a 12 day gap until the next game @Nebraska on Christmas.
  • The month stretch from February 6 - March 7 (bookended by games vs and @MSU) is going to be the roughest stretch for us by far. In order we have games vs MSU, vs Illinois, @Wisconsin, vs Rutgers, @OSU, @Indiana, vs Iowa and @MSU. All of those teams project to be tournament teams.
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Bambi

November 18th, 2020 at 5:20 PM ^

It's very possible that Michigan plays its first 11 games this year against teams that end up missing the tournament (NC State, Maryland and Minnesota seem like the only teams that could buck that trend). That's why we have such a tough schedule to end the season, but it also gives a team that hasn't played much together almost 2 months of games and practice to gel and get experience.

Definitely can't afford to lose more than one or two of those games though, and this leaves us open to a potential rough time if we get hit with a COVID outbreak anytime in February onward. 

Joined: 10/12/2013

MGoPoints: 23158

JR3410

November 18th, 2020 at 5:34 PM ^

Just happy to see they aren't playing at Iowa this year.  I could use a break from that.  Not having to watch Garza travel every possession while our bigs spend all game on the bench in foul trouble is pretty nice.  The last 2 games there have been absolutely ridiculous, even by typical B1G officiating standards.

Joined: 08/04/2018

MGoPoints: 1994

COLBlue

November 18th, 2020 at 5:40 PM ^

Some oddities: Other schools are playing 7 non-conference games, why is Michigan only playing 5?  Also, why such a big break between their first two conference games Dec 13 to Dec 25 (odd to see a game on Christmas day?!), and no non-conference games during the period?  Is it possible they could still add a game or two during that time?

Also, doesn't look like a lot of time built in for rescheduling games, if needed, during Jan/Feb... one mid-week opening at the end of January, and one mid-week opening near the end of February.

I can't remember the last time Michigan closed the season at home - they're not again this year.

Joined: 11/28/2010

MGoPoints: 1498

Bambi

November 18th, 2020 at 6:22 PM ^

So I could be wrong but I think 5 vs 7 has to do with whether teams are playing in an NTE Tournament or not. For example, MSU is playing in the Champions Classic @Duke this year and Indiana is playing in the Maui Invitational (which is in Asheville, NC), and they each have 7 non-con games. Teams like OSU and Michigan, however, only have 5 because they both pulled out of their NTE tournaments due to COVID concerns (either due to the location of the tournaments or because they didn't trust playing teams from different conferences with different testing protocols in a non-bubbled environment). Since the non-con is going to be limited this year, a lot of teams wouldn't want to spend 2 or 3 of their 5 non-con games at a neutral site tournament and then only have 2 or 3 home games, so teams participating in an NTE tournament are allowed to play 7 non-con games, while teams not in one can only play 5. So no, Michigan will not add any more non-con games since we are already at 5 (unless a current one is replaced due to COVID concerns).

Relatedly the break between Dec 13-Dec 25 isn't too surprising. Most years we see a big break in the schedule around this time due to semesters ending and exams happening. Last year Michigan didn't play a game between December 14th and 21st, and then again until December 29th. It's just more pronounced this season due to the lack of non-con games.

The schedule this year has two sets of "collapsible byes" during the weeks of Jan 18-21 & Jan 25-28, and the weeks of Feb 22-25 & March 1-5. So basically for Michigan they have no games between Jan 22-30 and one between Feb 22 - March 4. Whether that's enough time to make up for any COVID delays, who knows, but that's the intent.

Last time Michigan closed at home was a 2016 home loss to Iowa.

Joined: 10/12/2013

MGoPoints: 23158

LabattBlue

November 18th, 2020 at 6:17 PM ^

No pre season big games this year, which should change with the teams projectory moving forward.

Gives them a chance to mesh the new guys into rotations this year....hoping for some semblance of a season, as the team has some serious potential to excel.

And we all need some quality viewing after football.

Joined: 03/28/2015

MGoPoints: 721

Absorbine Sr.

November 18th, 2020 at 7:45 PM ^

I hate this single play crap, just do a full B10 schedule where everyone plays everyone twice. Enough with these non con games FFS.   

 

Joined: 11/12/2020

MGoPoints: 3848

Jordan2323

November 18th, 2020 at 8:41 PM ^

What are yalls thoughts on the starters and rotation? My starters are a little different than what I might traditionally have just because of the lack of cohesive practice time and conditioning. 

Starters: Johns, Livers, Franz, Brown and Brooks. I think we start small ball and game to game may depend on who we are playing. Can't really expect Johns to play Garza, for example. 

Rotation: These aren't positional replacements, just the ones I think will get in the rotation. I think they'll have so much flexibility that any one of these could be in there with any of the above at any time. 

Dickinson, Williams, Zeb, Smith and Davis. We have to get at least 3 of the freshman some minutes for next year. 

I dont see Jace or Nunez getting much run as the season progresses. 

 

Joined: 11/09/2013

MGoPoints: 48922

outsidethebox

November 18th, 2020 at 10:49 PM ^

There are good options and a solid rotation among the top seven-Livers, Wagner, Brooks, Johns, Davis, Smith and Brown...Livers and Wagner are the only sure starters at this time. I have strong confidence in this group and you only need seven. But with only seven you need everyone to stay perfectly healthy. As insurance, two more solid contributors need to come from the rest-I think those two will emerge during the course of the year...having that easier schedule in the beginning will serve the emergence of "insurance" well.  I believe there will be some very nice surprises that will elevate this team to the top tier of the league-and maybe beyond the league.

Joined: 01/23/2017

MGoPoints: 18816