The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/653976
BY JOHN BORTON I t's not the Final Four John Beilein's crew experienced in the spring of 2013, but the Wolverines will take it. Michi- gan found itself one of the final four squads invited to the NCAA Tourna- ment field of 68 when all the brack- etology smoke finally cleared on Se- lection Sunday March 13. The Wolverines drew Tulsa in a play-in game March 16 in Dayton, Ohio. The winner of that game moves on to take on Notre Dame in Brook- lyn, N.Y., two days later, part of the NCAA's East Regional. Beilein's boys didn't care whom or when by the time all was said and done. Following a scramble to the fin- ish — including plenty of projections that had them one of the first four out of the tournament — they got to cel- ebrate and breathe a sigh of relief as a co-No. 11 seed. "I'm so happy for our guys, that we've been selected to go into the NCAA Tournament again," Beilein said. "We're thrilled to be in, in any way, shape or form. The play-in game is part of the NCAA Tournament … it's a great opportunity for us, after a long, challenging season, to keep playing now in March." Beilein noted he wasn't aware at first of an accurate bracket that leaked onto the Internet, confirming the Wol- verines in the tournament before the official CBS announcement. He no- ticed players looking at their phones and they clued him in, but he wasn't convinced. The room never erupted until CBS made it official. Even so, Beilein joked, he'd gotten an unofficial word many hours earlier, thinking it was coming from a higher power. Before he left Indianapolis from Michigan's Big Ten Tournament weekend, Beilein went to the 8 a.m. mass at nearby St. John's Catholic Church. There, he experienced a bit of early March Madness. "The priest was there, who was from Minnesota, who came to the Big Ten Tournament," Beilein recalled. "When I was walking out the door, he said, 'Coach, I think you're in.' I said, 'How do you know that?' DANCING AGAIN The Wolverines Snag A NCAA Berth By A Claw