Michigan wins 'surreal' Big Ten title four days after airplane scare
What an unbelievable week for Michigan.
On Wednesday, the Wolverines team plane slid off a runway on its way toward takeoff to Washington, D.C. for the Big Ten tournament. Four days later, Michigan is the conference champion.
The Wolverines, the No. 8 seed in the tournament, handled Wisconsin 71-56 on Sunday to cap off the incredible run. After the plane scare left many of the players shaken and/or bruised, reports said head coach John Beilein gave the team the choice of forfeiting its first-round game against Illinois or getting back on a plane and proceeding.
https://twitter.com/umichbball/status/841032773691424775
They went, and beat up on the Illini on Thursday, despite being forced to wear their practice uniforms. On Friday, they stunned the tournament's top seed, Purdue, in the quarterfinals. They then continued rolling against No. 4 Minnesota on Saturday before finishing the run against the second-seeded Badgers.
All things considered, it's one of the more amazing runs we've seen in college sports in quite some time, even if the Big Ten was rather mediocre this year. Derrick Walton, Jr., who was named the tournament MVP after the game, called it "surreal." Indeed.
"They deserve it. They really deserve it," Beilein said.
The four wins in four days likely boosts Michigan's stock significantly for the NCAA Tournament. Stewart Mandel projected them as a No. 6 seed in his final bracket. We'll find out soon enough.
