History Against Michigan Reaching Final 4 After Being Unranked in Preseason
March 24th, 2021 - 21:06
NCAA playoff history was against Michigan capturing national title. No school has won an NCAA title upon earning a #1 regional seed after going unranked among Top 25 in AP's national preseason poll (Top 20 until 1989-90). In fact, UM became the 12th straight team in this category failing to reach the Final Four (including another UM squad in 1985). The only top-seeded squad unranked in PS to advance to the national semifinals was Larry Bird-led Indiana State in 1979 when seeding was first introduced.
Year #1 Seed Unranked in PS Top 25 Poll Coach Regional/NCAA Tourney Mark 1979 Indiana State Bill Hodges Midwest/4-1 (lost to Michigan State) 1985 Michigan Bill Frieder Southeast/1-1 (Villanova) 1986 St. John's Lou Carnesecca West/1-1 (Auburn) 1990 Connecticut Jim Calhoun East/3-1 (Duke) 1990 Michigan State Jud Heathcote Southeast/2-1 (Georgia Tech) 1994 Missouri Norm Stewart West/3-1 (Arizona) 1999 Auburn Cliff Ellis South/2-1 (Ohio State) 2002 Cincinnati Bob Huggins West/1-1 (UCLA) 2010 Syracuse Jim Boeheim West/2-1 (Butler) 2012 Michigan State Tom Izzo West/2-1 (Louisville) 2016 Oregon Dana Altman West/3-1 (Oklahoma) 2018 Virginia Tony Bennett South/0-1 (Maryland-Baltimore County) 2021 Michigan Juwan Howard East/3-1 (UCLA) NOTE: Preseason polls were Top 20 through 1988-89.