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John Beilein on Big Ten title race: 'Michigan is really in a good situation right now'

clayton-sayfieby:Clayton Sayfie•02/18/25•

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John Beilein
No Michigan Wolverines basketball head coach won more games than John Beilein. (Photo by Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK)

Michigan Wolverines basketball is in the Big Ten title hunt, sitting atop the standings at 12-2. Its next opponent, Michigan State, is close behind at 12-3, with the two teams set to face off Friday night in Ann Arbor.

Michigan has six games left, four of them at home, and is the favorite to capture its first league championship since 2021. Former U-M head coach John Beilein, an analyst on the Big Ten Network, believes the Wolverines need to go 4-2 down the stretch to earn the outright crown, he said on ‘The HUGE Show,’ a statewide radio program hosted by Bill Simonson.

“I think that four losses is gonna win it outright, and five would be a share,” the winningest coach in Michigan history said.

“I think Michigan can lose two more and still win it all. Michigan is really in a good situation right now. They are. They’ve got good home games to go, they don’t lose a tiebreaker with anybody.

“Obviously, these two games are like my last year, when Michigan State swept us, that you play them and it could come down to the outright championship on the last day of the season.”

While Michigan and MSU are the two teams at the top, Wisconsin, Purdue, Maryland and UCLA are fellow contenders. Beilein believes Maryland is a dark horse, and the Terrapins have a manageable schedule the rest of the way, with clashes against USC, MSU, Penn State, Michigan and Northwestern.

“I’m really interested in Maryland right now,” Beilein noted. “They may have the best starting five in the Big Ten. They don’t have anybody after that, but that starting five is rocking and rolling. We talk about Wisconsin, we talk about Purdue — Maryland is sitting there with five losses. They are really playing basketball really well. They’re really good.

“[Freshman forward] Derik Queen, if anybody wants to watch [Golden State Warriors forward] Draymond Green probably as a senior, not as a freshman, at 6-10 … this guy does it all. It’s really fun to watch him, and Ja’Kobi Gillespie may contend to be the best point guard in the league. They’re just playing out of their minds.

“There are five or six teams that can go there. Somebody could get hot and run the table, but I still think four losses wins it all and five losses gets a share.”

Beilein referenced that 2019 season, his last as Michigan’s coach. The Wolverines were swept in two games by the Spartans in the regular season, with both games having big-time Big Ten title implications.

Beilein was asked about the Michigan-MSU matchup and pointed out that the energy in the building will be palpable. Both squads will have to handle it and take care of business.

“I think what Michigan has to be able to do is what they didn’t do at Purdue, both teams: Be ready for an incredible crowd that is the most intense in the country,” Beilein said. “I’ve coached in a lot of situations, but these two games are vicious, and I mean that in a good way because there is just no compassion for either team either way, and they go after each other.”

Michigan has nine new scholarship players and only three that returned.

“The Michigan players have to understand the magnitude of this game, because they’re mostly all new, whereas the Michigan State guys have been growing up since the day they walked into that locker room at Michigan State, they’ve been talking about beating Michigan,” Beilein said.

“As a result, there’s just a mindset that Michigan’s gotta have in these two games, that you’re gonna go in there and you got to go in with a lot of force and play with great force throughout the game to win.”

On Friday night at Crisler Center, in the first of two meetings, Michigan will play with a raucous crowd behind it. Beilein will be a part of that, rooting on his Wolverines.

“I’m gonna be there Friday at the game. … I will be cheering ferociously for Michigan in these two games,” he said.

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