The story of the day was Michigan’s championship win the Battle 4 Atlantis. The win is significant for three reasons, here’s why.

1 – The Wolverines had three Quad-1 victories in four days with wins over Iowa State, #6 North Carolina and #8 Gonzaga in the championship game. Three wins of that quality in such a short time period is unheard of. The two wins against UNC and Gonzaga makes Michigan the ONLY team in college basketball to have two wins against top-10 teams. This run in Atlantis should get the Wolverines to a top-5 ranking in Monday’s AP Poll, which would be the highest jump in the poll’s history. There is an argument to be made that the Wolverines should be the top team in the country, but preseason polls (aka Louisville) may keep Michigan out of the top spot for now. But the fact that we’re even having this conversation is insane if you consider point #2 below.

2 – THIS IS A ROOKIE HEAD COACH. Juwan Howard is a head coach for the first time in his life and he is absolutely crushing it. When I watched Michigan’s first couple of games this season I fell in love. The team just operates in such a fluent and modern style of offence that I can only attribute to Juwan Howard’s presence. He also feels like the new style of coach that we are about to see in all levels of basketball. He is the kind of coach that these players can relate to. He’s played at this level before but most importantly it seems like he connects with his team on an emotional level. It almost seems like he and his players are friends and it’s really cool to watch. No offence to John Beilein but it’s hard to imagine his players connecting with him on a personal level, whereas with Juwan this guy was in the NBA not too long ago. He’s played in the era where players live on social media and understands what the modern player deals with on and off the court. I wouldn’t be surprised if more teams take chances on coaches who were in the NBA not too long ago. Plus, Juwan Howard’s dance moves after the championship win just made me love the guy even more, and you could see the look on the players faces, they would do anything for their new coach.

3 – The third reason why this win is significant is because the last two champions of this very tournament have gone on to win the NCAA tournament. In 2018, Jay Wright’s Villanova squad won in Atlantis and then went on to an NCAA title the following March. Last year, Tony Bennett’s Virginia Cavaliers took down Wisconsin in the Atlantis final and we all know about the run they went on in March earlier this year. Is it crazy to say that the Michigan Wolverines will win this year’s NCAA tournament despite starting the year unranked? Well they have already proven that they’re better than two top-10 teams but Tuesday’s matchup against Louisville might confirm things if they can take down the Cardinals.

One thing is for sure, these Wolverines are to be taken seriously. It is easy to see why they were an unranked team to start the season. They lost in the round of 32 last year and lost key pieces such as Jordan Poole, Charles Matthews and oh yeah John Beilein. So with a roster that on paper is worse than last year’s they are somehow playing better than we could have possibly imagined. The eyes of the college basketball world are on them now, it’s time to see if Juwan Howard and his talented group can prove if they aren’t just a fluke.