Michigan

Michigan women vs Kansas in March Madness: Prediction for 2024 NCAA tournament

Published

2 years ago

March 18, 2024

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Michigan women vs Kansas in March Madness: Prediction for 2024 NCAA tournament

Michigan women’s basketball vs. Kansas

Breaking down the Portland 3 region first-round game between No. 9-seed Michigan and 8-seed Kansas:

Records: Michigan (20-13, 9-9 Big Ten); Kansas (19-12, 11-7).

Fast facts: 2 p.m. Saturday; Galen Center, Los Angeles.

TV: ESPNEWS.

At stake: Winner faces winner of 1-seed Southern Cal vs. 16-seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for spot in Sweet 16 in Portland, Oregon on March 29-30.

PRINT YOUR BRACKET: March Madness schedule, how to watch the NCAA tournament

About U-M

Location: Ann Arbor.

Coach: Kim Barnes Arico (12 seasons at U-M, 261-132 at U-M, 437-266 career).

School tournament record: 11-11 over 11 appearances.

Past 10 regular-season games: 5-5.

Scoring leaders: Laila Phelia, 16.8 points per game; Lauren Hansen, 11.9; Jordan Hobbs, 9.9.

Rebounding leaders: Cameron Williams, 4.78 rebounds per game; Chyra Evans, 4.3; Elissa Brett, 4.2

Assist leaders: Hobbs, 3 assists per game; Hansen, 2.2; Phelia, 1.9.

3-point leaders: Hobbs, 39.1%; Greta Kampschroeder, 38%; Hansen, 37.5%.

The buzz: The Wolverines struggled all season to get momentum; after winning seven of their first eight, they didn’t win more than two in a row until March. That most recent streak featured a regular-season-ending victory over Purdue, a Big Ten tourney-opening win over Minnesota in Minneapolis and then a shocking rally over then-No. 12 Indiana on March 8. U-M was arguably on the bubble — and falling fast — when it fell behind the Hoosiers by 17 points early in the second half. But suddenly, all the pieces clicked for the Wolverines, as Phelia’s downhill game opened up Hansen to fire away from beyond the arc. Phelia had 20 of her career-high 30 points in the second half as U-M beat Indiana by 13. As Barnes Arico observed: “I think Laila Phelia showed why she’s one of the best players in the country, and I thought she did a tremendous job late when they started to really double her and try to load on her of finding Lauren. Lauren is one of the best shooters in the country, one of the best playmakers in the country. So they found each other.” When the Wolverines are hitting their 3s — and U-M enters the tourney at 35.3%, good for 37^th in the nation — they can hang with anyone. Just ask title contender Iowa, which knocked U-M out of the Big Ten tourney last week: Michigan hit its first seven 3s and led the Hawkeyes by three after the first quarter, despite getting torched in the paint. Iowa won by 27, but that was an uncharacteristic defensive performance by the Wolverines, who led the Big Ten defensively.

About Kansas

Location: Lawrence, Kansas.

Coach: Brandon Schneider (126-148 in nine seasons at KU; 222-214 in 14 seasons overall).

School tournament record: 14-14 in 14 appearances.

Past 10 games: 8-2.

Scoring leaders: S’Mya Nichols, 15.2 points per game; Taiyanna Jackson, 12.6; Zakiyah Franklin, 11.7; Holly Kersgieter, 11.7.

Rebounding leaders: Jackson, 9.8 rebounds per game; Kersgieter, 5; Ryan Cobbins, 4.1.

Assist leaders: Nichols, 2.7 assists per game; Wyvette Mayberry, 2.3; Franklin, 2.2.

3-point leaders: Kersgieter, 41.5%; Nichols, 40.8%; McKenzie Smith, 33.3%.

The buzz: Schneider landed a program-changing recruit in Nichols, a five-star guard from Overland Park, Kansas (near Kansas City, Missouri). The No. 5 guard in the class of 2023, and a member of the under-18 U.S. national team, the 6-footer has scored in double digits in 27 of her 31 appearances this season, including 29 points against Oklahoma in Kansas’ season finale and 13 points in the Jayhawks’ win over Big Ten runner-up Nebraska on Dec. 20. Nichols didn’t win the conference’s top freshman award, but did finish on the All-Freshman team as well as first-team All-Big 12. The Jayhawks also have a tower of experience in senior center Taiyanna Jackson, who averaged a double-double — 15.2 points and 12.7 points iin 31.7 minutes per game — before taking a step back this season. At 6-6, the East Chicago, Indiana, native is a game-changer in the middle as a two-time All-Big 12 first-teamer and a three-time All-Defense team member in the conference, averaging 3.1 blocks and 1.3 steals a game for her career. The Jayhawks were one of the nation’s hottest teams, winning eight of nine games from Jan. 31-March 8 before finally sputtering out in the Big 12 semifinals against No. 6 Texas, largely because they shot just 38% from the field and were outrebounded, 37-24.

Prediction

Barnes Arico won’t have to stretch far to scout the Jayhawks, who play an inside-out game much like the Wolverines. They’re not quite as accomplished at it, though, shooting just 32.8% beyond the arc (102^nd in the nation) and managing just 34.3 boards a game (273^rd). If U-M’s Cameron Williams can hold her own in the middle, the Wolverines’ outside shooters should be enough to send them on to face USC and star freshman JuJu Watkins in the second round. The pick: U-M 70, Kansas 65.

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Michigan

Michigan-based Stryker hit with cyberattack

Published

2 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Michigan-based Stryker hit with cyberattack – CBS Detroit

Watch CBS News

Michigan-based medical equipment company Stryker said on Wednesday that a cyberattack is causing a “global network disruption.”

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Michigan hockey vs Notre Dame time, channel in Big Ten Tournament

Published

14 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Michigan hockey vs Notre Dame time, channel in Big Ten Tournament

Michigan hockey may be the No. 1 team in the nation in the USCHO and NPI rankings, but they fell short of a regular-season title and don’t have the clearest path to a Big Ten Tournament win.

But three wins can help the Wolverines solidify their status as the best in the nation, even if they’re No. 2 in the Big Ten as of now.

The Wolverines (26-7-1) face Notre Dame in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Big Ten Hockey Tournament on Wednesday, March 11, at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor. The game is set to start at 7 p.m. ET and will not be televised on a traditional channel, but streamed exclusively on BIG+.

Michigan finished with the most overall wins (26) and most conference wins (17) in the Big Ten, but finished second to Michigan State in points, relegating them to the No. 2 seed. As a result, the two-time defending-champion Spartans got a bye and head right into the semifinals, while the Wolverines play last-place Notre Dame to kick off the tournament.

Since the tournament reseeds winners for the semifinal round, it is not clear who Michigan will play if it wins. However, with the Spartans holding the No. 1 seed, a rematch between the top two teams in the conference can only happen in the final game, which will take place on Saturday, March 21.

Here’s what you need to know as Michigan hockey begins its quest for a Big Ten tournament title.

Michigan hockey vs Notre Dame, Big Ten tournament time

Date: Wednesday, March 11.
Time: 7 p.m. ET.
Location: Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor.

Michigan hockey vs Notre Dame, Big Ten tournament channel

Time: 7 p.m. ET.
Channel: N/A.
Streaming: BIG+.

Wednesday’s game against Notre Dame will not be on a traditional television channel, but can be streamed on the BIG+ app.

Big Ten hockey conference tournament bracket

The Big Ten hockey conference tournament uses a three-round, single-elimination bracket that involves all seven conference teams, with the top seed earning a first-round bye. The remaining six teams then play a knockout round with the winners advancing to the semifinals.

Big Ten hockey 2026 standings

Michigan State (51 points).
Michigan (49 points).
Penn State (41 points).
Wisconsin (39 points).
Ohio State (29 points).
Minnesota (27 points).
Notre Dame (16 points).

Big Ten Tournament hockey 2026 quarterfinals schedule: March 11

No. 7 Notre Dame at No. 2 Michigan, 7 p.m. ET (BIG+).
No. 6 Minnesota at No. 3 Penn State, 7 p.m. ET (BIG+).
No. 5 Ohio State at No. 4 Wisconsin, 8 p.m. ET (BIG+).

Big Ten Tournament hockey 2026 semifinals schedule: March 14

Lowest remaining seed at No. 1 Michigan State, time TBD (Big Ten Network).
Second-lowest remaining seed at second-highest remaining seed, time TBD (Big Ten Network).

Big Ten Tournament hockey 2026 semifinals schedule: March 21

Lowest remaining seed at highest remaining seed, time TBD (Big Ten Network).

Need to catch up on the news during your lunch break? Sign up for our Sports Briefing newsletter to get daily summaries of Detroit sports!

You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.

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Does Kyle Whittingham face ‘win now’ pressure at Michigan?

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Does Kyle Whittingham face ‘win now’ pressure at Michigan?

For some programs, spring football has started in earnest, but for Michigan football, it will have to wait another week. But with practices on the horizon, college football pundits are starting to ask questions about what the upcoming season may look like, and among the questions is what Kyle Whittingham’s Wolverines will be in his first year.

On3’s popular show ‘Ari & Andy’ attempted to ask and answer that question on their latest episode.

As the duo of Ari Wasserman and Andy Staples mulled over various storylines in the coaching realm, once they got to the ‘newcomers’ — coaches who have taken over new programs — they started with Whittingham. For Wasserman, the big question is how quickly Whittingham can win in Ann Arbor?

“How much pressure is Kyle Whittingham to make sure that Michigan doesn’t lose whatever momentum that it had from winning the national championship and falling back into another 25 year period of being pretty good, but not great?” Wasserman said. “Because on one hand, this is a very critical moment in their program arc. But on the other hand, don’t you also have to give him the benefit of the doubt that, hey, what happened at the end of or during last year was highly dysfunctional in a way that we don’t really see very often in sports in general, let alone college sports? And you got hired during a weird time on the calendar. You probably weren’t anticipating coaching this year.

“Like, do you get a year to try to get your bearings of a new place that expects to win a championship? Like, I don’t know how Michigan fans are viewing this season. Now you’ll tell me what you always tell me. They demand excellence, and they expect excellence. There’s no honeymoon. I think that’s true. But from a rational analysis of this, I don’t know how to view what the (expectations are), like what is a successful season for Kyle Whittingham in year one, make the playoff?”

Staples is a little less about the questions and more about the answers. Because in his mind, regardless of how he got there, Whittingham to Michigan might be the best hire of the entire cycle.

“This really isn’t about Michigan’s expectations. It’s more about Kyle Whittingham’s expectations,” Staples said. “And the fact that Kyle Whittingham did this and the fact that Michigan did this, this was Michigan going out and getting the best coach they could get. But it’s very interesting because let’s say Michigan had fired Sherrone Moore in a more conventional way. And it had been just for losing and had been at the end of the season. And Kyle Whittingham had been one of the coaches that was available, but one of many that was available that the whole cycle hadn’t already been done. I still would have called hiring Kyle Whittingham, maybe the best hire of the cycle. I don’t think a 66-year-old guy goes to this place to build, to rebuild it. He’s going to win now. That’s the whole point of this. He’s not doing this except it is to win now.”

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