INDIANAPOLIS -- The Big Ten Tournament champion University of Michigan men's basketball team earned its second straight automatic berth and eighth NCAA Tournament bid overall under head coach John Beilein today (Sunday, March 11).
The Wolverines will be the No. 3 seed in the West Region and will face No. 14-seed Montana in the first round on Thursday (March 15) at INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas.
The Michigan-Montana winner will advance to the second round to face the winner of No. 6-seed Houston and No. 11-seed San Diego State on Saturday (March 17) for a spot in the West Region semifinal at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
U-M makes its 28th overall NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and carries a 54-26 (47-22 after sanctions) all-time record, including winning the 1989 national title. The Maize and Blue will appear in the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in the last eight seasons.
The Wolverines enter the NCAA Tournament with a 28-7 overall record, which includes a 13-4 mark in Big Ten play. U-M has reached the 20-win mark for the 28th time in program history and the eighth time during Beilein's tenure.
U-M, seeded fifth, successfully defended its the Big Ten Tournament title when it defeated No. 3-seed Purdue, 75-66, in the championship game (March 4), as it won four games in four days for a second straight year.
Michigan advanced to the title game after a second-round 77-71 overtime win over No. 12-seed Iowa (March 1), a 77-58 victory over No. 4-seed Nebraska in the quarterfinals (March 2) and a 75-64 triumph over No. 1-seed Michigan State in the semifinals (March 3) -- the third straight year U-M has knocked out the top seed.
Beilein is guiding the Wolverines to the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in his 11 seasons as head coach of the Wolverines, which included an appearance in the national championship game in 2013 and trips to the Sweet 16 in three of the last five years.