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Juwan Howard and his Michigan Wolverines have been one of the pleasant surprises over the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
The season hasn't been easy for the Wolverines. Michigan was ranked sixth in the preseason but was a bubble team – with Howard suspended – as the regular season ended.
Unranked Michigan, the No. 11 seed in the South, overcame halftime deficits twice to score upsets in the first two rounds. First, they beat 24th-ranked and sixth-seeded Colorado State 75-63. They then toppled the fifth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers, a No. 3 seed, 76-68 on Saturday.
After the final buzzer, Tennessee guard Kennedy Chandler was in tears in the handshake line before being consoled by Howard, Michigan's coach. The moment got the national media's attention, considering Howard was suspended for five games for striking a Wisconsin assistant coach after a game last month.
On "The Big Podcast with Shaq," NBA veteran Shaquille O'Neal said he believed Tennessee coach Rick Barnes should have been there.
“If I was the coach of Tennessee, I would grab my player, ‘Ay man, come on … you’re on national TV.’”
Juwan Howard and Michigan hoping to continue to surprise in the NCAA Tournament
The exchange between Michigan coach Juwan Howard and Tennessee's Kennedy Chandler was a tender moment. It showed Howard's character to console the disappointed guard.
After reaching the Sweet 16 for the fifth straight season, Michigan (19-14) is perhaps looking like the team everyone expected to see.
It's not going to be easy for Michigan, one of four double-digit seeds in the Sweet 16.
The Wolverines will take on the sixth-ranked Villanova Wildcats (28-7), a No. 2 seed, on Thursday in San Antonio, Texas, in the Sweet 16. This should be their most daunting challenge yet. The teams met in 2018 in San Antonio in the national championship game, with Villanova winning 79-62.
Although Michigan has pulled off a pair of impressive March Madness victories, Villanova is a consistent power under Jay Wright. The Wildcats were ranked fourth in the preseason poll. Villanova has won three national titles, two under Wright. The other three teams in the South semifinals have won two: Arizona in 1997 and Michigan in 1989.
The Michigan-Villanova winner takes on the winner of the matchup between the top-seeded Arizona Wildcats and fifth-seeded Houston Cougars. Second-ranked Arizona (33-3) faces 15th-ranked Houston (31-5) later Thursday in San Antonio.
