‘Our team is prepared for this moment’: Juwan Howard is confident heading into the NCAA Tournament

The Michigan Wolverines officially punched their ticket into the 2022 NCAA Tournament as an 11 seed. They will take on the No. 6 seed Colorado State in the first round on Thursday.

It was a wild ride to get to this point for Michigan. After defeating Ohio State on the road without Hunter Dickinson in the last game of the regular season, you would have imagined the Wolverines had a spot locked in for the tournament. But the month is March, after all, and they naturally dropped a 17-point lead and lost to the Indiana Hoosiers in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.

But at the end of the day, Michigan got into the field of 68 and don’t even have to play in a play-in game. That by itself is a huge win for this team that has been inconsistent at best.

Inconsistent may be the best way to describe the Wolverines over the last month. They have went back and forth winning and losing dating all the way back to Feb. 10. Despite that, head coach Juwan Howard is believes in his bunch heading into the tournament.

“Our team is prepared for this moment,” Howard said on a Zoom call with reporters Sunday evening. We’re looking forward to this moment. This is what they’ve worked extremely hard for. It’s nice to get a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament.”

Howard is clearly confident they can make some noise. He proved how confident he was when he said, “It was great where we’ve been seeded; thought it was well-deserving. Our players have worked extremely hard and have earned the right to be a part of the NCAA Tournament.”

Michigan vs. Colorado is set for Thursday at a time/TV channel to be determined later.