But when John Beilein walked into the locker room to start breaking down film on Montana, Michigan's opponent on Thursday, he didn't see a team with 28 wins to its name. He saw a team burdened by three losses to Michigan State in less than a month, the most recent coming Sunday afternoon in the Big Ten Tournament championship.
"I feel like Coach saw a lot of our heads were down," said Ignas Brazdeikis, "and we were a little bit disappointed."
So Beilein decided to set the record straight.
"He's like, 'Guys, don't forget how good we are. We had a terrific season. It didn't go the way we wanted it to, but this is one of the best seasons Michigan has ever had. We’re going in as a two-seed into the tournament, and we have to play with that confidence that we’re one of the best teams in the country," Brazdeikis said.
As for that game yesterday, Beilein said, forget about it: "We'll learn from it, but that's not what matters."
What matters is that their chance for redemption has finally arrived, the chance they've been waiting for since last April. And it will be soon be gone again if they don't recover the psyche that fueled their 17-0 start and their grip on a top-10 ranking since mid-November.
The record to set straight is this: 28-6.
Right, Jordan Poole?
"It’s crazy, bro. Just think about that. You won 28 games and lost six and it feels like the world's about to fall," said Poole.
He added with a smile, "Welcome to college basketball."
We won't know for sure until they tip things off against Montana, but the Wolverines say they're in a good place. They say they've moved on from the end of the season, when they lost four of their final 10 games. They say their confidence is back. Most of them say it never wavered in the first place.
Heck, the hysteria on the outside was only so high because three of those losses came against the Spartans.
"That’s definitely all it is," said Poole.
Absent for Michigan's second game against Michigan State was Charles Matthews, who injured his ankle in the first one. He returned for the conference tournament, but didn't look like his usual self. On Wednesday he sat upon a stationary bike in Michigan's locker room prior to practice and told reporters he's fine, good to go, ready to move forward.
Then he looked back for a moment, and offered some good perspective.
"We lost six games," he said, "and half of those losses came to one team."
In other words, Michigan went 28-3 against everyone else.
"People always forget. We gotta constantly remind people what we’re about, but that’s alright," Matthews said. "We don’t mind that. We’re fine. We had high expectations for ourselves all along."
Michigan will need more than a new shot of swagger to make this tournament a success. It will need a jolt to its offense, which fell into a prolonged slumber in too many games down the stretch. That's when the swoon set in.
Minimizing those lulls has been a point of emphasis in practice. It's about staying confident when shots stop falling. It's about staying composed when things fall out of sync, which they inevitably will against good teams in March.
Michigan isn't here, as a two-seed, by mistake.
On Wednesday afternoon, Brazdeikis thought back to the team's first huddle of the season. He's not exactly sure when it occurred or what prompted it. But he remembers what was said, and he remembers who said it.
"Charles brought us in and said, 'National Champs, on three!' Ever since then, I was like, damn," Brazdeikis smiled, "I can’t wait for the tournament to start."
34 games and 28 wins later, here it is. Matthews nodded when reminded of that moment and the message he was trying to send.
"Meaning," he said, "don't get caught up in all the hoopla that comes along. There's going to be ups and downs, but we play to be at our best right now. Hopefully we can come out there and do that."