While Washington and Michigan have built a mini rivalry on the gridiron in recent years, the Huskies and Wolverines had not played on the hardwood since 1995. One similarity to the football teams is that the matchup included two teams with new head coaches. The Wolverines came into the game red hot, with dominant wins over solid USC and UCLA teams in their last two and a #8 ranting in Barttorvik.com efficiency.
Unfortunately for UW, the game looked more like the CFP Championship game than this year’s win over the Wolverines. While never quite a blowout, Michigan got an early lead and asserted its physical dominance throughout.