Michigan men’s basketball bounced back in a big way on Friday night during the quarterfinals round of the Big Ten Tournament. After losing four of their final six regular season games, the Wolverines looked like a brand new team full of confidence. Michigan had a big second half which led to an 86-68 win over the Boilermakers with a meeting against Maryland next on the docket.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has had Michigan projected as a No. 5 or No. 6 seed in a back-and-forth way since the Wolverines hit their drought. But after a massive win over a good Purdue team, did that do enough to move the needle for Lunardi? Apparently not. Despite a blowout win, Michigan remained a fifth-seed in Lunardi’s updated bracketology following all the games on Friday. The Wolverines are projected to face No. 12 seed Liberty in the first round.

In what’s even more head-scratching is that Lunardi moved Purdue up to a No. 4 seed even after the loss to Michigan. The bracket expert has Purdue, Iowa State, Texas A&M, and Arizona all as the four-seeds in the bracket. Three of those teams suffered losses in their respective Conference Tournaments, with Arizona being the only team still playing.

If Michigan could pull another game together and knock off the No. 2 seeded Terrapins on Saturday, the Wolverines could be looking at a four-seed or even potentially knocking on the door for the three-seed if Michigan could win two more games this weekend.

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