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The University of Michigan men’s basketball team wasted no time making noise in the 2025-26 season, posting historic numbers through its first 13 games. The Wolverines have come back to earth since their ethereal start, but remain the clear favorite to win both the Big Ten and NCAA National championship.

Michigan cleaned up against the Indiana University Hoosiers on Tuesday night with a convincing 86–72 victory. Despite their recent football success, the school historically known for its basketball got cooked by a Wolverines team that has looked otherworldly this season.

Under second-year head coach Dusty May, Michigan opened the season with a commanding stretch of games, establishing itself early as one of the nation’s most dominant teams. This stretch was highlighted by a statement performance at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, where the Wolverines dismantled San Diego State University, Auburn University, and Gonzaga University — three high-level programs — by a combined 110 points to capture the early-season tournament title.

In order to quantify the historic 13–0 start for the Wolverines, a few mind-boggling statistics stand out. Most notably, Michigan became the first team in AP poll history to win three consecutive games by 30 points or more against ranked opponents. They averaged a whopping 34.5 margin of victory through 13 games. They also broke a Big Ten record for most wins by 40 points or more in a season with six. They did this in just 12 games. 

Through their first 14 games, the Wolverines recorded a +39.43 rating on KenPom, a nationally respected computer metric that evaluates teams based on efficiency per possession. The mark ranks as the second-highest in KenPom history: one that trails only the 1999 Duke University Blue Devils, an unbelievable statistic.

The Wolverines are one of just three teams in the nation with eight players averaging at least 19 minutes per game, a rare level of balance that allows Michigan to roll multiple lineups without a significant drop off. 

This level of balance is due in part to May’s success in the transfer portal. 

Michigan landed the nation’s top-ranked transfer class this past offseason, bringing in four of its five starters through the portal, including Elliott Cadeau, Morez Johnson, Yaxel Lendeborg, and Aday Mara. May’s exceptional coaching ability takes these talented players from diverse backgrounds and systems and turns them into a cohesive team able to thrive at the highest level of competition.

Michigan also boasts the number one defense in the country, according to KenPom, a stat aided most by the inability of teams to score in the paint. The Wolverines’ starting lineup consists of three players of 6’10 or taller, with Mara leading the lineup at 7’3. This height has made it impossible for opposing offenses to find rhythm in the two-point game, forcing them to try their luck from deep. 

Despite their early dominance, the Wolverines have hit a few bumps during the onset of their Big Ten schedule. They squeaked by a horrendous Penn State University team on the road by just two points, then dropped their first game of the year at home against Wisconsin — a loss resulting only from Wisconsin’s miraculous second-half three-point shooting (the only way to beat Michigan’s lock-down interior defense). 

However, after back-to-back double-digit West Coast road victories over the University of Washington and the University of Oregon and their win over the Hoosiers on Tuesday, the Wolverines look to carry this momentum into their next few games, capped off by a pivotal top-10 matchup against the undefeated University of Nebraska.

As long as teams don’t turn into prime Steph Curry from beyond the arc against the Wolverines, they are going to continue to be nearly impossible to beat.

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