Michigan head basketball coach Juwan Howard was suspended five games on Monday for a post-game altercation with the Wisconsin coaching staff.
Juwan Howard gets in a fight after the Michigan-Wisconsin gamepic.twitter.com/mDxa1bvwHb
— The Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) February 20, 2022
The suspension will effectively be the rest of the regular season for the Wolverines, and Howard will be able to return for the Big Ten tournament.
Michigan was already on the tournament bubble despite opening the season as the third-highest favorite to win the national championship.
A closer look at the postgame scuffle between Michigan and Wisconsin
(🎥 via @PabloIglesiasTV)pic.twitter.com/hjZY5kgdl8
— The Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) February 20, 2022
Michigan's current odds of winning the tournament sit at 100/1 on PointsBet and BetMGM. The odds had not changed after the school came down with Howard's suspension.
ESPN's Joe Lunardi has Michigan as one of the last four teams in the tournament in his latest projected bracket.
The Wolverines are also +1000 to win the Big Ten conference tournament on PointsBet. Those odds had not changed from the suspension either.
Michigan does not have an easy schedule to close out the season, but they will play four of their last five games on home court.
The first game without Howard is on Wednesday when the Wolverines host a charging Rutgers team. However, the Scarlet Knights have been much better at home than on the road this season.
They will then play Illinois, Michigan State, Iowa and Ohio State to close out the season. All of those teams are ranked among the top 27 teams on KenPom. Three out of the four are also ranked in the top 25 in the AP Poll, with Michigan State getting the most votes of any team outside of the top 25.
Michigan certainly has an uphill climb to save its season, and losing its coach for five games from the sideline will not help its cause.
