Vanderbilt basketball coach Jerry Stackhouse wanted to schedule a game against Michigan due to the NBA connections between himself and Wolverines coach Juwan Howard.
That didn't work out. But the two teams find themselves facing off anyway: this time in the second round of the NIT at Memorial Gymnasium on Saturday (11 a.m. CT, ESPN) .
Third-seeded Michigan (18-15) has had a disappointing season. Like Vanderbilt, poor performance in the non-conference put the Wolverines behind entering conference play when it came to their tournament resume. Although they played better in the Big Ten, they lost their last three games to get knocked out of contention.