Michigan Today

Choose your own adventure

Experience an earthquake, frolic on Mars, and chase a robot up the stairs. It’s just another dazzling day at U-M’s Ford Motor Company Robotics Building, now open for mind-bending business.

Study: Biodiversity protects bee communities from disease

A new analysis of thousands of native and nonnative Michigan bees across 60 species shows the most diverse bee communities have the lowest levels of three common viral pathogens.
Actor Wendell Pierce on art’s tangible effect

Technology does not inhibit our humanity, says actor Wendell Pierce, co-star of the digital production “Some Old Black Man,” presented this month by UMS. “It actually amplifies our humanity in a different platform.”
- Arts & Culture
Forecast 2021: Presidential politics

As a new presidential administration gets to work, U-M experts explore the myriad crises that Joe Biden and his team face, from a lack of trust in government to the relentless COVID-19 pandemic.
ICYMI: Jim Harbaugh extends contract through 2025

Michigan’s head football coach reached an agreement with the University earlier this month. Harbaugh signed a four-year extension with revised financial terms effective Jan. 11, 2021
- Athletics
Is having bad information worse than having no information?

The move by social media companies to remove or suspend Donald Trump’s accounts and the decisions that led to the shutdown of Parler raise questions about the unchecked power of social media and its future.
- Education & Society
- Research News
So… What would Benedict Arnold do?

Unlike the spotlight-seeking insurrectionists of 2021, Benedict Arnold committed treason in secret. His original, coded correspondence at the William L. Clements Library reveals a far more sophisticated form of treachery than we saw Jan. 6
- Arts & Culture

Columns

President's Message
When they go low

Student COVID-19 case counts remain low. Fall is looking good, though most study abroad programs remain on pause this summer.
Editor's Blog
Art and the heart

COIVD-19 is ravaging our nation’s prisons as U-M challenges society (and me) to connect with inmates’ humanity through art.
Climate Blue
The hot topic of temperature analysis

Analyzing temperature records can lead to heated debate, says Ricky Rood.

In the news

Hoop dreams and dreamers

With head coaches Juwan Howard and Kim Barnes Arico as their leaders, talented Michigan athletes gave it their all this season to bring joy back to the fans of college basketball. All images can be found in galleries at mgoblue.com.

So sweet

Men’s Basketball Head Coach Juwan Howard is taking the No. 1 seed Michigan to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 after besting No. 8 seed LSU in the second round. U-M posted back-to-back 80+ games with 82 against Texas Southern and 86 versus LSU. (Read how Michigan got here.)

— Elite Eight Update — The Wolverines saw their 2020-21 season come to a close as it fell 51-49 to No. 11-seeded UCLA in an Elite Eight contest at Lucas Oil Stadium on 3/30/21. Thanks for a terrific season!
Ab Fab

Juwan Howard played Wolverine basketball from 1991-94. In what is considered the greatest Michigan and college basketball recruiting class of all time, Howard — along with Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson — were dubbed the Fab Five and helped lead U-M to back-to-back Final Four appearances in 1992 and 1993. (Read more.)
Playing it forward

A two-time All-American (1993, 1994), Juwan Howard started 97 of his 100 collegiate games. A three-time All-Big Ten honoree, including a unanimous first team selection in 1994, he was regarded as one of the best defensive big men in the country. In three NCAA Tournament appearances, Howard was named to two All-Tournament teams, at the 1993 NCAA West Regional and the 1994 NCAA Midwest Regional. (Read more.)
Serious stats

Juwan Howard closed his U-M career with 1,500 points (1,526; 15.3 ppg) and 700 rebounds (745; 7.5 rpg), one of just seven Michigan players to reach both marks, along with Rudy Tomjanovich, Bill Buntin, Roy Tarpley, Glen Rice, LaVall Blanchard, and DeShawn Sims. He ranks 20th all-time in scoring and 11th in rebounding for the Wolverines. And, as if no time has passed, here he is in 2021, celebrating yet another sweet Big Ten victory.
All the way

Prior to coaching, Juwan Howard spent 19 years playing in the NBA, winning back-to-back NBA championships with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013 while playing with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. (Read more.)
Game time

This former NBA star has undeniable rapport with his players. “Coach Howard just puts a smile on your face. The minute you see him, you light up,” says Kim Barnes Arico, head coach of Women’s Basketball.
Welcome back

Women’s Basketball Head Coach Kim Barnes Arico is making her eighth appearance in the NCAA Tournament this March, with the first four coming at St. John’s (2006, ’10, ’11, ’12). She is 8-7 all-time in the tournament and reached the Sweet 16 in 2012. KBA has led Michigan to the second round in all three prior appearances (2013, ’18, ’19), tying its best tournament performance.
Sweet 16

Kim Barnes Arico is the only coach in program history to guide the Wolverines to four NCAA Tournament appearances. No. 6-seeded Michigan faces Baylor in the River Walk Regional semifinal round at 3 p.m. today — Saturday, March 27, on ABC. (Read more on how the women got here.)

— Sweet Sixteen Update — Michigan’s women delivered a thrilling, heartstopping performance for the ages, but Baylor clutched the win in overtime. Thanks for a great season, Wolverines!
First things first

It has been a season of firsts for Kim Barnes Arico’s Wolverines: highest ranking in program history (No. 11), first 10-0 start, first 50-point game (Naz Hillmon Jan. 21 at Ohio State), and first NCAA Sweet 16 appearance and highest seed in program history at No. 6. (More highlights from the season.)
Winning

U-M is making its ninth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. The Wolverines are 5-3 in the tourney under Kim Barnes Arico, winning at least one game in all four appearances with her. “I’ve been fortunate to have coached some really special, special young women in my time as a coach,” KBA said on Michigan Today’s podcast, “Listen in Michigan.” This shot from the team’s Instagram account shows the women updating their bracket.
Making history

In January, forward Naz Hillmon (far left) became the first player in Michigan history — man or woman — to record a 50-point game. Meanwhile, Hillmon was named the Big Ten Conference women’s basketball Player of the Year by the coaches and media recently, becoming just the second player in Big Ten history to earn Freshman, Sixth Player, and Player of the Year honors in a career. (See more highlights from the season.)