Howard coach Kenny Blakeney on Michigan's 'puzzle'

Michigan basketball enters Thursday as one of the two 1-seeds that will play against a 16-seed. To this point, only once has a 1-seed been upset by a 16-seed, but the Kenny Blakeley-coached Howard team hopes to be the second. The Wolverines and Bison will face off in Buffalo on Thursday night, and while the maize and blue feel comfortable and confident, the former Blue Devils player leading Howard is excited to see what his team can do.

In the lead-up to the earnest first-round of the NCAA Tournament (Howard had the play-in game against UMBC), Blakeney shared how he watched his alma mater beat the Wolverines in February as well as what he knows about Michigan basketball entering Thursday's game. "So funny thing is I watched Michigan in D. C.

when they played Duke. We had a game earlier that day against North Carolina Central we were fortunate to win," Blakeney said. "I went home, I showered, and I went to meet our two largest donors at a cigar bar.

I had a couple cigars, a couple tequilas, and from there, met my wife, had another tequila, and my wife and my daughter and I walked over to the game. "Instead of looking at the game like a coach, I wanted to just veg out and look at the game like a Cameron crazy. So I was there as a fan, cheering my brains out, enjoying my day, and just kind of taking it all in to be a fan.