No. 20 Michigan returned to Crisler Center on Wednesday, Nov. 11, and the meeting with Marquette carried more than early-season weight. It was the first time the programs had played in nearly 10 years, and it opened a home-and-home series that will send Michigan to Milwaukee in the 2027-28 season.
The game also landed in a stretch where Michigan was still trying to settle itself after a 1-1 start, while Marquette arrived 2-0 and fresh off two lopsided wins. The matchup was set for 7 p.m. on FS1, with Connor Onion and Bill Raftery scheduled to call it, giving the date the feel of a national event rather than just another November nonconference game.
The last time these teams met, Michigan beat Marquette 79-61 in the 2K Classic at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 17, 2016. That result was part of a longer edge for Michigan in the series: it had won four of the last five meetings, eight of the last 11, and led the all-time series 14-6. In Ann Arbor, the Wolverines were 8-1 against Marquette and had not hosted the Golden Eagles since an 89-81 win on Dec. 22, 1990. Marquette’s only victory there came on Dec. 15, 1954, by an 83-78 score.
That history helps explain why this game mattered beyond the current records. Michigan’s November schedule already included four current Big East teams — UConn, Marquette, Villanova and Creighton — which is heavier than a typical nonconference month and gives the Wolverines a clear early read against that league. Marquette, meanwhile, came in after opening with victories over Mercyhurst and Detroit Mercy and outscoring those opponents by a combined 96 points, a start that said as much about its ceiling as Michigan’s opening loss to UConn did about the gap still facing the Wolverines.
Devon Mulry was one of the people with a direct memory of what Michigan can look like when the program is rolling. He spent seven seasons with Michigan under John Beilein, graduated from the University of Michigan in 2015 and was part of the 2013 and 2018 Final Four teams, along with the back-to-back Big Ten Tournament titles in 2017 and 2018. Marquette coach Shaka Smart, in his sixth season, brought his own résumé into the game after earlier stops at VCU and Texas and a run that has already delivered a Big East regular-season championship, a Big East Tournament title and a Sweet 16 appearance.
The part that lingers is the one not finished by Wednesday night: Michigan and Marquette did not just revisit an old matchup, they committed to turning it into a series again. The return game is waiting for the 2027-28 season, which leaves this November meeting as the first marker in a relationship that has been quiet for years and is now back on the schedule for the long haul.
Michigan’s immediate next stop was a home game against William & Mary on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 2 p.m. on B1G+ before a trip to Philadelphia to face Villanova.
