Walking into a college basketball locker room in the minutes after a loss is no fun.

When that loss ends your season, even worse.

When that season featured just eight total wins and only two after December 16th, yeah,

it's really rough.

Tears were shed, shoulders were shugged, finality was palpable.

1,105 days ago, Michigan celebrated a Big Ten championship in a mostly empty Chrysler

Center, one of the many special moments during a season that lifted the spirits of this

fan base during a worldwide pandemic.

725 days ago, Michigan celebrated its fifth consecutive suite 16, with this one coming

from seemingly out of nowhere.

The Wolverines were a double-digit seed with double-digit regular season losses.

It almost felt like this program could always find a way to get to that second weekend, no matter how improbable.

Well, less than two years later, Michigan was the 14 seed in a 14-team conference and only

had one lead in the ninth consecutive defeat to close the season.

Those aforementioned tears, the shoulder shrugs, they were absolutely genuine.

No one person, decision, absence, game, circumstance sunk Michigan from regular, lengthy

NCAA tournament visits to four games back of any other team in the Big Ten.

And many of those Wolverines within that Target Center locker room on Wednesday,

I'd put in the same amount of work, dedicated the same type of time, energy, passion.

They all bled maize and blue just as much as those Wolverines

who celebrated that Big Ten championship three years ago.

But every person,

...