Come NCAA tournament time, the goal is simply to survive in advance.

Few matchups are easy, no matter what the seeds are, ask some of those three and four

seeds that have played so far in this dance.

Of course, though, the 116s and the 215s are the matchups that live in infamy if the

Cinderella pulls off the win and even linger if it's much closer than the experts think.

There's plenty for Michigan to work on from Saturday's win over Texas Southern.

I mean, Michigan committed 14 turnovers, its highest mark since the Purdue game just before that 23-day pause.

Michigan surrendered 44% shooting in the second half after really swarming the Tigers on the defensive

side in half number one.

And Michigan did commit 21 fouls.

Five Wolverines were whistled for three or more, and Hunter Dickinson fouled out for the first

time in his Wolverines career.

But Michigan jumped out 7-0 early, led by double figures throughout the second half,

and never allowed Texas Southern to think they had a real chance.

Ultimately, if Michigan does what it's in Indianapolis to do, then this was a great start.

They have plenty of work still to be done, but you advanced and you made it largely a forgettable game. Should Michigan win

five more and be the last team standing in Indy, then we will think about this game last as the

journey continues because this was a business-like effort in a 116 game. That's what it's supposed to be.

From here, it gets really tough. LSU look like the real deal.

Beyond that, if Michigan is able to move on, the Florida State Colorado winner awaits,

and they will have two strong victories on their resume in this tournament. But for Saturday,

this was what it should have been, a wire-to-wire victory against the 16th seed.

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