Losing will not be not an option for Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg when the No. 1 seed Wolverines take the court in Buffalo to open the NCAA Tournament.

That’s the mindset the Wolverines preached after Howard beat UMBC on Tuesday night to claim the No. 16 seed in the Midwest Region. That sent the Bison to a Thursday afternoon first-round date with the Big Ten regular-season champions.

“Everybody is a threat. For them to get here, they have to win the championship,” Lendeborg said. “I’ve been in that predicament before when I was a mid-major.”

Michigan (31-3) ranks in the top six in offensive and defensive efficiency, a balance that invites plenty of people filling out brackets to pencil the Wolverines in for a Final Four trip to Indianapolis. But head coach Dusty May, who coached Florida Atlantic to the Final Four prior to his arrival in Ann Arbor, doesn’t believe his 6-3 record coaching in the NCAA Tournament has any bearing on what’s to come for either side.

If anything, May strolls into Buffalo wondering if the long string of routs on Michigan’s resume could work against the Wolverines.

“This year we had so many blowouts. We weren’t in very many close games so we didn’t get to learn as much about ourselves as we did in the Big Ten tournament,” May said, pointing to his team’s 80-72 conference tournament loss to Purdue.

“Obviously we’re still doing deep dives into when we’ve played well and when we haven’t and what’s been the difference. I think we’ve been getting 10 to 20 possessions less over the last month of the season than we got before that. So teams have slowed down tempo, teams have tried to restrict our freedom of movement, they’ve tried to get more physical with us. So we haven’t adjusted to that rugged play as well as we need to if we’re going to be as good as anybody in the country.”

Lendeborg led the Wolverines in scoring (14.6 points per game), just ahead of Illinois transfer Morez Johnson, a beast on the glass with agility and a jumper. Johnson averages 13.1 points per game and team-high 7.2 rebounds, narrowly in front of Lendeborg’s average (7.0 per game). Both are 6-foot-9 but play a vastly different style.

Howard (24-10) found its way through the First Four with a tightly contested win over UMBC in Dayton, Ohio. Head coach Kenny Blakeney said nobody owes his team an apology for the early workout in Buffalo hours after wrapping the 86-83 win in the First Four. Bryce Harris, who had 19 points, 14 rebounds and helped seal the win with a turnaround jumper with 12.7 seconds left, said the Bison pride themselves on being adaptable.

What might it take to slay top-seeded Michigan?

“I think it’s just staying composed. Aside from our coach’s extensive experience in the NCAA Tournament, I’ve actually been in this position before. We played Kansas my sophomore year as a 16 seed in Des Moines and one of the biggest things coming into the game, looking at the older guys, was just how composed they were,” Harris said.

“We talk about the lights kind of being a distraction, understanding you’re playing in the NCAA Tournament. It’s like, yeah, but it’s still a basketball game. You know what I mean? Rather than shying away from the energy and the hypeness around the game, you should embrace it. Embrace it, understand that you’re prepared for the moment.”

Harris and Cedric Taylor III each average 17.1 points per game entering the First Four. But they’re part of a starting lineup with only one player (the 6-7 Taylor) over 6-6.

Blakeney, who won a national title as a player with Duke, is no stranger to the stage awaiting his team. But slowing down Michigan will not be a simple task. Their three losses by a total of 16 points came against No. 2 seed Purdue, No. 5 seed Wisconsin and the top seed in the tournament, Duke.

Blakeney was present at the Duke-Michigan game in February after Howard played earlier in the day. He said he took a break that included a few tequila shots at a cigar bar before checking out the big boys in a sold-out setting in Washington, D.C.

“Instead of looking at the game like a coach, I wanted to just veg out and look at the game like a Cameron crazy,” Blakeney said. “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.

“I saw they were big as hell. I was really impressed how fast they were in transition. Not really seeing them this year, I’m seeing 6-9. 6-10 guys sprint to the 3-point line, and then seeing them knock down threes. That was as high a level a game as I’ve seen in person in a very long time, just as a fan and as a spectator.”

The clock is ticking for Blakeney and Howard to transition into challenger mode, taking on Michigan less than 48 hours after beating UMBC.

“For us, it’s going to be certainly a challenge, but I think we’ll have fun trying to figure out the puzzle,” Blakeney said.

–Field Level Media

Viktor Hovland and Justin Thomas finished 1-2 at the Valspar Championship a year ago. They return to the Tampa Bay area in promising form following The Players Championship, ready to take on the Valspar again beginning Thursday in Palm Harbor, Fla.

Hovland bested Thomas by a single stroke on the final day. Thomas had made a late charge but bogeyed two of the final three holes at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course, known as “the Snake Pit.” Hovland, though, birdied two of those holes to swap positions with Thomas for the Norwegian’s only win of 2025.

Hovland described the course as very narrow off the tee.

“If the wind starts blowing and they tuck the pins on each side, and the greens get very firm, it’s very difficult to get close to the pins,” Hovland said. “… It really is a ball-striker’s course, but if you short side yourself and you end up missing greens, which everyone is bound to do, you have to rely on some intricate short game shots around the greens as well. So it really tests every single part of your game.”

Thomas was not dissuaded by his late stumble. He picked up his lone win of 2025 a month later at the RBC Heritage, and he’s encouraged by the fact that he has four top-10s at Innisbrook, including a T3 in 2022.

“It’s a tournament that works in my schedule every year. I love coming here,” Thomas said. “I think it’s one of the most underrated courses that we have, that we play. It’s very in front of you, and I think it’s not necessarily something that looks visually intimidating or difficult, but if you’re not sharp or if you’re not managing your game or emotions well, you can just make bogeys so fast. Yeah, it’s a place that I enjoy playing because I think it’s an old school kind of design.”

The strength of the course is matched by the strength of the field the week after The Players. Nine of the top 25 in the world rankings will tee it up, including major winners Xander Schauffele, J.J. Spaun and Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick.

While Thomas tied for eighth at TPC Sawgrass and Hovland tied for 13th, Fitzpatrick was leading for a short stretch on the back nine on Sunday after Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg went bogey-double bogey. But Fitzpatrick drove it out of position at the 18th and made bogey, allowing co-leader Cameron Young to win it with par.

“Disappointed, obviously,” Fitzpatrick said this week. “I felt like saying this morning I feel like I only hit two poor shots really the whole day. I didn’t really feel like my tee shot on the last was that bad, it just, it’s a little bit too straight, didn’t kind of get the wind off the right.”

A name to watch this week may be Jacob Bridgeman, the surprise leader in the FedEx Cup standings. Bridgeman, 26, broke through for his first win last month at the Genesis Invitational, but he hasn’t finished worse than T18 in seven starts this season.

Bridgeman tied for fifth at The Players, and with four steady rounds at the Valspar last year, he placed third behind only Hovland and Thomas.

–Field Level Media

Justin Thomas is still re-learning what it feels like to be in form after six months away from competition, but the early signs have been encouraging.

Coming off a high-profile return with starts at Bay Hill and The Players, Thomas said he believes his game is capable of contending, even if doing so under tournament pressure is a different challenge. He missed the cut in his first tournament following back surgery at the Arnold Palmer Invitational but earned a top-10 finish with a tie for eighth at The Players.

“Last week was huge for me and very proud of myself, to be honest,” Thomas said ahead of the Valspar Championship. “Although I wish the weekend would have gone differently or better. … So coming off of six months off competition definitely proud and happy of that and hopefully just get a little bit of momentum from last week going forward.”

That’s part of why he keeps circling the Valspar on his calendar, where he was runner-up last year after bogeying two of the final three holes and losing by one stroke to Norway’s Viktor Hovland.

“I think it’s one of the most underrated courses that we have,” Thomas said. “If you’re not sharp or if you’re not managing your game or emotions well, you can just make bogeys so fast.”

Physically, Thomas said he feels fine, just worn down after two straight weeks on tough setups. He described Monday’s physio room as unusually quiet, with players looking drained. With an even busier schedule of big events coming up later in spring, Thomas said his main focus is staying mentally fresh and avoiding self-inflicted mistakes.

He also weighed in on the Tour’s ongoing efforts to tweak its Signature Event model, including discussion about expanding fields. Thomas said he hasn’t talked to other players about specifics, but likes the idea of clarity and believes cuts still matter. “Cuts are a part of our game,” he said. “I think it’s a big part of the history of golf.”

And when the conversation turned to sponsor exemptions, Thomas didn’t hedge. “What, are you going to tell Tiger Woods he can’t play if he wants to play?” he said. “Like, I’m sorry, but you’re an idiot if that’s what you think.”

–Field Level Media