Michigan Wolverines’ pink shoe superstition helps takes them to the Sweet 16
The Michigan Wolverines continued flexing Big Ten muscle in the 2019 NCAA men’s basketball tournament, dispatching the Florida Gators with ease on Saturday, 64-49.
Now the Wolverines head to the Sweet 16 next week in Anaheim, California, against the winner of Sunday’s second-round game between Buffalo and Texas Tech.
Most of Michigan’s players wore pink shoes against the Gators.
But why?
Well, the Wolverines wore the pink kicks in 2018 to raise awareness for breast cancer. Then they reeled off 14 straight victories in getting to last year’s national championship game.
Despite that ending in a loss to Villanova, the Wolverines kept the superstitious shoes in style for this season and they continued the trend in yet another tournament run.
To get to the Sweet 16, it meant avenging a football bowl loss to Florida.
UF dismantled the Wolverines in this year’s Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The New Year’s Six bowl game wasn’t close with the Gators winning 41-15.
But that was on the gridiron and Michigan showed superiority on the hardwood as Jordan Poole led the Wolverines with 19 points.
This story was originally published March 23, 2019 at 7:48 PM with the headline "Michigan Wolverines’ pink shoe superstition helps takes them to the Sweet 16."
