Michigan's basketball team should beat Northwestern in Ann Arbor Wednesday night, but after that the Wolverines have a rough stretch that well could define their season.  Michigan hosts Michigan State next Tuesday and the Spartans may bring a 16-game winning streak into Crisler Centre.  After that game, Michigan goes to Arkansas, Purdue and Ohio State, hosts Indiana, then plays the return game at Michigan State.  The Wolverines could be in tough situations in all of those games.  They are 13-3 at the moment and ranked 13th and after that stretch they will clearly have moved up or down in the league standings and the polls.

     I have Michigan behind Ohio State, Michigan State and Indiana in terms of quality, but where the Wolverines end up at seasson's end remains to be seen-- and yet this six game stretch could be great or devastating or maybe somewhere in between.