The women's Michigan basketball team was left out of the 2011 NCAA tournament when the bracket was announced on Monday. The Wolverines were on the bubble, and it's likely that their bubble burst with a loss to Illinois in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament. After receiving a bye as the No. 3 seed, Michigan came out flat against the No. 11 seed, Illinois, and lost, 55-47. The loss dropped Michigan's RPI to 78 and cost it a spot in the women's NCAA tournament.
↵Since Michigan's women's team won't be playing in the NCAA tournament, it is back in the WNIT (Women's NIT). Last year, Michigan made it all the way to the semifinals of the 64-team WNIT before losing. This year, Michigan will play Eastern Michigan on Thursday night in the opening round. The Wolverines will look to make another run in the WNIT and finish the season on a positive note.
↵Although Michigan is thought to be one of the team's that just barely missed the NCAA tournament, it will not host Eastern Michigan in the WNIT. This is likely because of construction going on at Crisler Arena. As soon as the men's regular season ended against Michigan State, work on renovating Crisler began. Full sections of seats in the upper deck have been ripped out already, as little time was wasted before the work began. In order to ensure the work can continue uninterrupted, I would imagine Michigan won't play any home games in the WNIT.
↵For a look at the full WNIT bracket, click here.