Northwestern closed a program-first stretch of three straight games against top-10 foes with a 1-2 record after Sunday's 80-60 loss at Purdue.

While the Wildcats' visit to Michigan on Wednesday officially pits two unranked teams, the Wolverines are starting to fancy themselves a budding Big Ten Conference title contender following convincing wins against Maryland and at Indiana in the past week.

"I think this is starting to become the Michigan that everybody ranked in the top 10 and chose to win the Big Ten in the preseason," the Wolverines' Hunter Dickinson said. "I think this is the team that everybody expected when the season started.