Michigan redshirt freshmen Jordan Morgan (left) and true freshman Jon Horford (right) look on as redshirt freshman Blake McLimans spins a ball on his finger during Wednesday's media day at Crisler Arena. The Wolverines' three primary post players don't have a single minute of college playing time between them.

Melanie Maxwell I AnnArbor.com

The Michigan basketball team isn't using its youth as an excuse for anything. Instead, the Wolverines might actually see their lack of seniors -- they have none -- as a benefit.

“Right now, we’re so young that we might be too naive to know any better, that we’re not supposed to do well,” Michigan junior guard Zack Novak said. “We’ve got guys really working hard this whole offseason, especially the freshmen coming in to work on Day 1. Just the attitude and demeanor they have about themselves, they are a confident bunch.

“I think we can surprise some people. It’s going to be fun.”

This is a striking difference from last year, when Michigan had positive expectations surrounding it for the first time in a decade. Preseason publications picked an experienced Michigan team among the Top 10 in the country -- not to barely make the top 10 of the 11-team Big Ten, where most preseason rankings place the Wolverines this year.

Those expectations wore on Michigan early last season and that snowballed into a 15-17 year, ending on a half-court, buzzer-beater by Ohio State forward Evan Turner in a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal.

Six players are gone from that team, including leading scorers Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims, along with role players Anthony Wright, Zack Gibson and Laval Lucas-Perry.

In their place are six players -- four true freshmen, led by swingman Tim Hardaway Jr., and two redshirt freshmen -- who have never played in a college game. In a Big Ten where the top four teams -- Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue and Illinois -- are all contenders for the Final Four, that could cause concern.

“Although we’re young, that doesn’t put any limitations on how hard we work and the effort we give on the court,” sophomore guard Darius Morris said. “Even if we’re outmatched talent-wise or height-wise. Our hearts are going to be a big part of the season.”

The height question is one of Michigan’s biggest entering the year. While the Wolverines return three starters, the tallest is the generously-listed 6-foot-5 Novak. Morris comes back for his second year as the point guard and guard Stu Douglass returns for his junior year.

The Wolverines’ height -- 6-foot-10 redshirt freshman Blake McLimans, 6-9 redshirt freshman Jordan Morgan and 6-9 freshman Jon Horford -- have exactly zero minutes of college game experience.

With no seniors, though, it’s easy to see why Michigan isn’t focused on what could happen right now, but instead on what could be in the future.

“I’m not going to (get into) where it could be. I know we’ll develop and get better every day,” Beilein said at Michigan’s pre-season media day Wednesday. “But I know the Big Ten is at a peak right now with its experience. It’s been tremendous and it’s going to be very difficult for us.

“If we just focus on developing and focus on developing, we’re going to finish where we finish, but we’re dead set on finishing as high as we’re capable of doing and get better and then we attack again.”

Of course, Michigan has some experience exceeding expectations. The Wolverines did make the NCAA tournament in 2009, a year most thought they would be a year away.

“We’ll have to keep re-evaluating (expectations) as the season goes on,” Douglass said. “We definitely did that freshman year. We definitely want to make the tournament. We want to make an impact in the Big Ten. We don’t want to be just going unnoticed in the Big Ten.

“It’d be huge for us to get a good record in the Big Ten, be a big key for us to get in the tournament, obviously. But we’ll keep re-evaluating it on a day-by-day basis.”

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.