Six weeks ago, the Michigan basketball team on a six-game losing streak and in last place of the Big Ten with a 1-6 conference record. Today, the Wolverines wrapped up the No. 4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.

Michigan started its turnaround with a 61-57 win at Michigan State on Jan. 27 and closed the regular season with eight wins in its final 11 games by beating the Spartans 70-63 on Saturday.

By Saturday night, the Wolverines knew they'd face Illinois in the No. 4 vs. No. 5 quarterfinal on Friday (approximately 2:30 p.m., ESPN), securing their first first-round tournament bye since 2005. Penn State's 66-63 win over Minnesota on Sunday made Michigan the No. 4 seed. A Nittany Lion loss and the ensuing tie-breaker ramifications would have put the Illini at No. 4.

The Wolverines never expected they'd be in this position. Sure, they believed they were a better team than their record indicated. But going from last place to the No. 4 seed in six weeks?

Then again, when Michigan was 1-6, the Big Ten was a different league.

““We didn’t know the extent of (Minnesota guard Al) Nolen’s injury, Penn State was playing well,” Beilein said. “I didn’t know, but I felt strongly that we could compete with anybody in our league and if the ball bounced your way a few times, who knows.”

Ohio State put an exclamation point on its regular season title and No. 1 seed by routing Wisconsin on Sunday. Purdue is the No. 2 seed and Wisconsin No. 3. Those three teams, along with Illinois and Michigan, have first-round byes. (See full tournament bracket here.)

Penn State earned the No. 6 seed due to a tiebreaker with Michigan State, which dropped to the No. 7 seed. Penn State will face No. 11 Indiana in the first round Thursday and MSU will play No. 10 Iowa.

Northwestern, the No. 8 seed, faces No. 9 Minnesota in the first game of the Big Ten tournament at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.