Michigan looked doomed.

The Wolverines were dealt a cruel twist of fate before the 2022 NCAA Tournament even tipped, with senior point guard DeVante Jones taking an elbow to the head in practice. The resulting concussion meant Jones wouldn’t even be in the arena as his team opened with 6th-seeded Colorado State in Indianapolis.

To put it mildly, the 4 other Michigan starters were not on the same page as freshman backup Frankie Collins. Michigan committed 8 turnovers in the first 12 minutes. With 5 minutes remaining before halftime, the Wolverines were staring a 15-point deficit in the face.

That’s when an unlikely calming force starting taking over the game: the backup freshman point guard. Collins scored 5 points in the final stretch of the first half, helping Michigan cut the deficit to a manageable 7 at the break.

Despite being one of the most inexperienced players on Michigan’s roster, Collins’ poise combined with Hunter Dickinson’s interior dominance to spark the Wolverines’ 75-63 comeback win.

“Frankie was just being Frankie,” said Dickinson, who had a game-high 21 points. “He’s an aggressive guard who is able to get downtown and finish. He was doing that out there.

“We have full confidence in him to do what he does. We’ve seen him practice throughout the year, and so we all have full confidence in Frank.”

Thanks to Frankie being Frankie, Michigan is in the Second Round for the second straight year.

An unexpected effort

To those of us who haven’t practiced with him, it was hard to know what would happen with Collins playing a full game. So little has been asked of him to this point.

And for good reason. Jones is one of the better point guards in the Big Ten, ranking 4th in assist rate.

On top of that, Juwan Howard rarely strays from his starters unless he needs to. The Wolverines are 317th nationally in bench minutes.

But with Jones out, Howard needed to stray from his starters and christen a new one. Collins, whose career highs of 24 minutes and 8 points came against San Diego State on Dec. 4, would either sink or swim.

He briefly needed water wings, but as the game went on he pulled a Michael Phelps.

Collins was 6 of 7 from the field for 14 points and impressively tied Dickinson with 6 rebounds in 31 minutes. Shooting guard Eli Brooks took on more of the distributor role with 6 assists, but regardless of how Collins was used it’s quite clear Michigan’s season would be over if he hadn’t stepped up.

And that was an important development considering what’s next.

Ball protection paramount against Tennessee

Concussion protocols are a tricky thing. Big Ten rival Illinois is a pretty solid example of why that’s the case.

The Illini lost center Kofi Cockburn for 2 games with a concussion. Guard Andre Curbelo came back from a concussion after missing the season opener, played 4 games, then missed 11 straight when his symptoms returned.

So there’s no guarantee as to what Michigan can or will get out of Jones from here.

With 3rd-seeded Tennessee looming in the Second Round, the Wolverines need a top-notch effort from their point guard — whomever he may be.

The Volunteers are one of the best defenses in the country, especially when it comes to creating havoc. Tennessee is 15th nationally in forcing turnovers, and 6th in steals specifically.

Translated: what Colorado State did for the first 12 minutes, Tennessee can do for the full 40.

If Collins is at the helm, he’ll have to kick his game up yet another notch. But based on how he performed against the Rams, the freshman may well be up to that task.