The 15th-ranked Michigan Wolverines kick off their 2009-10 campaign tonight with a bout against the Northern Michigan Wildcats at Crisler Arena.

The Wolverines made great strides in John Beilein's second-year as head coach of the program in 2008-09, as they won 11 more games than the prior season. Michigan finished 21-14 overall en route to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 11 years. Four starters are now back from last year's club that advanced to the second round of the Big Dance, as expectations are high in Ann Arbor entering this season.

As for NMU, it is a Division II program that stumbled to a 11-16 finish a year ago. The Wildcats return most of their key players from last season's club and that should have them competing for a turnaround in 2009-10.

NMU and Michigan are meeting for the 10th time on the hardwood, with the Wolverines having won the prior nine encounters, including eight at Crisler Arena.

The Wildcats return their top three scorers from a year ago and each of them averaged in double figures. Marc Renelique heads the trio after leading the team with 14.2 ppg last season and he should be primed for an even better campaign if can improve on his shooting. Raymont McElroy will accompany Renelique at the perimeter and he was a pleasant surprise as a freshman last season, netting 13.0 ppg and handing out a team-best 3.1 apg. Chris Warner rounds out the backcourt and double-figure scorers, as he tallied 10.4 ppg, to go with a team-high 5.2 rpg in 2008-09. The frontcourt doesn't have any big time players, so expect NMU to rely on its perimeter attack to get the job done.

For Michigan, it all starts with the one-two punch of Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims, whom accounted for a large chunk of the team's production last season. The 6-5 Harris developed into the team's go-to-guy and showed he could do it all by averaging 16.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg and 4.4 apg. Sims was every bit as good and dependable as Harris and the 6-8 forward turned in 15.4 ppg and 6.8 rpg a year ago. Guards Zack Novak (6.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg), Laval Lucas-Perry (6.5 ppg) and Stu Douglass (6.1 ppg) were all successful in their debuts at Michigan last season and each figures to play an even more prominent role in 2009-10. Freshman Darius Morris is a gifted point guard who will be expected to run the show and produce immediately.