Michigan women’s basketball coach Kevin Borseth and Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo both hail from the Upper Peninsula, but they might soon have another thing in common.

“I’ll shave my head,” Borseth said if the Wolverines win this weekend's Big Ten Tournament. “That’s what Izzo did, didn’t he?”

Izzo's Spartans won the men's regular-season conference title, but Borseth's squad has further to go. And sophomore guard Veronica Hicks isn’t buying her coach’s promise.

“I don’t think he’s far from that already,” Hicks said jokingly of her coach's thinning hair.

Michigan, the last seed in the tournament, starts the mission when it faces No. 6 seed Indiana (11-7 Big Ten, 18-9 overall) today in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Michigan lost twice to the Hoosiers this year, 67-61 last Sunday and 60-50 on Jan. 22.

Borseth said it's a disadvantage for both teams to face each other so soon after their last matchup. He emphasized that the Wolverines, even though they are in last place, can compete with any team in the Big Ten.

Michigan (3-15, 10-19) has maintained a positive attitude throughout a tough conference season. Of its 15 conference losses, just four have been by more than 10 points. And three of those four have come at the hands of each of the top three seeds in the tournament: Ohio State, Michigan State and Purdue.

"As the year has progressed, the sense of urgency really has heightened," Borseth said.

But that urgency he talked about hasn't resulted in victories.

The Wolverines will need four wins to secure a new haircut for Borseth. If Michigan wins the tournament, it will automatically receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament. But the Wolverines haven't won four consecutive games all season. Their longest win streak is three games, and it has only happened once this season. To make matters worse, Michigan is 2-12 away from Crisler Arena this season and 1-0 on neutral courts.

For the Wolverines to fix their issues for the Big Ten Tournament, they will have to close out games, which has been a problem all season long.

“Just keep going hard all throughout the game,” senior guard Jessica Minnfield said. “We can’t let down, not one possession. We just got to keep playing each possession like it’s our last.”

Hicks echoed Minnfield’s sentiments but also said the team’s current confidence level is in a state of flux.

“I think that we have a confidence level that has been consistent with what we’ve been having all year," Hicks said. “But it could be higher. Clearly the losses that we had mean something, because you have to find a way to win.

“When you’re winning consistently, it’s almost expected. When you start losing consistently, that almost becomes habitual, too. So I think that it’s just finding a way to turn it around and get used to winning.”