It has been 3,887 days since the Michigan women’s basketball team last appeared in the NCAA Tournament.

The current freshmen were in third grade when the Wolverines lost to Notre Dame on March 19, 2001 in the second round. Michigan was under the direction of then-coach Sue Guevara.

More than 10 years later, there are a lot of new faces in Ann Arbor, but the Wolverines are looking for similar success. Instead of Guevara, Kevin Borseth is the coach hoping to get Michigan back to the Big Dance.

Borseth had an immediate impact when he arrived in 2007, posting a 16-14 record after five consecutive losing seasons. During his tenure he has recorded three winning seasons and two WNIT appearances, but no NCAA Tournament appearances. Two seasons ago he took the Wolverines to the semifinals of the WNIT, which was the deepest postseason finish in the program's history. But last year, entering the WNIT as a title contender, they suffered a devastating first round loss to Eastern Michigan.

Michigan returns four starters and almost its entire roster this season. The Wolverines did lose key contributor Veronica Hicks. The entire team now consists of “Borseth players,” as the current seniors comprise the first recruiting class he had as head coach.

So what does this mean?

It means that not only is Michigan due to make the NCAA Tournament, but it has the right ingredients to do so. The expectation is tourney or bust. As it should be.

“Hopefully we can learn from (last year) and this year we can press forward because I think we want to — I think we need to,” Borseth said at Michigan Media Day. “I think our basketball community expects that, and we feel that, so we’re going to try to do everything we can to make that push.”

Last season was probably the closest the Wolverines have come to making it to the Big Dance under Borseth. They went 10-6 in Big Ten play, which was good for a third-place finish. Coincidentally, this third-place finish was the best finish Michigan has seen since 2001 — the year it last appeared in the NCAA Tournament.

But after going 4-6 in the last month of the season and suffering tough losses to Big Ten bottom dwellers Minnesota and Illinois, the selection committee didn’t find a place for the Wolverines in the field of 64 teams.

One way to ensure a spot in the Big Dance is to win the Big Ten Tournament and earn the automatic bid that comes with that championship. It would be the first time in school history that Michigan won a Big Ten Title. It’s not an unrealistic goal, but the Big Ten is deep and a tough conference to navigate.

“We’ve been so close (to making the tournament) these past two years,” said senior guard Courtney Boylan. “It was really hard for us last year not getting in because we beat some really good teams, but our win column just wasn’t big enough to get there.

“We got third last year and we’re inching our way closer to winning that Big Ten Title and I definitely believe that this could be our year to do it.”

When the Wolverines kick off their season on Friday against Florida in Gainesville, they will have 114 days until the conclusion of the Big Ten Tournament to make a case for their NCAA Tournament berth.

With a roster filled with upperclassmen, Michigan has the experience to dance in March. Returning four starters also shows that the Wolverines have the necessary talent to do so. Borseth has done an excellent job turning the program around without his own players since he arrived four years ago, so it seems they also have the right coach at the helm to lead this seasoned Michigan team.

The question isn’t whether they can do it, but whether they will do it. Will they stay focused down the stretch? Will they win the games they should and win some they shouldn’t?

As the Wolverines have yet to play a game, it remains to be seen whether or not they will be dancing in March. But if they’re not dancing in March in the NCAA Tournament, at least they'll still be able to dance.

“We really get into dancing,” senior forward Carmen Reynolds said about preseason team activities. “It’s really funny. We’ll do like the Cupid shuffle and other crazy dances as a team before tailgates. It’s a lot of fun.”