Michigan Draws Comically Small Crowd As Team Becomes A Dumpster Fire: PHOTOS

Michigan fans didn't seem too interested in showing up Thursday night against Illinois.

The Wolverines are in the middle of an absolutely brutal basketball season, and the program is on the fast-track to becoming a worse dumpster fire with every game.

Even with a top-15 team visiting Ann Arbor, fans didn't bother paying attention as Michigan fell to 7-11 on the season after losing 88-73. Turns out being several games under .500 makes the Wolverines a very tough draw.

Don't take my word for it. Check out some photos circulating of the comically small crowd.

This video appears to have been taken less than 10 minutes from tape, judging from the time shown on the scoreboards.

How many open seats do we see? Is it even possible to count them all?

The photo below is 24 minutes out from tip. There are always open seats with that much time before a game starts. I know because I've attended plenty of Wisconsin games, but this empty? Big yikes for Michigan.

Have Michigan fans given up on the Wolverines? (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)

For the record, ESPN claims nearly 11,000 people showed up to the game. Sure. Sure they did. Total capacity of the Crisler Center is 13,751. That would mean the arena was just under 80% full. Take another look at the photos and decide for yourself.

Michigan is having a brutally bad basketball season.

Remember all the diehard Michigan fans who truly believed Juwan Howard would restore the team to the glory of the Fab Five days?

That sure was cute. It's never come close to happening. He's been to one Elite Eight, and two Sweet Sixteens, but the program is sliding in the wrong direction. Michigan is 44-42 since the start of the 2021-22 season.

That's simply unacceptable for a program of UM's pedigree, and Howard is in the worst run of his career in Ann Arbor. Add in other drama - like the fight at Wisconsin - and it's not hard to understand why fans might be turning on him.

Juwan Howard and the Michigan Wolverines are having a horrible year. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)

The real bad news for Michigan is the team's upcoming games are against Purdue, Iowa, Michigan State, Rutgers, Wisconsin, Nebraska and then Illinois again. The Wolverines are currently 7-11. Expect that record to continue to head in the wrong direction. Let me know your thoughts on the team in Ann Arbor at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.