John Beilein's 1-3-1 zone is often talked about as his main method of success on defense.

"According to Synergy Sports database, Michigan has operated against a zone offense on fewer than 13% of their defensive possessions," writes Rob Dauster. "While that number can be a bit misleading because of how often teams will use their man offenses against zone -- it helps create movement, as teams unaccustomed to playing against a zone have a tendency to get stagnant offensively -- the fact of the matter is that Beilein uses his zone defense as nothing more than a change of pace, the same way that any other coach will throw on a full-court press from time to time."

Michigan almost exclusively used a zone against Memphis, but rarely used it against UCLA.

"But the 1-3-1 is effective, and its worth discussing because there will be times this year that Michigan will go almost exclusively to that defense depending on their matchup.

"Beilein's zone isn't much different than a standard 1-3-1."