When the AP preseason poll was released two weeks and a lifetime ago, Michigan was buried way down in the fine print under “others receiving votes.”

That kind of blatant disrespect won’t be a problem for John Beilein’s team next week, not after the Wolverines won the 2K Classic at Madison Square Garden by beating Marquette and SMU by an average margin of 20 points per laugher.

We’ve seen very good Michigan teams before, of course, but this latest group of Wolverines is progressing much faster than expected -- particularly on defense. In the course of two easy victories over the Golden Eagles and Mustangs, Beilein’s team held its opponents to just 0.88 points per possession.

D.J. Wilson in particular is hounding and harassing any and all opponents foolhardy enough to drive the ball into the paint, and the 6-foot-10 sophomore has an effect that doesn’t necessarily show up in the box score. Though he recorded just four blocks over two nights at the Garden, the fact that UM’s two opponents shot a combined 42 percent speaks to Wilson’s true impact.

The Wolverines won the 2K Classic at Madison Square Garden by beating Marquette and SMU by an average of 20 points. Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports

To call this defensive resurgence a “dramatic” turnaround would be a disservice to drama. A year ago, Michigan was utterly incapable of defending the paint. In Big Ten play, no defense allowed opponents to shoot a higher percentage on their 2-pointers than did the Wolverines. If you had “interior defense” marked down as a clear strength for UM in 2016-17, take one proud and clairvoyant step forward.

A little defense goes a long way in Ann Arbor because, per usual, this looks like a versatile and highly accurate group of Wolverines. So far this season, Derrick Walton has made 50 percent of his 3-pointers, the kind of ostentatious number that teammate Duncan Robinson put up last season (45.2 percent, actually) and could well record again in 2016-17.

Zak Irvin is sharing combo-guard responsibilities with Walton, while Moritz Wagner and Mark Donnal are connecting on a combined 65 percent of their 2s. This could well turn out to be the latest in a series of excellent Beilein offenses.

Nevertheless, it’s a little early to be penciling this Michigan team in for the Final Four. Even in defeat, SMU was able to pull down 45 percent of its missed shots. Meanwhile on offense, the Wolverines have been average but not great both in terms of taking care of the ball and on the glass. If Beilein’s team can excel in just one of those areas this season (most likely in minimizing turnovers), it will give a boost to what promises to be still another good-shooting Wolverine team.

The good news analytically is that this “How good are these guys?” discussion is about to be enriched courtesy of the schedule maker. Michigan’s next game, on Wednesday, will be a road test at South Carolina, and while the Gamecocks had to go into overtime on their home floor to beat Monmouth, Frank Martin’s team has multiple players who can score from the perimeter. Sindarius Thornwell, Duane Notice and PJ Dozier will give the visitors a fair sense of how far they’ve really come.

That being said, one thing about next week's game is already certain. Michigan is leaving the small print far behind and climbing in the polls. Fast.