ANN ARBOR — The new Big Ten reminds Dusty May of his early coaching days. A Thursday game in Palo Alto; a Saturday matchup in Berkeley. Thursday in El Paso; Saturday in San Antonio. Whether in the Pac 10 (during his time at USC) or Conference USA (Florida Atlantic), May knows about a two-for-one road trip.

He’ll experience it again as Big Ten play resumes this week. The Wolverines are in Los Angeles for games against USC (Saturday) and UCLA (Tuesday).

May is all for it. He gets an extra day to prepare for the second game, and the trip takes place during Michigan’s break between semesters. (Classes restart on Wednesday.)

“It’s good timing,” May said earlier this week. “We feel like we’re growing as a team. It gives us a chance to spend even more quality time together and see how much we can improve and how far we can take this thing.”

Michigan (10-3) has looked as good as any team in the 18-member Big Ten. Picked to finish ninth in the unofficial preseason media poll, Michigan won its two early-December league games and is now the betting co-favorite to win the league (Michigan and UCLA are both at 4-to-1 per FanDuel).

Competing for that title is “extremely important,” May said. “Going back to the Coach (Bob) Knight in me, that’s what he stressed the most. You go through a three-month season and when you look at the mental fortitude and the physical health that goes into being good that long, it’s extremely demanding. … If you can go through the grind of a regular-season championship, I think when you’re on the road recruiting or you see other coaches, you give them a tip of the cap.”

Michigan’s quest for such a title begins in earnest in Los Angeles. The Wolverines were off on Monday, a day after dismantling Western Kentucky, before returning to practice. They arrived in California on Wednesday evening, with the idea to get some sun and do team-building exercises in addition to preparing for the competition.

May has seen in-game improvement not just from the season opener but even the last couple of weeks. “It seems like the things that we’ve stressed are starting to click and our guys are taking it to heart and they’re doing a great job of applying it. … Our guys are figuring each other out, they’re playing off each other better.”

Michigan’s weaknesses (turnovers, defensive rebound) will be tested especially against No. 15 UCLA. USC (9-4) doesn’t have a signature win yet in Eric Musselman’s first season on the job and has already lost twice at home.

The Trojans are at 95 in the NET rankings and 83 at kenpom. Musselman, who came from Arkansas after Andy Enfield left for SMU, rebuilt the roster through the transfer portal even more than May did at Michigan. USC has just one scholarship player who was on the team last season.

Michigan, meanwhile, should be at full strength, with reserve guard Rubin Jones — who missed Sunday’s game with a minor injury — expected to play.

May wasn’t ready to dive into USC on Monday morning, keeping the focus on Big Ten play resuming. He knows what a conference grind is all about. His Florida Atlantic team won the regular-season title when it went to the Final Four in 2023 but came up two games short last season. May has experience in the SEC (as an assistant at Florida) and the old-look Big Ten (during his time as a student assistant and administrator at Indiana under Knight). Back then, once Big Ten games started, they weren’t interrupted.

“I don’t want to discredit the two games we already played, but now just with the conclusion of pre-conference, it just feels like now we’re in Big Ten play,” May said. “And so every possession is going to be extremely important.”

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