It hasn't been the easiest European tour for the Michigan basketball team. So far it's two games and two losses, including a 30-point blowout against Charleroi a couple of days ago.

But the Wolverines are having fun, at least evidenced by their trip to Paris on Tuesday and a failed French accent attempt by sophomore Matt Vogrich. And while basketball is the main focus of these trips, there is a new culture to take in.

On Wednesday it's back to basketball. Michigan faces Oostende at 8:30 p.m. Belgian time (2:30 p.m. Eastern).

Getting to know Oostende:

Team website Eurobasket page

Last season: Oostende finished 20-12 in the regular season and lost to Charleroi in the Belgian semifinals.

Roster Roster analysis: For those who follow college basketball at least mildly closely, the Oostende roster will have the most familiar name so far. Forward/center Will Thomas played at George Mason and was part of the 2006 Final Four run the school had. He averaged 14.6 points a game for Liege last year before moving to Oostende for this season. He was the Belgian League's Most Valuable Player a year ago.

Caleb Green averaged almost a double-double when he played for Oral Roberts in college. Marcus Faison played at Siena and when he left the school in 2000 was the third-leading scorer in school history.

Stephane Pelle is another familiar name, as he played at Colorado and is eighth on the Buffaloes all-time career scoring list (1,367 points), way ahead of some guy named Chauncey Billups. Pelle is also Colorado's career leader in rebounding with 1,054. He was the first Buffaloes player to have more than 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in his career.

Talent-wise, this team might be better than Charleroi.

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein