The following season, Michigan returned its top nine scorers and began the season ranked number one in the Associated Press national ranking as Pelinka was part of a quartet of seniors backing up the Fab Five, who had become sophomores. As a fifth-year senior, Pelinka started back-to-back games twice during the season. Early in the season, he started in place of the injured Jackson, but Pelinka came down with the flu after two starts against Kansas and Eastern Michigan on December 30, 1992 and January 2, 1993 respectively. During his other set of back-to-back starts against Ohio State and Iowa on January 26 and January 31, 1993, Pelinka started even though Jackson played.
Jackson
Pelinka