The 2025/26 Michigan Wolverines have been the most dominant team in basketball this year and they're looking to cap it off with their first national championship win in over three decades tonight.
In just two seasons, head coach Dusty May has built his stacked roster through the transfer portal - size, strength, defense, shooting, and ball handling have all been covered. Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara, and Morez Johnson Jr. lead the frontcourt while Elliot Cadeau, Nimari Burnett, and Trey McKenney are snipers from the outside.
Lendeborg, the Big Ten Player of the Year, has led the Wolverines in scoring throughout the season, averaging 15.1 points per game while shooting 52.3% from the field and 38.3% from three. In the tournament, his defense, transition scoring, and shooting have been overwhelming for opponents.
These Wolverines have the fourth-ranked offense and No. 1 ranked defense according to kenpom.com. They've put up 90+ points in each of their five tourney wins, with their closest victory being a 13-point victory over Alabama.
After dismantling fellow No. 1 seed Arizona in the semifinal, 91-73, Michigan is a big time favorite in tonight's national championship game vs. Dan Hurley and UConn.
However, Michigan is 1-6 in national title games all time. They've lost four in a row, most recently in 2013 and 2018. Still, there's no doubt that this year's team has the best chance out of any of the previous championship-appearing teams to cut down the nets.
When was the last time Michigan won the college basketball national championship?
The last time Michigan won the national championship was in 1989 - nearly 40 years ago.
While many people may initially bring up the "Fab Five" era when thinking about the history of Michigan basketball, that group never actually managed to win it all.
Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Chris Webber, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson led the Wolverines to back-to-back natty appearances in 1992 and 1993, but they fell to Duke in '92 and to North Carolina in '93 - highlighted by Webber's mental mistake when he received a technical foul in the final seconds of the game for calling a phantom timeout.
While the Fab Five teams were extraordinary up until the national championship games, the 1989 team was somewhat of a Cinderella story.
While they were ranked as a No. 3 seed, athletic director Bo Schembechler fired head coach Bill Frieder just prior to the start of the tournament. Frieder had announced that he took the Arizona State job, angering Schembechler.
In stepped in interim head coach Steve Fisher - the future leader of the Fab Five squads. He led a team highlighted by Glen Rice, Michigan's all-time leading scorer. Rice had a record-breaking tournament. He scored 184 points in six games (about 30 points per game), a record that still holds today.
Rice completely carried that team, a stark contrast to the deep 2026 team that has nearly five players averaging double-digit points per game.
Can Michigan break their four-game losing streak in national championship games? You can watch it at 8:50 PM ET / 7:50 PM CT / 5:50 PM PT tonight on TBS.
