From game one against Oakland to game 40 with UConn, Michigan basketball has ended a 37-year drought to stand alone as the 2026 National Champions of college basketball.
The possibilities became clear in November that this group was special enough to make it a reality when they won convincingly. Along the way, they experienced a few hiccups, but once the postseason journey arrived, laser focus on playing the way that they were capable of became the status quo.
L.J. Cason's injury could have derailed them, but they seemingly got better after that. Yaxel Lendeborg was brutally honest that he was in pain on Monday night, but he fought through it, and now both of them will go down as part of the greatest team in Michigan history.
They were better than the Fab Five, better than the 1989 championship team, and belong in the conversation as one of the all-time teams in college basketball history.
"They're the best team in the Big Ten ever to play."@RaphealDavis3 on the new national champs @umichbball and what set them apart 👇 pic.twitter.com/slOpNK054b
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) April 7, 2026
Michigan makes its case for best team ever
The Wolverines got this far because of guys who came before them like John Beilein, Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr., Moritz Wagner, Hunter Dickinson, and so many more countless players who donned the maize and blue jersey over the years. This championship is for them, too.
The accomplishments of what this core achieved may never be matched in Michigan basketball history again, but the giant that Dusty May is building is just getting started. He is attempting to create a dynasty like John Wooden and Mike Krzyzewski did. With Monday night's coronation, he is one step closer to doing that.
Losing to Wisconsin, Duke and Purdue rounded this bunch into form to take out the Gonzaga's, Arizona's and UConn's of the world. In the process they finished with the most wins ever for a Big Ten program, won the toughest conference in America in a runaway and can call themselves National Champions. No other Big Ten school can proclaim that success.