There have been few teams as consistently dominant on the hardwood this season as the Michigan Wolverines. Dusty May knows he has a team capable of winning this year's national championship. At 29-2 (19-1) on the year after their Big Ten Championship-clinching victory over the rival Michigan State Spartans, everyone would probably agree with that assessment. Of course, there is a way to go.
May broke it down with his players the exact amount of games Michigan needs to win the whole thing.
"Hey, for real, just to see you guys celebrate these moments with each other, that's what it's about. The bond, the relationships, you guys continue to do it as a group. It's rare. It's uncommon. We've got nine more games though, fellas. Nine more games. So we've got to continue to get better. We got to stay on our bodies, on our rest, on our mental preparation. Nine more games left, fellas. Just finished lap three and you guys did it better than it's been done since 1976. Good work, men."
May carefully alluded to at the end of his speech the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers who went undefeated.
Dusty May after Michigan's win over MSU:
— Clayton Sayfie (@CSayf23) March 9, 2026
"Just to see you guys celebrate these moments with each other, that's what it's all about. The bond, the relationships, you guys continue to do it as a group. It's rare, it's uncommon."pic.twitter.com/7iWWoGhepa
Now that we know how many games Michigan could have left to play, what is the road ahead of them?
Michigan must win nine more games in a row to be crowned champions
Because Michigan earned the top overall seed in the ensuing Big Ten Tournament, the Wolverines effectively got a triple-bye to the quarterfinals. They could play either No. 8 Ohio State, No. 9 Iowa, No. 16 Oregon, or No. 17 Maryland in their first Big Ten Tournament game. Should they win that game, Michigan will face whoever comes out of the Illinois quadrant of the bracket in the Big Ten semifinals.
From there, Michigan would then play whoever wins the other side of the bracket between the likes of No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Michigan State, No. 6 UCLA, No. 7 Purdue, and so on in the Big Ten title bout. Michigan needs to win three games to win the Big Ten Tournament. After that, it is six games through the NCAA Tournament: Round of 64, Round of 32, Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, and national title.
Overall, May has emerged as the ideal galvanizer from the sidelines for this team. Any message he sends out to his team on the court, or in the locker room, always registers with them. Because the Wolverines play as one, they can react as swiftly to any changes on the floor as anyone. With their inherent physicality baked into this roster, Michigan has proven to be so incredibly hard to defeat.
Ultimately, it has been a painfully long time since Michigan last won March Madness. Since winning it all for the first time in program history way back in 1989, Michigan has finished as national runner-up on four different occasions. For as great as those 1992, 1993, 2013, and 2018 teams were, the 1989 team still holds a special place in the hearts of the fans because it was the only one to be able to do it.
For now, Michigan is playing with such tremendous momentum as a bona-fide lock to be a No. 1 seed.