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The national championship game of the 2026 NCAA Tournament is set, with the #2 seed UCONN Huskies facing the #1 seed Michigan Wolverines this Monday night at 7:50 p.m. (CT) on TBS. Connecticut is appearing in its third national championship game in the past four seasons while Michigan is returning to the final for the first time since the 2018 NCAA Tournament. There will be plenty of time to break down this game tomorrow. In the meantime make the jump to read my four observations about yesterday's Final Four games that were so promising on paper but ultimately quite disappointing on the court.
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1. Michigan is a team on a mission, playing suffocating defense and boasting too much offensive firepower and depth. The Wolverines couldn't have had a worse start last night with star forward Yaxel Lendeborg picking up two fouls in the first 1:30 of game time and then injuring his left leg 11 minutes into the first half. Yet it didn't matter for the Wolverines, which swarmed an overwhelmed Arizona team. The Wolverines got 7'3'' center Aday Mara touches, and the UCLA transfer flourished, scoring 26 points on 11-for-16 from the field and grabbing 9 rebounds. Once again, the Wolverines were sparked off the bench by wings Trey McKenney and Roddy Gayle Jr., who scored 16 and 9 points respectively. McKenney and Gayle have had three straight amazing games for the Wolverines. While Arizona seemingly had the advantage in the back court, Michigan guards Eliot Cadeau and Nimari Burnett flustered the Wildcats' Brayden Burries and Jaden Bradley with their defensive activity. The normally steady Burries looked outmatched and rushed while the experienced Bradley lost composure, picking up three fouls by the end of the first half. In addition to their pesky defense, Cadeau chipped in 13 points while Burnett had 6 points. Michigan also got 10 points from Morez Johnson Jr. and 11 points from Lendeborg, who only played 14 minutes and looked hobbled on the court. Even with Lendeborg not 100% with what appears to be an MCL sprain, this Michigan team has too many scoring options. When Head Coach Dusty May put this team together through the transfer portal, it was apparent that Michigan was going to be good enough to win it all. No one could have imagined Michigan being so dominant throughout the entire season! The Wolverines are not going to be denied on Monday night, and the final outcome will likely not be close.
2. Dan Hurley has squeezed everything out of this limited UCONN team. Entering Saturday's Final Four game against Illinois, UCONN had been struggling miserably from three, including starting 1/18 against Duke in the Elite Eight before finishing 5/25 in a stunning comeback. Against the Fighting Illini, UCONN made 7 threes on 18 attempts by halftime, which was not a good sign for Illinois. If the Huskies hit threes, Illinois was going to be in trouble. The Huskies got made threes from six players and ended up shooting 12/33 from deep (36.4%) for the game, with freshman Braylon Mullins hitting a dagger with just under a minute left. While UCONN rediscovered its outside shot and seemingly got every bounce on Saturday night, the Huskies still only led a stagnant Illinois team by four points in the last minute. Senior forward Alex Karaban had his second straight bad game on offense, and UCONN had several prolonged scoring droughts. At the end of the day UCONN's defense was good enough to hold off an Illini team that seemed stuck in the mud all night. To win tomorrow, Connecticut must shoot well from three again, avoid scoring droughts, have a huge game from Karaban, and somehow stop Michigan's offense. Good luck with that. While Hurley has done wonders getting this UCONN team to the title game, he is going to experience his first loss in a championship game tomorrow night.
3. Illinois fought an uphill battle all game long. Making its first Final Four appearance since 2005, Illinois got behind early before eventually taking a 22-21 lead in the first half. Unfortunately, the Illini could not extend that lead as UCONN struggled to score. By the end of the first half, UCONN was up eight points. Illinois just couldn't sustain any offensive momentum while chipping away in the second half. At one point, Illinois trailed by only four points, but the deficit felt much larger on a night where Illinois felt like the better team but couldn't get some tantalizing shots at the rim to fall. Sadly, the Illini just didn't seem to have the belief or spark necessary to finish the game. That something special was missing all game from the Illini, which fought and played hard but just didn't look like a team that thought it was going to win. While Illinois had a truly memorable and unforgettable season, the Illini have to be kicking themselves as that UCONN team was beatable. Illinois played great defense but ultimately faltered because it did not push the ball off defensive stops. While Illinois played a slow pace all season, the team needed to adjust last night and try to have its defense spark some quicker offense, rather than dribbling the ball into the ground. Returning to the Final Four for the first time in 21 years, Illinois seemed a bit spooked, as if the moment was too big, as was the case with my final observation.
4. Arizona's return to the Final Four was a giant dud. After waiting 25 years to get back to the Final Four, the Wildcats had a shockingly disastrous showing against Michigan, which was expected to win but not dominate a game many were calling the "De Facto National Championship." While Arizona is a team that likes to run, Michigan ran the Wildcats out of the gym. For a team that maintained its composure all tournament long, Arizona looked like a deer in headlights as Michigan turned up the screws on defense and starting clicking on offense. With the exception of center Motiejus Krivas, the rest of the Wildcats had underwhelming first halves. Arizona's defensive resistance in the second half was nonexistent, with the Wolverines leading by 30 at one point. The Wildcats seemed resigned to losing coming out of the break, which has to be incredibly disappointing for Head Coach Tommy Lloyd, who was rumored to be heading to North Carolina before signing a five-year extension with the Wildcats on Friday. Ultimately, Lloyd's coaching future had no bearing on last night's game as the Wildcats were thoroughly handled by a Michigan train that is barreling toward an inevitable national title.
2. Dan Hurley has squeezed everything out of this limited UCONN team. Entering Saturday's Final Four game against Illinois, UCONN had been struggling miserably from three, including starting 1/18 against Duke in the Elite Eight before finishing 5/25 in a stunning comeback. Against the Fighting Illini, UCONN made 7 threes on 18 attempts by halftime, which was not a good sign for Illinois. If the Huskies hit threes, Illinois was going to be in trouble. The Huskies got made threes from six players and ended up shooting 12/33 from deep (36.4%) for the game, with freshman Braylon Mullins hitting a dagger with just under a minute left. While UCONN rediscovered its outside shot and seemingly got every bounce on Saturday night, the Huskies still only led a stagnant Illinois team by four points in the last minute. Senior forward Alex Karaban had his second straight bad game on offense, and UCONN had several prolonged scoring droughts. At the end of the day UCONN's defense was good enough to hold off an Illini team that seemed stuck in the mud all night. To win tomorrow, Connecticut must shoot well from three again, avoid scoring droughts, have a huge game from Karaban, and somehow stop Michigan's offense. Good luck with that. While Hurley has done wonders getting this UCONN team to the title game, he is going to experience his first loss in a championship game tomorrow night.
3. Illinois fought an uphill battle all game long. Making its first Final Four appearance since 2005, Illinois got behind early before eventually taking a 22-21 lead in the first half. Unfortunately, the Illini could not extend that lead as UCONN struggled to score. By the end of the first half, UCONN was up eight points. Illinois just couldn't sustain any offensive momentum while chipping away in the second half. At one point, Illinois trailed by only four points, but the deficit felt much larger on a night where Illinois felt like the better team but couldn't get some tantalizing shots at the rim to fall. Sadly, the Illini just didn't seem to have the belief or spark necessary to finish the game. That something special was missing all game from the Illini, which fought and played hard but just didn't look like a team that thought it was going to win. While Illinois had a truly memorable and unforgettable season, the Illini have to be kicking themselves as that UCONN team was beatable. Illinois played great defense but ultimately faltered because it did not push the ball off defensive stops. While Illinois played a slow pace all season, the team needed to adjust last night and try to have its defense spark some quicker offense, rather than dribbling the ball into the ground. Returning to the Final Four for the first time in 21 years, Illinois seemed a bit spooked, as if the moment was too big, as was the case with my final observation.
4. Arizona's return to the Final Four was a giant dud. After waiting 25 years to get back to the Final Four, the Wildcats had a shockingly disastrous showing against Michigan, which was expected to win but not dominate a game many were calling the "De Facto National Championship." While Arizona is a team that likes to run, Michigan ran the Wildcats out of the gym. For a team that maintained its composure all tournament long, Arizona looked like a deer in headlights as Michigan turned up the screws on defense and starting clicking on offense. With the exception of center Motiejus Krivas, the rest of the Wildcats had underwhelming first halves. Arizona's defensive resistance in the second half was nonexistent, with the Wolverines leading by 30 at one point. The Wildcats seemed resigned to losing coming out of the break, which has to be incredibly disappointing for Head Coach Tommy Lloyd, who was rumored to be heading to North Carolina before signing a five-year extension with the Wildcats on Friday. Ultimately, Lloyd's coaching future had no bearing on last night's game as the Wildcats were thoroughly handled by a Michigan train that is barreling toward an inevitable national title.
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