The Michigan Wolverines captured their first NCAA men’s basketball national championship in decades with a hard-fought 69–63 victory over the UConn Huskies on April 6, 2026.
Playing at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, the Wolverines’ journey through the Final Four was defined by a high-octane offense and defensive resilience/ They reached the title game after a commanding 91–73 win over the Arizona Wildcats in the national semifinal.
Led by a balanced scoring attack and disciplined play under pressure, Michigan overcame a tough UConn squad to secure the title, marking a historic pinnacle for the program and cementing its status as the premier team of the 2025–26 season.
The chip is the first for Michigan since 1989 and the second in program history. Also, it ends the Big Ten’s conference 26-year drought without a national champion in basketball.
Elliot Cadeau led Michigan with 19 points on 5-of-11 shooting, and Yaxel Lendeborg added 13 points as he struggled with a leg injury during the game. The Wolverines won, although they made just two 3-pointers on 15 attempts and only shot 38% from the field.
“When you bring a group this talented together, and they decide from the beginning that they’re going to do it this way and they never waver and they never change, that’s probably the most uncommon thing in athletics now,” Michigan coach Dusty May said. “For these guys to cut down the nets after all they’ve sacrificed is pretty special.”
For UConn, Alex Karaban scored with 17 points, and Tarris Reed added 13 points and 14 rebounds.
UConn was attempting to win a third championship in four seasons.
They’re legit,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “They definitely deserved to win the national championship. They’re clearly the best team in the country this year. They’re just so hard to score against at the rim. I could talk about the 3s that we missed, and I thought we had a lot of good 3s that we missed. But they just made it so tough on us around the rim.”
