UConn vs Michigan For the National Championship

Zak Drapeau
3 minutes ago
3 min read

by Zak Drapeau

Sportz Nation - 4/6/2026

Tonight will crown another National Champion in College Basketball between the Michigan Wolverines and Connecticut Huskies. The Wolverines are 7-point favorites as of the morning of the game even though the Huskies will be competing for their 3rd Championship in the last 4 years; having won in 2023 and 2024.

Michigan

Michigan has been rolling since the First Round and all the way through the Final Four when they beat Arizona by 18-points on Saturday. In their game against Arizona with the whole world watching and only being favored by 1 point, the Wolverines played their best game of the tournament and led by as much as 26 on the Wildcats who were at one time the favorites to win it all.

Michigan has been led by Forward Yaxel Lendeborg and their 7'3" Center Aday Mara. Lendeborg was putting up buckets for the first few rounds and put up 25 and 8 from Round 2 to the Elite 8. Mara has 16 and 6 throughout the tournament but dominated Arizona in the Final Four with 26 and 9. All while Point Guard Elliot Cadeau has been conducting the whole thing with over 8 assists per game.

Connecticut

UConn has had to face opposition and win games with grit far more than the Wolverines. Averaging only 71 points per game for the last 4 games, the Huskies obviously haven't won from an offensive output but have been clutch and solid when it matters most. Beating Michigan State by 4 in the last minute then their INSANE, 2nd half comeback on Duke from a buzzer beater-3, led them to the Final Four when defense won out and they finally had a little wiggle room when beating Illinoi by 9.

Connecticut relies on their Center Tarris Reed for the most part with Freshman Forward Braylon Mullins seemingly being their go-to guy at the end of the game. Tarris Reed's First Round was unbelievable when he got 31 points and 27 rebounds and has averaged just under 21 points and 13 rebounds for the tournament. Mullins' 12 points per game on 29% from 3 doesn't seem special but his game winner in the Elite 8 and 15 points against Illinois has made him one of the best players on the court in the past week and a half.

Looking Ahead

So now we're here, the favorites that have coasted every game and beaten another favorite by a landslide and the underdog who "seems" to be lucky to even be here even though they won back-to-back titles only 2 years ago. Both teams are led by elite coaches, Connecticut's Dan Hurley is obviously a championship winning coach but Michigan's coach Dustin May is becoming elite himself after going 63-13 in his first two years at Ann Arbor after taking FAU to the Final Four 3 seasons ago.

Michigan and Dusty May will look to put up points early while Hurley's Huskies will aim to keep the game close until it gets to crunch time where they would have an edge.

The 7-point spread in this game seems disrespectful to UConn and you better believe a HUGE majority of the money will be against it. Michigan hasn't had a game come down to a single-digit win all tournament and is averaging a 20-point margin of victory.

The biggest battle in this game should be between the big men. Aday Mara should have an offensive advantage over Reed and a big size difference of around 5 inches. Reed is strong and will battle for rebounds but I have to believe his strength to get offensive rebounds will be capped by Mara. As far as the wings go, Connecticut will NEED to do better from beyond the arc in this one to even have a chance after shooting only 30% in their last 2 games.

In all, I am going with Michigan in this one. The spread is very juicy to take Connecticut for but I could really see the Wolverines not letting the Huskies keep up.