On April 6, 2026, the University of Michigan/ Michigan Wolverines men’s college basketball team beat the University of Connecticut/ UConn Huskies men’s basketball team 69-63 in the NCAA National Championship tournament to end March Madness with a bang.
The game was close the whole time with the Wolverines being up at some times and the Huskies being up other times. At one point, they were able to tie the game. However, at the end of the first half, Michigan was up 33-29, giving the team a higher morale boost going into halftime and never letting it go. After halftime, UConn tried their hardest to keep up with the Wolverines, but with only ten minutes left, Michigan was up 50-41, and UConn could not come back and get themselves the win.
“I thought it was an exciting game, and I didn’t have a preference of whether or not one school won over another. [However,]it was a good, exciting game, and I knew that both schools are very good basketball programs… the game was going to be very competitive either way,” assistant basketball coach and long term history substitute Joshua Mercado said.
Michigan Wolverines junior point guard Elliot Cadeau won MVP of the championship game. He had 19 points (which was the most of the game), three rebounds, two assists and two steals. For UConns side of the ball, senior forward Alex Karaban has the most points for the Huskies with 17 and 11 rebounds.
“ I’m so glad [that Cadeau] won the MVP of the finals. He is the [greatest of all time]. He makes the team a better place,” sophomore Buena basketball player and college basketball watcher Jaden Abarca said.
Michigan and UConn were both seen as real contenders the whole college basketball season, especially during the playoffs since they were seen as the big teams. Michigan went 19-1 in the regular season putting them first in their standings, only losing to the University of Wisconsin–Madison/ Wisconsin Badgers. UConn was 17-3 in the regular season and second in their standings.
This championship win for Michigan is so big since they have only ever won a college playoff championship once in the eight times they have made it to the championship, making it the second time since 1989 where they first won. On the other hand, this is such a big loss for UConn since it’s their first loss ever in the six finals appearances they have with their last finals win being in 2024 vs the Purdue Boilermakers men basketball team.
