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After beating Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament Midwest region final on Sunday, March 30, No. 1 seed Michigan basketball is headed to its ninth Final Four appearance, starting with fellow 1-seed Arizona in Indianapolis on Saturday. Here’s a look at the program's eight previous runs:
Where: Kansas City, Missouri.
Road to the Final Four: Michigan opened with a bye, then beat Loyola-Chicago and Ohio in Minneapolis.
The national semifinal: U-M and Cazzie Russell were thumped by Duke, 91-80. Russell scored 31 points and added eight rebounds. He also fouled out, along with two teammates, Bill Buntin and Oliver Dardin. Four Wolverines from this team - Russell, Buntin, Dardin and George Pomey - eventually were drafted by NBA teams.
The consolation game: The Wolverines recovered to beat Kansas State behind 31 points from Buntin.
PRESENT TENSE: Michigan basketball bludgeons Tennessee 95-62 to advance to Final Four
Where: Portland, Oregon.
Road to the Final Four: Another bye got U-M to the Sweet 16 in Lexington, Kentucky, where they beat Dayton and Vanderbilt. Bill Buntin scored 26 in both games.
The national semifinal: Buntin and U-M beat Bill Bradley and Princeton, 93-76. Cazzie Russell scored 28 points with 10 rebounds and Buntin added 22 points and 14 boards.
The final: The Wolverines were no match for John Wooden's UCLA buzzsaw, losing 91-80. Russell again went off for 28 points but turned the ball over nine times.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: When is the Final Four? Time, channel and streaming for March Madness
Where: Philadelphia.
Road to the Final Four: U-M squeaked by Wichita State in the Round of 32, then beat Notre Dame and Missouri in Louisville, Kentucky.
The national semifinal: John Robinson scored 20 points and had 16 rebounds to take down Rutgers, 86-70.
The final: In the first final between two teams from the same conference, U-M led unbeaten Indiana at the half but IU rallied for an 86-68 win. “Indiana had the best team here,” U-M coach Johnny Orr declared. “Hell’s fire, anybody who believes anything else is an imbecile. Indiana is the best … and we’re the second-best.”
Where: Seattle.
Road to the Final Four: Amid some pre-Tournament chaos as coach Bill Frieder was fired by Bo Schembechler for taking the Arizona State job and replaced with Steve Frieder, the No. 3 seed Wolverines beat Xavier and South Alabama in Atlanta, then cleared North Carolina and Virginia in Lexington, Kentucky.
The national semifinal: Michigan topped No. 1 seed Illinois, 83-81, in a Big Ten rematch after the Illini beat the Wolverines in the regular season.
The final: Rumeal Robinson’s free throws in the final seconds of overtime clinched the Wolverines’ only national title. by beating the Seton Hall Pirates, 80-79. Glen Rice scored 28 on 12-for-24 shooting and was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
Where: Minneapolis.
Road to the Final Four: U-M opened in Atlanta with victories over Temple and East Tennessee State, then took down Oklahoma State and Ohio State in Lexington, Kentucky.
The national semifinal: U-M beat Cincinnati, 76-72, as four members of the Fab Five – Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose and Jimmy King – scored in double figures.
The final: Duke senior Grant Hill and the Blue Devils decimated the Fab Five, 71-51, in the title game.
The aftermath: This Final Four appearance was later vacated by the NCAA.
Where: New Orleans.
Road to the Final Four: Top-seeded Michigan decimated Coastal Carolina, then squeaked by UCLA in overtime in Tucson, Arizona. U-M then thumped George Washington and Temple in Seattle.
The national semifinal: U-M faced its first opponent seeded higher than seventh, outlasting No. 1 seed Kentucky, 81-78, in overtime behind Chris Webber's 27 points.
The final: Webber's U-M career ended with an ill-fated timeout call and a 77-71 loss to North Carolina.
The aftermath: This Final Four appearance was later vacated by the NCAA.
Where: Atlanta.
The road to the Final Four: The Wolverines opened close to home, trouncing South Dakota State and VCU at the Palace. U-M then survived Kansas thanks to a Trey Burke buzzer-beater and rolled over Florida in Arlington, Texas.
The national semifinal: U-M's John Beilein, who made his name at tiny LeMoyne in Syracuse, thumped Syracuse to make the final.
The final: Freshman Spike Albrecht scored 17 points in the first half to give U-M a one-point lead, but Louisville's Luke Hancock was too much in the second as the Cards won, 82-76.
The aftermath: Louisville's title was later vacated.
Where: San Antonio.
The road to the Final Four: It wasn’t exactly the toughest path for the 3-seed Wolverines, with wins over a 14-seed (Montana) and a 6-seed (Houston, on a coast-to-coast buzzer-beater by Jordan Poole) in Wichita, Kansas, followed by wins over a 7-seed (Texas A&M) and a 9-seed (Florida State) in Los Angeles.
The national semifinal: Facing national darling (and 11-seed) Loyola-Chicago, the Wolverines shot just 29% in the first half to trail by seven before Moritz Wagner turned it on in the second, with 13 points, while U-M shot 57.1% for a 69-57 win.
The final: The Wolverines finally faced a 1-seed, Villanova, and the Wildcats played like one in a 79-67 win, with backup guard Donte DiVincenzo going 10-for-15 (and 5-for-7 on 3s) en route to 31 points.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How many Final Fours has Michigan basketball made?
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1964: Cazzie's 31 not enough
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Where: Kansas City, Missouri.
Road to the Final Four: Michigan opened with a bye, then beat Loyola-Chicago and Ohio in Minneapolis.
The national semifinal: U-M and Cazzie Russell were thumped by Duke, 91-80. Russell scored 31 points and added eight rebounds. He also fouled out, along with two teammates, Bill Buntin and Oliver Dardin. Four Wolverines from this team - Russell, Buntin, Dardin and George Pomey - eventually were drafted by NBA teams.
The consolation game: The Wolverines recovered to beat Kansas State behind 31 points from Buntin.
PRESENT TENSE: Michigan basketball bludgeons Tennessee 95-62 to advance to Final Four
1965: Bruised by the Bruins
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Where: Portland, Oregon.
Road to the Final Four: Another bye got U-M to the Sweet 16 in Lexington, Kentucky, where they beat Dayton and Vanderbilt. Bill Buntin scored 26 in both games.
The national semifinal: Buntin and U-M beat Bill Bradley and Princeton, 93-76. Cazzie Russell scored 28 points with 10 rebounds and Buntin added 22 points and 14 boards.
The final: The Wolverines were no match for John Wooden's UCLA buzzsaw, losing 91-80. Russell again went off for 28 points but turned the ball over nine times.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: When is the Final Four? Time, channel and streaming for March Madness
1976: Hoosier hoedown
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Where: Philadelphia.
Road to the Final Four: U-M squeaked by Wichita State in the Round of 32, then beat Notre Dame and Missouri in Louisville, Kentucky.
The national semifinal: John Robinson scored 20 points and had 16 rebounds to take down Rutgers, 86-70.
The final: In the first final between two teams from the same conference, U-M led unbeaten Indiana at the half but IU rallied for an 86-68 win. “Indiana had the best team here,” U-M coach Johnny Orr declared. “Hell’s fire, anybody who believes anything else is an imbecile. Indiana is the best … and we’re the second-best.”
1989: Yarrrrr, a title at last
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Where: Seattle.
Road to the Final Four: Amid some pre-Tournament chaos as coach Bill Frieder was fired by Bo Schembechler for taking the Arizona State job and replaced with Steve Frieder, the No. 3 seed Wolverines beat Xavier and South Alabama in Atlanta, then cleared North Carolina and Virginia in Lexington, Kentucky.
The national semifinal: Michigan topped No. 1 seed Illinois, 83-81, in a Big Ten rematch after the Illini beat the Wolverines in the regular season.
The final: Rumeal Robinson’s free throws in the final seconds of overtime clinched the Wolverines’ only national title. by beating the Seton Hall Pirates, 80-79. Glen Rice scored 28 on 12-for-24 shooting and was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
1992: Fab Five learns a lesson
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Where: Minneapolis.
Road to the Final Four: U-M opened in Atlanta with victories over Temple and East Tennessee State, then took down Oklahoma State and Ohio State in Lexington, Kentucky.
The national semifinal: U-M beat Cincinnati, 76-72, as four members of the Fab Five – Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose and Jimmy King – scored in double figures.
The final: Duke senior Grant Hill and the Blue Devils decimated the Fab Five, 71-51, in the title game.
The aftermath: This Final Four appearance was later vacated by the NCAA.
1993: Out of time
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Where: New Orleans.
Road to the Final Four: Top-seeded Michigan decimated Coastal Carolina, then squeaked by UCLA in overtime in Tucson, Arizona. U-M then thumped George Washington and Temple in Seattle.
The national semifinal: U-M faced its first opponent seeded higher than seventh, outlasting No. 1 seed Kentucky, 81-78, in overtime behind Chris Webber's 27 points.
The final: Webber's U-M career ended with an ill-fated timeout call and a 77-71 loss to North Carolina.
The aftermath: This Final Four appearance was later vacated by the NCAA.
2013: Dealt out by the Cards
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Where: Atlanta.
The road to the Final Four: The Wolverines opened close to home, trouncing South Dakota State and VCU at the Palace. U-M then survived Kansas thanks to a Trey Burke buzzer-beater and rolled over Florida in Arlington, Texas.
The national semifinal: U-M's John Beilein, who made his name at tiny LeMoyne in Syracuse, thumped Syracuse to make the final.
The final: Freshman Spike Albrecht scored 17 points in the first half to give U-M a one-point lead, but Louisville's Luke Hancock was too much in the second as the Cards won, 82-76.
The aftermath: Louisville's title was later vacated.
2018: Donte’s inferno
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Where: San Antonio.
The road to the Final Four: It wasn’t exactly the toughest path for the 3-seed Wolverines, with wins over a 14-seed (Montana) and a 6-seed (Houston, on a coast-to-coast buzzer-beater by Jordan Poole) in Wichita, Kansas, followed by wins over a 7-seed (Texas A&M) and a 9-seed (Florida State) in Los Angeles.
The national semifinal: Facing national darling (and 11-seed) Loyola-Chicago, the Wolverines shot just 29% in the first half to trail by seven before Moritz Wagner turned it on in the second, with 13 points, while U-M shot 57.1% for a 69-57 win.
The final: The Wolverines finally faced a 1-seed, Villanova, and the Wildcats played like one in a 79-67 win, with backup guard Donte DiVincenzo going 10-for-15 (and 5-for-7 on 3s) en route to 31 points.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How many Final Fours has Michigan basketball made?
Continue reading...
