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Michigan March Madness bracket live updates
Chicago — Michigan basketball won’t need a spoiler and won’t need to sweat out Selection Sunday.
After a record-setting season filled with dominant wins and historical feats, the Wolverines already know their fate well before the 68-team field will be revealed at 6 p.m. on CBS.
Michigan is a lock to receive one of the four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. It’s just a matter of where it falls on the 1-seed line and whether it’ll get a Thursday or Friday start — coach Dusty May would prefer the latter and the extra day of rest with the Wolverines playing in Sunday’s Big Ten tournament final.
It’ll be the first time Michigan has received a top seed since 2021 and the fourth time in program history. It comes as no surprise, considering how the Wolverines steamrolled the competition all season long and racked up one milestone after another.
They won the most regular-season games (29) in program history. They’re the first team in Big Ten history to win 19 conference games and the second team to complete league road play unbeaten, joining 1975-76 Indiana. They set a Big Ten record with seven wins by at least 40 points. With Saturday’s semifinal win over Wisconsin, Michigan beat all the other 17 league opponents, the first to do so since the Big Ten expanded to 18 teams last season.
And perhaps most impressive of all is Michigan still would’ve won the outright Big Ten regular-season title — which it did by four games — if it only counted its wins by double figures (16). That’s how good the Wolverines were.
The body of work speaks for itself. Entering play Sunday, Michigan has one of the most impressive resumes in college basketball. The Wolverines are one of three teams with at least 31 total wins and at least 16 Quad 1 victories, along with fellow expected No. 1 seeds Duke and Arizona. They’re one of two teams — Miami (Ohio) is the other — to go undefeated in true road games. And they did all that while playing a strength of schedule that ranks No. 4 in the nation, according to KenPom.
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How has Michigan done in NCAA Tournament after winning Big Ten tournament?
First thing is first for Michigan basketball, before the Selection Sunday NCAA Tournament bracket announcement: The Big Ten tournament championship game against Purdue, at 3:30 p.m. on CBS.
Michigan has won the Big Ten tournament four times entering Sunday. Here's how Michigan has fared in the NCAA Tournament after winning the Big Ten tournament:
1998: Second round
2017: Sweet 16
2018: National runner-up
2025: Sweet 16
How has Michigan done in NCAA Tournament after winning Big Ten regular-season title?
Since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 and created the modern bracket structure, Michigan has won either a share or the outright Big Ten regular-season championship five times.
Here’s how Michigan has fared:
1985: Second round
1986: Second round
2012: First round
2014: Elite Eight
2021: Elite Eight
When is NCAA Selection Show?
The NCAA Tournament Selection Show is at 6 p.m. on CBS. Michigan will learn its first-round opponent, and the site for first- and potentially second-round games.
The entire 68-team field will be unveiled during the Selection Show, including the matchups for the First Four games Tuesday and Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio.
When does March Madness start?
NCAA Tournament March Madness begins with the First Four games on Tuesday and Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio. There are two games matching No. 11 seeds and two matching No. 16 seeds.
The tournament gets underway in earnest on Thursday with first-round games in each of the four regions — Midwest, East, South and West.
Has Michigan basketball ever been a No. 1 seed?
Michigan is expected to land a No. 1 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament. It would mark the fourth time the Wolverines have earned a No. 1 seed. Here are the previous occasions:
1985: Lost in second round to Villanova
1993: Lost in national championship game to North Carolina
2021: Lost in Elite Eight to UCLA
Michigan basketball March Madness history
Michigan has a 68-31 record in 32 NCAA Tournaments, with eight Final Fours and one national championship (1989).
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan basketball’s 2026 NCAA bracket, seed, opponent revealed
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