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We have arrived at Monday Night, the final stage of the 2026 college basketball season. The matchup between the UConn Huskies and Michigan Wolverines is a heavyweight fight. Dan Hurley has been remarkably successful the past four seasons. This April in Indianapolis, he will have to go through the best coach of 2026 to win another national championship. Let's dig in:
UConn is aiming for a third national championship in four seasons. Only two other schools have done this since the NCAA Tournament began in 1939: UCLA under John Wooden (repeated several times), and Adolph Rupp's Kentucky from 1948 through 1951. UConn enters even rarer air if it wins this game and claims a seventh national title, putting it alone in third on the all-time list behind UCLA and Kentucky. North Carolina also has six national championships. UConn is trying to separate itself from the Tar Heels.
UConn's win over Illinois makes the Huskies 13-1 all-time in Final Four games, their only loss being in the 2009 national semifinals against Michigan State in Detroit (a virtual road game). UConn is 6-0 in national championship games.
Since the end of the 20th century, no college basketball program has been nearly as successful as UConn. The Huskies have six national titles since 1999, five this century. North Carolina has three national titles this century, as do the Duke Blue Devils and Florida Gators. Kansas and Villanova have two each. UConn is simply the gold standard in college hoops.
Dan Hurley is a March and April monster. He is unbeaten in Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, and national title games at UConn, his only NCAA Tournament losses coming on the first weekend. He is 18-1 in his last 19 NCAA Tournament games.
Since 2013, UConn has appeared in four national championship games, including this one. Michigan -- tied for second with North Carolina -- has three. These two programs have appeared in six of the past 13 national title games, and this is the first time they will face each other in a title game.
Dating back to 1965, Michigan has won eight straight national semifinals. That's wild.
Dusty May has clearly established himself as the best coach in college basketball for 2026. Dan Hurley has been the best coach in the sport over the past four seasons, but May is tops this year. He just dismantled the No. 2 overall seed, Arizona, with Yaxel Lendeborg hurt and in foul trouble. Michigan treated an elite Arizona team the same way it treated far lesser teams: Blowing it out and scoring 90 or more points against it. Dusty May has been ridiculously great this season.
Dusty May and Dan Hurley's UConn almost met in the 2023 national championship game. It took a buzzer-beater by San Diego State to deny May and Florida Atlantic a spot in the title game against UConn. Now the matchup is finally set.
In 2004, 2011, 2014, 2023, and 2024 -- five of the six years it won it all -- UConn was the higher-seeded team in the title game. It was not the higher seed in 1999, even though it wore home whites against Duke. The Blue Devils were favored in that game. The home whites were the result of a coin flip back then, before the seed list determined who wore white in every game. That came later.
In this game against Michigan, UConn will be the lower seed and will wear road uniforms for the first time in a national championship game.
Michigan, the winner of eight straight national semifinals since 1965, is 1-6 in the first seven of those title games, winning only in 1989 over Seton Hall. Dusty May will try to put a halt to a four-game Michigan losing streak in national championship games (1992, 1993, 2013, 2018).
Michigan in title games is the opposite of UConn: Michigan has been the lower-seeded team in all but two of its first seven national championship games -- Indiana in 1976, Seton Hall in 1989, Duke in 1992, Louisville in 2013, and Villanova in 2018 were all seeded higher. In 1965, Michigan was ranked No. 1 entering the NCAA Tournament. In 1993, Michigan was the home team against North Carolina in a battle of No. 1 seeds.
Monday, Michigan will be the higher seed while UConn is the lower seed. It's a change of pace on both sides.
Contact/Follow @College_Wire on X and @College_Wires on Threads. Like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of college sports news, notes, and opinions.
This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: UConn-Michigan national championship game - Husky versus Dusty
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UConn's bid for history
UConn is aiming for a third national championship in four seasons. Only two other schools have done this since the NCAA Tournament began in 1939: UCLA under John Wooden (repeated several times), and Adolph Rupp's Kentucky from 1948 through 1951. UConn enters even rarer air if it wins this game and claims a seventh national title, putting it alone in third on the all-time list behind UCLA and Kentucky. North Carolina also has six national championships. UConn is trying to separate itself from the Tar Heels.
UConn at the Final Four
UConn's win over Illinois makes the Huskies 13-1 all-time in Final Four games, their only loss being in the 2009 national semifinals against Michigan State in Detroit (a virtual road game). UConn is 6-0 in national championship games.
UConn since 1999
Since the end of the 20th century, no college basketball program has been nearly as successful as UConn. The Huskies have six national titles since 1999, five this century. North Carolina has three national titles this century, as do the Duke Blue Devils and Florida Gators. Kansas and Villanova have two each. UConn is simply the gold standard in college hoops.
Dan Hurley at UConn
Dan Hurley is a March and April monster. He is unbeaten in Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, and national title games at UConn, his only NCAA Tournament losses coming on the first weekend. He is 18-1 in his last 19 NCAA Tournament games.
UConn and Michigan in championship games
Since 2013, UConn has appeared in four national championship games, including this one. Michigan -- tied for second with North Carolina -- has three. These two programs have appeared in six of the past 13 national title games, and this is the first time they will face each other in a title game.
Michigan in national semifinals
Dating back to 1965, Michigan has won eight straight national semifinals. That's wild.
Dusty May
Dusty May has clearly established himself as the best coach in college basketball for 2026. Dan Hurley has been the best coach in the sport over the past four seasons, but May is tops this year. He just dismantled the No. 2 overall seed, Arizona, with Yaxel Lendeborg hurt and in foul trouble. Michigan treated an elite Arizona team the same way it treated far lesser teams: Blowing it out and scoring 90 or more points against it. Dusty May has been ridiculously great this season.
Almost
Dusty May and Dan Hurley's UConn almost met in the 2023 national championship game. It took a buzzer-beater by San Diego State to deny May and Florida Atlantic a spot in the title game against UConn. Now the matchup is finally set.
UConn national championship fact
In 2004, 2011, 2014, 2023, and 2024 -- five of the six years it won it all -- UConn was the higher-seeded team in the title game. It was not the higher seed in 1999, even though it wore home whites against Duke. The Blue Devils were favored in that game. The home whites were the result of a coin flip back then, before the seed list determined who wore white in every game. That came later.
In this game against Michigan, UConn will be the lower seed and will wear road uniforms for the first time in a national championship game.
Michigan in national championship games, part one
Michigan, the winner of eight straight national semifinals since 1965, is 1-6 in the first seven of those title games, winning only in 1989 over Seton Hall. Dusty May will try to put a halt to a four-game Michigan losing streak in national championship games (1992, 1993, 2013, 2018).
Michigan in national championship games, part two
Michigan in title games is the opposite of UConn: Michigan has been the lower-seeded team in all but two of its first seven national championship games -- Indiana in 1976, Seton Hall in 1989, Duke in 1992, Louisville in 2013, and Villanova in 2018 were all seeded higher. In 1965, Michigan was ranked No. 1 entering the NCAA Tournament. In 1993, Michigan was the home team against North Carolina in a battle of No. 1 seeds.
Monday, Michigan will be the higher seed while UConn is the lower seed. It's a change of pace on both sides.
Contact/Follow @College_Wire on X and @College_Wires on Threads. Like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of college sports news, notes, and opinions.
This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: UConn-Michigan national championship game - Husky versus Dusty
Continue reading...
