Will two Big Ten teams face off with a national championship on the line? No. 3 seed Illinois and No. 1 Michigan are on opposite sides of the Final Four in 2026, and could guarantee the Big Ten the NCAA Tournament championship with wins in the national semifinals.

The Fighting Illini take on No. 2 Connecticut, while the Wolverines face fellow No. 1 seed Arizona, each on Saturday, April 4. The winners will move onto the national championship game on Monday, April 6, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

REQUIRED READING: Final Four predictions: Who will advance to national championship game?

The last Big Ten school to win a national championship was Michigan State in 2000, Tom Izzo’s fifth season at the helm. The Huskies, meanwhile, are looking for their third national championship in four seasons under Dan Hurley, who’s quickly rising the all-time coaching ranks.

The Wildcats have won one national championship in their history, which came in 1997. They last made the Final Four in 2001, and are looking to get back to college basketball’s mountaintop.

What does Artificial Intelligence think about the Final Four in 2026? Here’s how AI predicted the two matchups to go:

AI predicts Final Four games

No. 3 Illinois vs No. 2 UConn

Microsoft Copilot is impressed with Illinois’ offense, but also thinks UConn’s veteran presence and ability to win games late is important.

“Best offense left in the tournament,” Copilot said of Illinois. “Illinois brings elite scoring versatility, with multiple shooters and one of the nation’s best offensive rebound rates.”

The AI was also complementary of true freshman Keaton Wagler, one of the top remaining players in the NCAA Tournament.

“Since their November loss to UConn, Wagler has become a top‑10 NBA prospect and a dominant scorer — far more impactful than in the first meeting,” Copilot said.

On the other hand, Copilot acknowledges Tarris Reed Jr. could be a matchup problem for Illinois, and that UConn wears teams down defensively.

“He’s averaging dominant numbers inside and could force Illinois into foul trouble or defensive adjustments,” Copilot said of Reed. “They just survived Duke on a last‑second 3 and have shown resilience in multiple close games.”

Copilot actually predicts an upset, taking Illinois in a close one.

“Illinois’ offensive versatility, improved defense, and Wagler’s rise give them the edge in a matchup where UConn’s inconsistent perimeter shooting could finally catch up to them,” Copilot said.

• Score prediction: Illinois 76, UConn 71

No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 1 Michigan

Copilot noted both teams’ dominance in the Men’s NCAA Tournament as reasons to be excited for the Final Four matchup between Michigan and Arizona, noting Michigan outscored its opponents by 90 points in March Madness to Arizona’s 82 points.

Copilot also noted Michigan’s balance, acknowledging the Wolverines rank No. 1 in adjusted defensive efficiency and No. 5 in adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom. It also is impressed by Yaxel Lendeborg, a first-team All-American who scored 27 points against Tennessee in the Elite Eight.

But Copilot likes Arizona’s balance and interior scoring a bit more than Michigan.

“Their starting lineup is the deepest and most balanced in the Final Four,” the AI said. “Analysts consistently note Arizona’s edge on the glass and at the rim will be key in a game this evenly matched.”

Ultimately, Copilot is going with Arizona to take down mighty Michigan for a spot in the national championship.

“This is the heavyweight fight everyone expected, but Arizona’s superior rim finishing, rebounding edge, and deeper scoring options give them a slight advantage,” Copilot predicts.

• Score prediction: Arizona 78, Michigan 74

ILLINOIS – The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a Colorado law banning conversion therapy for minors may violate the First Amendment, a decision that could affect future legal challenges to similar laws in Illinois and across the country.

In an 8-1 decision, the court sided with a Colorado Springs counselor who argued the state cannot restrict what she says to clients during therapy sessions. The justices sent the case back to a lower court to decide if the law can hold up under a tougher legal test.

Why this matters in Illinois:

Illinois has banned conversion therapy for minors since 2015 under the Youth Mental Health Protection Act.

That law remains in place today.

What changes is how courts look at it. Judges now have to use a higher legal standard when reviewing laws like this, which could make them easier to challenge.

Scott Bertani, who works in LGBTQ health policy, said the ruling shifts how therapy is viewed under the law.

He said the decision blurs the line between medical care and speech.

“So by framing this law as a restriction on speech instead of what it really is is a regulation of professional conduct… the majority starts to collapse that line between what a licensed therapist practice and just ordinary expression is,” Bertani said.

Different views:

Some legal voices say the ruling could have broad implications.

Chicago attorney John Mauck, who previously challenged Illinois’ law as it applied to pastors, said the decision strengthens free speech protections for counselors.

“Today’s High Court decision effectively rules that the Illinois law banning counseling for licensed counselors is invalid as a violation of free speech rights,” Mauck said in a statement. “The state has no business telling counselors, ‘You can help people go gay, but you can’t help them go straight.’”

Mauck pointed to a 2017 federal case involving Illinois pastors, where a court found the state’s ban did not apply to clergy.

What the court said:

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that the Colorado law may “censor speech based on viewpoint,” which raises concerns under the First Amendment.

The case centers on Kaley Chiles, a licensed counselor who said clients seek her out because of shared beliefs.

“I want what is best for my clients, and often they seek me out because we have a shared faith,” Chiles said in earlier filings.

Her attorney argued the law blocks certain conversations based on the direction of counseling.

“This law tells them that if they’re seeking help in one direction that licensed mental health professionals and counselors are not available to them,” the attorney said.

Health concerns and risks:

Conversion therapy refers to counseling practices aimed at changing a young person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

Major medical groups, including the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association, have said the practice is ineffective and linked to increased risks of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts.

Bertani said those risks are central to how health experts view the issue.

“Because conversion therapy is not neutral talk. It’s discredited practice,” he said. “And every major medical and mental health body has said that it doesn’t work and that it’s tied to increased risks of depression, anxiety, and suicide, ideation among LGBTQ+ individuals.”

What’s next:

The case now returns to a lower court, which will decide whether Colorado’s law can meet that tougher legal test.

That decision could shape how similar laws are challenged and defended nationwide, including in Illinois, where lawmakers may need to revisit how the ban is written and upheld.

After 21 years of waiting, Illinois (28-8) is finally back in the Final Four. The road to college basketball’s grandest stage was long and bruising, and now the Illini are here at last. Only problem: Waiting on the other side is the closest thing college basketball has to a supervillain – Dan Hurley and the UConn Huskies.

The UConn Huskies’ NCAA Tournament domination

UConn (33-5) isn’t just a great team having an exceptional season. It’s a program that has come to expect this kind of success. The Huskies have won two of the past three national championships, and Hurley has gone 17-1 in the NCAA Tournament since 2023. At this point, calling UConn a powerhouse almost feels like an undersell. This is a budding dynasty, and Hurley has proven he is as good as anybody in the sport when the calendar flips to March.

Illinois knows that better than most. In the 2024 Elite Eight, UConn rolled the Illini 77-52 and used a 30-0 run to turn a high-stakes game into a blowout. To be fair, the Huskies were steamrolling just about everybody during that stretch, so Illinois was hardly alone. Still, that kind of loss stays with you. It takes a irremovable place in the memory bank, and becomes part of what makes this rematch feel so important to the Illini.

UConn: A unique offense

A huge reason the Huskies are so difficult to beat is because they do not play like most modern offenses. So many teams today favor offenses that are built around ball screens, isolations, matchup-hunting and one guard dribbling for half a possession while everyone else stands around waiting to see what happens.

That is not UConn.

The Huskies play with constant motion. The ball moves. The players move. Cutters fly through the lane, shooters relocate and defenses are forced to process everything in an instant. There is a rhythm to it that can make even a good defense look disorganized. One missed switch or one late rotation, and suddenly the ball is at the rim or headed to an open shooter.

It’s not especially flashy. It’s just brutally efficient. UConn doesn’t always beat teams by overwhelming them with one star going nuclear. Sometimes it beats them by making them guard every inch of the floor until they finally crack.

The big test of the Big Dance

This is where the challenge gets even bigger. In the NCAA Tournament, nobody has weeks to build a perfect scouting plan. Turnarounds are short, practices are limited and opponents often have to learn on the fly. That makes UConn’s offense even more dangerous, because it isn’t something teams can fully replicate in a couple of walk-throughs.

And that’s not just a March thing.

In UConn’s three Final Four runs over the past four seasons – 2023, 2024 and now 2026 – the Huskies have lost a total of two non-conference regular-season games. One was a four-point road loss at Kansas in 2024. The other came this season in a four-point home loss to Arizona, in a game missed by injured star big man Tarris Reed Jr. That’s a pretty telling stat. Teams that catch UConn for the first time usually don’t walk away happy.

Illinois’ big advantage against UConn: familiarity

The good news for Illinois is that this will not be a blind date.

The Illini have already seen this offense up close. UConn beat Illinois 74-61 on Black Friday earlier this season and, of course, dismantled the Illini in that Elite Eight meeting two years ago. That hardly guarantees that Illinois will shut the Huskies down this time. But it does mean the Illini are not walking into this game blind to UConn’s timing, spacing and swirling movement.

Seeing UConn once gives Illinois a much better sense of what it takes to defend the Huskies. The Illini know how quickly UConn swings the ball, how hard it cuts, how disciplined it is off the ball and how fast one small mistake can turn into a layup or an open three. That experience should make this week’s preparation more valuable, because Illinois isn’t getting ready for some unfamiliar system. It’s preparing for something it has already seen up close.

Why exposure to UConn matters for Illinois

There is some evidence that opponents are better equipped the second or third time around against the Huskies’ machine.

UConn lost second meetings in Big East play this season to Creighton at home and Marquette on the road. Neither of those teams was especially dominant this year. The Huskies also lost to St. John’s once, beat the Red Storm the second time, then lost again the third time. In other words, most of UConn’s struggles came against teams that already knew what was coming.

That’s notable. UConn has lost only five games all season. Four of those losses came against conference opponents that were familiar with the Huskies. The only other one was the four-point Arizona loss without Reed.

The Illinois on SI bottom line

Illinois should be better prepared for UConn than most teams in March have been. The Illini have already seen the ball movement, the cutting and the overall rhythm of Hurley’s offense. They know this isn’t a team you can relax against for even a few possessions. They know what happens when UConn gets comfortable. Everyone in orange and blue remembers that well enough.

But recognition is only step one. The next step is surviving it.

Illinois has spent 21 years waiting for another Final Four opportunity. Now it gets a rematch with the program that once slammed the door on its championship hopes. UConn will still be a brutal challenge, but the Illini aren’t walking into this one blind. They have seen the movement, felt the pressure and know the standard they have to meet – and that’s a much better place to start than the alternative.